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!