Paper fairy light DIY lanterns

  
There’s something magical about fairy lights, they have the effect of making anywhere feel cosy! If you’d like to add a personal touch to your fairy lights, follow this simple guide. With Christmas coming up, these will be a festive addition to your decorations, and it only takes 30 minutes to make. With the pattern side on the inside, only when the light is on it the pattern revealed!

You will need:

– funky paper (about 90 gsm or less) with some white in the pattern
– fairy lights
– ruler
– scissors

How to make paper lantern fairy lights:

1. Cut your paper into squares, the one shown is 10.5 cm squared which will make quite small lanterns. If you’re looking for bigger lanterns, it might be best to experiment with different sizes and scrap paper.

2. Fold the square diagonally from corner to corner.

3. Pinch the fold between your finger and thumb at opposite sides and push it in. 

4. Flatten the paper into a triangle.

5. Fold the corners of the triangle down to the middle points on each side.

6. Fold the side points into the centre, repeat this for all 4 points.

7. Tuck the 4 spikey points into the folds created in the previous step. 

8. Fold the two end points into the centre and back again to create a fold line.

9. Poke your index fingers in between the little wing pockets and pull apart gently so that the lantern takes shape.

10. Place the fairy light through the gap in the lantern and hey presto!

If you’re looking for more DIY Christmas decorations to make, take a look at Picker’s Kits DIY Christmas decoration kit.

Felt ball Xmas decoration DIY kit

How does Christmas come around so quickly every year? Yet again I’m feeling unprepared… must start thinking about which presents to buy for everyone soon!

When it comes to Christmas decorations, I like to make them myself. I admit, I have bought a few in the past but I do get lots of joy out of making them. Last year, I invited my friend Katie round and we sat and crocheted some baubles whilst drinking warm spiced apple juice (it was a work night!)

I think I caught the Christmas craft bug last year as I remember crocheting a family of snowman baubles, I’ve even dug out the photo!

What I want to talk about is a new DIY kit recently added to www.pickerskits.co.uk – the felt ball Christmas tree decoration kit. It consists of eight felt balls, each one a different colour. I really love the style of this decoration, the wool of the felt balls gives you that cosy Winter feel and the bright colours will look fabulous against the green of the Christmas tree.

If you’d like to make your felt ball Christmas decoration, you can find it here on the Picker’s Kits website.

Easy DIY craft makes

I’ve been gleaning the best of the web for a few ‘easy makes’… things that you can make on a rainy Autumn Sunday when you have a couple of hours to spare. They’re not particularly expensive either, you can use fabric scraps and things lying around the kitchen 🙂

You can even find a Pinteret board for it, check it out here. Please do follow the Picker’s Kits Pinterest account and I’ll be sure to follow your account back!

Here goes…

1. Fabric key ring

These key rings can be made from left-over scraps of fabric and make great gift!

Key ring instructions from http://www.theidearoom.net/

2. Fabric charm bracelet

This is another item that can be made from left-over fabric. This tutorial comes from @quintonwench and her awesome blog. Well worth a look for crafty ideas!

Charm bracelet instructions from http://www.leasowesview.com/

3. Homemade heat packs

These heat packs are the ideal Winter treat… stick one in the microwave, curl up on the sofa and relax feeling warm and toasty!

Heat pack instructions from http://www.pluckys-secondthought.com/

4. Cover your own washi tape

Washi tape is a popular thing at the moment but it’s known to be expensive, here’s a wonderful tutorial about how to make your own washi tape at a fraction of the cost.

Washi tape instructions from http://fiksd.blogspot.co.uk/

5. Salt and cinnamon dough ornaments

With salt dough you can make Christmas decorations, wedding favours, gift tags, key rings, not to mention a whole host of other things. This fabulous blog post gives you all of the ingredients you need to make them, plus, if you’d like an edible decoration, you can make some cinnamon ornaments… yummy!

Salt and cinnamon dough instructions from http://www.irocksowhat.com/