This year's Christmas tree decoration

Each year I come up with a Christmas tree decoration and tend to make a whole pile of them to give in place of Christmas cards. This year is no different although the design is far from Royal Mail-friendly so they haven't been sent as far and wide as usual.

I did ponder how to make them 'flat-pack' but felt it was far too complicated, necessitating fiddly buttons and a full list of instructions for assembly to send with them, so they ended up 'fully formed' but with fewer recipients.

Made from felt in Scandi inspired red and white, they use different length strips fixed at each end to form a bauble. Really very simple yet, I hope you agree, effective.

Using a fabric roller cutter, a ruler and cutting mat I cut a series of felt strips, all 2cm wide. Each bauble needs one white strip 10cm long, two further white strips 14cm long, and two red strips 12cm long.

To assemble, take a set of felt strips and pile them up so that you have a 14cm white strip, a 12cm red strip, the 10cm white strip, a 12cm red strip, and a 14cm white strip. Line up the top edges and join with a cross stitch of red embroidery thread. Then line up the other ends and do the same. Add a thread loop to the centre of one of the cross stitches and - hey presto - you have a bauble!

I'm already working on the 2017 design but really do need to make sure it can be posted as a letter rather than a small packet!

Jam jar tea light holders

Last Christmas I was inspired by Kirstie Allsopp's Handmade Christmas to recycle some jam jars into gifts. And not by filling them with chutney, which is my usual festive make.

This time the project ditched the kitchen and instead I got busy with sticky back plastic, a shaped hole punch and can of glass frosting spray. Oh, and a selection of bottles and a (left) rubber glove!

I first cut a load of star shapes from the sticky back plastic and stuck these onto the clean jam jars in varying patterns.

The next step was to place a rubber glove on my left hand for protection (I'm very right handed), grab one of the jam jars with my left hand and a well shaken can of glass frosting spray with my right (I used PlastiKote) and head into the garden. I may have mentioned this in a previous blog but, whatever the spray can says about using at room temperature in a well-ventilated room and placing protective covering on all surrounding areas, your room cannot be ventilated enough and you'd need to work in a room entirely covered with protective plastic sheeting - all for a job that lasts a few minutes. The easiest and safest thing to do is go outside. So long as it's dry, not too windy and also not really cold I found the paint adhered very well. Just use a couple of really thin coats of paint to avoid it running or puddling in places.

Then, back inside, leave your jam jar upended on a bottle for the paint to dry before either applying another coat or, if you are happy with the coverage, removing the sticky back plastic shape.

You are then left with a decorated glass tea light which just needs a tea light...

To turn this into a lovely gift, fill the jar with sweets, pop a new tea light in the top, screw on the lid and add a ribbon, label and whatever other adornments you like.

Ta-da! Up-cycling at it's simplest.

And I've already been inspired for next year's little gifts. All I can say is that I'm on the hunt for cups and saucers so will be hitting the charity shops in the New Year!