You might remember that one of my 30by30 goals is to have a homemade Christmas, where I make as many of the decorations and gifts as possible. My plan is to do this properly next year, and use this Christmas as a sort of practice, to get an idea of what sort of time I’ll need to dedicate to this, and to build up some of the skills I’ll need. I’ll be baking to see which treats last the best, trying to get my knitting speed up beyond ‘slow motion’ and getting a little head start on the crafty decorations.
I would apologise for the insanely early Christmas post, but since my craft experience level is essentially, like, minus 1, I feel like this might be it for me for the next little while. Just crafting and, probably, crying, when it all goes wrong.
My usual tactic when I’m a bit nervous about starting something new is to throw myself into the research phase of things and massively overdo it in an attempt to put off actually having a go at it. I know, could my fear of failure manifest itself in an any more obvious way? I’ve been trawling the blogs for weeks, and here are the results of my extensive research: the eight projects I’m most looking forward to crying over this winter!
Anna’s DIY Christmas gift tags
These gift tags are simple and stylish. They look really professional, despite being super easy to make, which is kind of exactly what I’m looking for here.
I love, love, love this glitter deer silhouette. It’s such a simple idea and so easy to adapt that you could quite easily make a whole set of different silhouettes or even make Christmas cards in this style. (I’m looking forward to having this ambition bashed out of me.)
Just cardboard, yarn and glue, and the finished result is super cute. I’d want to experiment a bit with yarn colours and maybe some metallic spray paint, I think. (A lot of the tutorials I’m finding are American so I’m saying things like ‘yarn’ and ‘holidays’ a lot at the moment?!)
This blog hasn’t been updated in over a year and there’s absolutely no guidance on how to create this gorgeous fairy light/doily combination, but I love it so much that I think I might give it a go anyway!
Twigs, a rubber band and a red ribbon give a standard candle a rustic, Christmassy twist in a particularly thrifty craft that I don’t think even I could mess up. I’ve seen it done with cinnamon sticks but this feels a lot more affordable…
This bow tie pasta garland is perfect for a mini Christmas tree or around a mirror. What is it about gold glitter that makes anything a bit more Christmassy?
Rosemary Wreath and Cranberry Christmas Wreath
Cassie is on another level, craft and DIY-wise, and some of her tutorials are absolutely baffling to a novice like me! But these wreaths are simple enough. I chose the cranberry one because it’s beautiful, and the rosemary one because of the massive rosemary bush in my back garden.
Bowls of frosty pinecones everywhere, please! I love the look and the smell, and if there’s one thing my Christmas decorations have been missing for a while, it’s a bit of the outdoors coming in.
I think that’s just about enough to keep me busy for now, but what are your favourite Christmas crafts? Is there a blogger I need to know about? I’m particularly interested in hearing about crafty Yorkshire people – share away!
Leeds&me 