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.

Fabric button rosette DIY brooch

If you’re looking for a brooch to brighten up your coat or jacket, this one’s the answer. It costs pennies, takes just 5 minutes to make and looks neat and pretty too! This would make a lovely gift, or would work as an ideal item to sell on a charity or fundraising stall.

You will need:

– a strip of fabric
– a large button
– safety pin and thread
– fabric scissors

How to make a fabric button DIY brooch:

1. Cut fabric into a strip, the one shown in the photo is 35cm long x 8cm wide. Fold it in half length-ways, wrong sides together. Do a running stitch along the raw edge with stitches about 1cm apart. A red thread has been used in the tutorial so that it stands out in the photo.

2. Pull the thread at either end so that the fabric crumples up.

3. Tie the two threads together, place a button in the middle, flip it over and sew it in place.

4. Sew a safety pin on that side if you’d like to make it into a brooch, and there you are!

A brooch in 5 minutes! If you’d fancy a button like the one used in the photos, check out the Liberty buttons kit on Picker’s Kits.

Start the week as you mean to go on

What a treat, I have a whole week off this week before I start my new job. There will be no sitting on the sofa in a onesie watching films and scoffing biscuits for me. I’ve got my ‘action plan’ for Picker’s Kits – doing things I’ve been meaning to do but just haven’t had time for.

This includes taking a proper look at Pinterest (have you seen the Picker’s Kits boards?), devoting dome time to Twitter, writing a schedule for blog articles and doing a little product development for Christmas kits. I’ve got 6Music on in the background and can’t remember how many cups of tea I’ve had already.

The intention was to begin the day all virtuous with a run around the block but I woke up to see rain and generally rotten weather so that scuppered my plans…maybe tomorrow!