Christmas | Making wreaths

Photography by Olivia Carter

Christmas wreaths come in all shapes and sizes these days. We love a big, green traditional wreath of holly and ivy, but if you fancy something a little different, we have a few ideas…

Simply take a wreath base (foam or metal, depending on what you’re using. You can even use chicken wire or a piece of foam swimming pool noodle, with the ends secured to each other. Collect your materials together, heat up the glue gun and start sticking your materials all over the surface of your wreath. More is definitely more here! If you need a little inspiration have a read of our list below.

• Baubles

• Origami flowers

• Gingerbread biscuits in festive shapes (watch out for foxes though!)

• Pinecones

• Dried orange slices

• Jigsaw Puzzle pieces

• Nuts in their shells

• Crocheted snowflakes

• Brussels sprouts

• Candy canes and other sweets

The picture above is from our feature ‘Farm to Front Door’ from our December issue in which we meet Olivia Carter who grows flowers and runs wreath workshops from her family farm in Devon.

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And if you’d like a little more inspiration you can see some of the wreaths made by The Simple Things’ team below…

Wreaths from The Simple Things’ Team

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More from our December issue…

Make | Painted Paper Stars

A great way to reuse wrapping or parcel paper that maybe isn’t in the best condition. Painting the paper makes them stand out, so choose any colours that take your fancy.

You will need:

Scissors
Recycled paper
Watercolour paints
Sponge
Needle and thread
Glue stick

How to make

1 Cut a strip of paper with a width around the size you’d like the decoration to be. Make the length 2–3 times as long as the width.

2 Paint the paper with watercolours using a sponge. Pick two or three shades and create an abstract pattern – it doesn’t matter if it’s messy as the folds will hide any imperfections. Allow to dry.

3 At one end, fold over a strip around 2cm wide. Turn the paper and fold again, creating a concertina effect. (A bit of advice for making a concertina is to double the length of the first fold, then fold it back towards you halfway.)

4 Fold the paper in half and cut the unfolded edge to a point.

5 Using a needle and thread, sew the middle fold together and secure. Then glue the ends together, open out the star and glue the two other two ends.

6 Sew a second piece of thread and tie in a knot to create a loop to hang the decoration wherever you like – on the tree or in a window works well.

From Festive by Francesca Stone (Pop Press). Photography: Francesca Stone

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More from our December issue…

More Festive Things to Make…

Project | Paint Your Own Candles

Bring your own artistic flourish to plain candles to light up dark nights.

You will need

Rubbing alcohol or surgical spirit
Candles
Acrylic pens (you can also use water-based, non-toxic acrylic paint and a paintbrush)

To make

1 Begin by preparing the candle’s surface by cleaning it with some rubbing alcohol or surgical spirit and a lint-free cloth.

2 Paint your design on your candle. You may need to do two layers, so have a slice of cake while your first layer dries, then go over it once more.

3 Allow to dry for a couple of hours before lighting. Remember to burn your candle on a flat surface away from other objects and never leave it unattended.

This project idea is taken from our feature ‘Craft-a-Peel’ in our November issue, which brings together recipes for snacks and drinks, as well as craft projects to enjoy with friends. The styling and recipes are by Kay Prestney and the photography by Rebecca Lewis.

More from our November issue…

More crafts to make before Christmas…

Recipe | Chocolate Orange Hot Chocolate

A hot drink when it’s cold outside is one of life’s simple pleasures. Classic Christmassy confectionery adds a festive feel. (It’s not Terry’s; it’s ours)

Serves 2

100g orange chocolate, such as Terry’s Chocolate Orange
30g dark chocolate
1 orange
400ml whole milk
100ml single cream
Pinch of salt

1 Finely chop both types of chocolate using a sharp knife.

2 Using a peeler, remove a 10cm piece of peel from the orange.

3 Combine the chocolate, peel, milk, cream and salt in a pan and place over a low heat. While the chocolate slowly melts, stir well with a wooden spoon.

4 Once melted, pour into two mugs and serve immediately, or transfer to a flask for outdoor adventuring.

This warming festive drink is just one of the recipes and ideas from our feature, Christmas is Coming from the December issue. It also includes popcorn garlands, gingerbread snowflake biscuits, retro glitter decorations, Night Before Christmas cocktails and lots more things to make and do during advent.

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More things to make and do in Advent…

More from our December issue…

Make | Edible baubles

Iced gingerbread baubles look beautiful, smell fantastic and taste pretty good, too

Makes 20

175g dark muscovado sugar
85g golden syrup
100g butter
350g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
Ready-to-use royal icing

1 Preheat the oven to 180C/Fan 160C/ Gas 4. In a medium saucepan, melt the sugar, syrup and butter. Once melted, let it bubble for 1-2 mins, before removing from the heat. Leave to cool for around 10 mins.
2 Place the flour, bicarbonate of soda and spices in a large bowl. Add the egg along with the cooled sugar and butter mixture. Stir with a wooden spoon to form a dough. Wrap the dough in clingfilm and chillfor 30 mins. Meanwhile, line a couple of baking sheets with baking parchment.
3 Once the dough has chilled, allow it to come back to room temperature before rolling out to approximately 5mm thick on a lightly-floured surface. Cut out as many shapes as you can, then, using the end of a paper straw, make a small hole at the top of each biscuit for hanging. Continue rolling and cutting until all the dough has been used.
4 Carefully transfer the biscuits to the lined baking trays, leaving a little space between each one. Bake for 12 mins, or until golden. Remove from the oven and leave to firm before transferring to a cooling rack. If the hole that you made has closed up a little, use a skewer whilst the biscuit is still warm to open it up again.
5 When completely cool, decorate with royal icing using a piping bag and a small round nozzle. Once the icing has hardened, thread your choice of ribbon through the hole and hang on the tree.

Find the rest of the edible bauble recipes, including Stained Glass Orange and Cinnamon Biscuits and Butternut Squash and Peanut Butter Dog Biscuit tree decorations, in our December issue, starting on page 25.

And if you’re inspired to bake more gingerbread, you might like to read First Catch Your Gingerbread by food historian Sam Bilton, which is out this month.

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More festive makes…

More from our December issue…

Make your own | Christmas Crackers

And help Christmas go with a homemade bang

In our December ‘Cosy’ issue, we have a lovely ‘how-to’ which takes you step by step through making your own Christmas crackers. You can find all the instructions from page 53.

What you’ll need before you start, though, is the templates for the crackers, which you can find below, ready to print out. There are also some jokes to print, cut out and pop inside each cracker, and (in case our jokes are too groansome for you) there’s also a sheet of blank slips to write your own jokes or riddles on. Or why not personalise them for each of your Christmas guests?

The printables

Crackers template

Jokes to cut out

Blank jokes to cut out

We’d love to see pictures of how your crackers turn out. Do tag us on your Facebook or Instagram posts!

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More Christmas fun…

More from our December issue…

Make | homemade eco Christmas crackers

Create your own eco-friendly crackers with brown paper or recycled wrapping paper

If you liked the colourful Christmas Crackers make in our December issue, but would like something a little greener, or just a little more understated in design, you might like to make these eco-friendly versions.

You will need:

Cracker template (click to download and print out)

Brown paper

Cutting board

Craft knife

Toilet roll or cardboard tube

Cracker snaps

Double-sided tape

Ruler

String

 How to make:

1.      Cut out your template and draw around it on the card. Cut out the main cracker shape and then cut out all the triangles using your craft knife and ruler.

2.      Place your toilet roll in the middle of the brown paper between the cut out diamonds. Take your cracker snap and put it through the cracker then place in the cracker any presents or jokes you wish to fill it with.

3.      Place sticky tape along the bottom edge of the cracker, leaving a space where the triangles are, then roll and stick the cracker together. (If you don’t want to use tape you could little tabs in one side and slits in the other for them to go through to hold the paper together, although this won’t be as sturdy.)

4.      Place your string underneath the triangles, pull tight and tie into a bow.

5.      Cut off any of the cracker snap that may be showing, then personalise as you wish.

NOTE: If you prefer you don’t have to cut the diamonds out and you can just tie with string although this will not be as neat.

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More Christmas decoration inspiration…

More from our December issue…