Tuesday, 23 December 2014

MERRY CHRISTMAS...

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I can't believe it!
It's nearly Christmas!
This is my last post before the holidays, and I thought I'd share some pictures of our Christmas tree with you all!

Most of the decorations this year are handmade, and if you visit my DIY gallery you will find all the tutorials!


This years tree are decked in Origami of a variety of sorts...


Which makes  for a soft and elegant, but modern look...


Throw in a few baubles, some vintage silver tinsel and some himmeli decorations...


And the look is there:
A modern but nostalgic Scandinavian Christmas tree!


Now all that remains is to wish you all a very merry Christmas!
I hope you all have a great time!

I will be back before the new year with a few posts,
so until then:
Enjoy!!

Sunday, 21 December 2014

Small decorative Origami paper stars...


...to jazz up your Christmas table....or your tree lights!
With instructions on fireproofing the paper


When I saw these cute little paper stars on pinterest, I knew I had to give them a go!!
I could think of a million uses for them (OK, maybe a slight exaggeration, but...)
And once you've practiced a few times they are really easy to make, and take no time at all!!

All you need to make these little stars are strips of paper! For your convenience I've made up a simple template with 12 strips drawn up in the right dimensions....all you need to do is cut them out. Click here to download and print!

Then head over to  minna may blog to see how to easily fold the strips to make the stars!
When you have folded each strip into the pentagon shape, use your nails to push in the sides, as shown below:

Image from Minna May blog

It does take some practice to make the stars come out perfect, so if you don't get it right the first times, keep going: Once you've got it, its easy....and its not like they take very long at all to fold!!


Use these cute little paper stars as decorations on your festive holiday table, string them up on a garland by pushing some thread through each one with a needle, or use as filler together with some chocolate in these gorgeous free printable "kraemmerhus" (Paper baskets) from ilva, and hang on the tree!!


I used mine to jazz up the LED lights on our tree:


I just made sure they'd be safe to put around the lights by spraying the paper templates with fire-retardant and leaving to dry before cutting up the strips and folding the stars:



I got my fire-retardant from here, but you can also make your own with some borax and water! See full instructions here


Then I used a scalpel blade to make a small incision in the side of each star, so that I could insert the LED bulb!


NOTE! I would NOT recommend that you use anything other than LED bulbs if doing this, EVEN if you've fire proofed the paper!! SAFETY FIRST PEOPLE!!


As this years tree decorations includes of loads origami paper ornaments, such as the kraemmerhus, above, the paper star I showed you earlier this week and the kirigami paper gems from Little miss moo's advent calendar, these little stars fit perfectly in with the look of our tree!!


I will be revealing the complete look of this years Christmas tree in my next post... My final post before I clock off for the holidays!😉
Until then, I wish you all the best with your last preparations for Christmas...And don't worry if you don't get everything done: CHRISTMAS WILL COME......AND BE MERRY, ANYWAY!!

Wednesday, 17 December 2014

DIY Paper star ornament

So today I am sharing another DIY Christmas tree decoration...This time a star made of paper!
I found this 3D paperstar template via better homes and gardens, but as it only printed 1 star per sheet of paper, and I hate paper waste, I've made a new template with 3 stars per page for you all:
Download my template HERE, print out twice on 200 mg cardstock, and you'll have enough to make 3 decorations.
Other than card stock for printing out the templates, you will need Scissors, twine/ribbon and double sided tape (or glue...but I found tape to be better)

Cut out the templates...You will need 2 templates for each ornament!


Fold along the dotted lines...
...the slatted lines fold the other way.


You can already see the 3D effect!
Repeat!


Using the double sided tape....


Fold and stick down the flaps at the end of each star point...


...So that the star sits flush on your work surface.
Repeat on the other folded template!


Next get your twine or ribbon...


Attach it to the inside of one of the star-halfs to create a hoop for hanging.

Add pieces of double sided tape on the underside of each star point!
It helps if you do this on both halves!


Remove the backing of the tape and press the two half- stars together...


Ready to hang on the tree...


Our tree is all done up with paper ornaments this year, and it looks lovely!
In my next post I will show you how I made the cute little paper stars on the fairy lights, just seen in the picture above!!
So make sure you pop back again this weekend for those!


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Monday, 15 December 2014

Free Gift wrap...

Printables from the web


The house is decorated , the tree is in , Christmas cookies are baked and I've finished my Christmas shopping....phew!!
Now all that remains to do before Christmas is all those little finishing touches, like wrapping up all those presents!!
Last year I made my own wrapping paper, but this year I've made use of some of the amazing free downloadable gift wrapping available online, and I thought I'd share some of my finds with you all today!


There is such an array of beautiful wrapping papers and gift tags available to download and print out online...and if you are after something a bit more unusual than what you'd find on the high street, or you've run out and need to wrap those last minute gifts, using free downloadable giftwrap is ideal!!


Of course most people can only print out A4 size, so if you have something larger you want to wrap, just take your printouts to your local print shop and get it enlarged.

This year I wanted more modern looking gift wrap for the presents, and chose to keep it monochrome (Partly because my printer ran out of colored ink...LOL)
Here's a few of my choices:



Cross stitch snow flake and reindeer wrap from minieco , Black and white diamond and triangle patterned gift wrap from Hey Look, Pine cones and acorn print wrap from fellow fellow
handrawn trees and baubles wrap from say yes and star print wrap from me in lila park.

Cute animal gift tags from oh the lovely things and stripey and dotty tags from Ilva


Black and white geo tags from tomfo


Zig zag and dotty gift tags from ilva 


Cool hand written gift tags from Persia Lou

  
  Cross stitch snow flake wrap from minieco 
     
There are loads more gift wrapping ideas and inspiration....and a good selection of other ( and more colorful) free printable gift wraps on my pinterest board: gift wrap.

I still have loads more wrapping to do, and once I've got a new color cartridge for the printer, I will also use some more colorful free wrapping paper and tags....but I love the look of this years presents so far...


And adding a colorful bow to the monochrome themed presents, really lifts the look....


I love the "different" holiday messages on these handwritten gift tags by one of my favorite bloggers, Persia Lou


And this simple pine cone wrapping paper by Fellow fellow and these cute animal gift tags by Oh the lovely things (above and below)


And why not get the kids to color in this hand drawn baubles print from Say yes?


And this is my favorite wrapping paper so far: I adore the cross stitch pattern by one of my "go-to" sites for printable s, minieco

Why not visit my pinterest board :gift wrap, and have a look to see if you find your own free favorite printable gift wrap and tags...mix an match, add a bow or two and give your Christmas presents a different look this year!!

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