I can't quite believe it's the festive season once again but here we are and I have a Christmas cracker DIY for you this year! I've been thinking for the past few years that pre-made shop bought Christmas crackers are just a bit...well...crap! The gifts inside are naff- who needs a tiny tiny photo frame or a set of minuscule spanners!? I also find the jokes just offensively rubbish so I took to my craft room and came up with my own!
For this DIY you will need:
Toilet-rolls
Crepe paper (or wrapping paper that isn't too strong so you can pull your cracker apart)
A decorative pen- I went with a copper one to draw on everyone's names and do a little design.
Sellotape
Cracker snaps (you’ll find them on Amazon, eBay etc)
Scissors
Thin card, at least 20cm long
Decorative string or ribbon
Small but exciting things to put inside the crackers- I went for nail varnishes, flower seeds, beard oils and bath bombs!
Paper hats (again from Amazon, eBay etc)
Jokes! I found some online and had some lovely people tweet me some original ones too!
Step 1
On your crepe paper/ paper of choice, draw out your design and name for your cracker
Step 2
Place a toilet-roll on the long edge of your paper, in the centre, and hold it in place with some sticky tape. Measure the length of crepe paper you need and cut off the excess.
Step 3
Roll the tube across the paper, then secure with 3 bits of tape along the seam, in the centre and ends.
Step 4
Thread a cracker snap through the toilet roll and tape it down to one side of the paper.
Step 5
Cut two 20x5cm strips from the thin card. Curl each one into a circle and place one inside each end of the cracker, leaving roughly 2cm sticking out of the end. Hold the card in place with a little sticky tape.
Step 6
At one end of the cracker, squeeze the crepe paper around the gap between the toilet roll and the card. Gently squeeze and twist a little with your thumb and forefinger, while using your other hand to hold the card in shape. Keep squeezing until the cracker has a nicely defined neck to it.
Step 7
Tie a piece of string or ribbon around the neck of the cracker. Cut off any straggly bits or make a bow.
Step 8
Insert your Christmas hat, joke and gift in the open end of the cracker. Seal the open end as before.
Step 9
Cut off the excess crepe paper from the ends and ta-da! You have just made your own homemade Christmas crackers!
I am so pleased with how simple and easy these crackers are to make yet they look really effective and are a great to make crackers personal to your guests on Christmas Day!
Will you be trying this DIY out for Christmas and what else are you planning to make home made?
For a step by step video on these crackers, check out the Youtube video below!
It has come to my attention that I've done very little or no crafting this year that isn't wedding related! I'm not saying it's a bad thing as I have loved making things for our wedding but it was so refreshing to do something totally different and today it's jewellery!
I made these pieces for myself and I love them! What I create all depends on my mood at the time, what is inspiring me and also what materials I have. The little ring I made is a new concept for me. I'd seen something similar on Instagram and thought it'd tie in nicely with the bracelets. The skull, stars and bird bracelets are intended to be stackable charm type bracelets and I think they look so cute together. They're also intended to tie in with the heart bracelet, necklace and ring so you can wear them in different variations. I really love the colours together too as they're quite understated but eye catching. All the beads I have bought are from eBay and I picked the up quite cheaply too. I'm always finding different ways to use them and particularly love the skull beads- so cute! (In a morbid skull way...)
I then got carried away and made some bits for Chris as a welcome home present when he came back from the UK. I've never made male jewellery before and was slightly worried he'd dislike them but he has a similar necklace and thankfully he was really chuffed! I thought the keyring was a nice touch too as his keys look so bloody dull! The cross, eagle and skull beads are again all from eBay but the wooden beads are old bracelets of mine that I no longer use. That's another great thing about crafting your own jewellery. You can reinvent old beads you already have into something new. I do love a bit of upcycling!
The tools I use for jewellery making are also reasonable and again from eBay but you only really need those for things like earrings and any wire work so if you just buy some elastic and beads you're all set!
Have you made your own jewellery? I'd love to see it so leave me your links!
Hello hello! I've been missing for a few weeks due to my recent visit back home. It was so good to get back to the UK for a bit of normality and familiar faces, not to mention some crafting for the July wedding!
I'm particularly chuffed with these centre pieces as I think they fit really well with our rustic theme for the wedding. I was originally looking for logs to place the wine bottle and tea light on but came across these wooden heart plates in The Range and thought they'd be perfect (not to mention a bit more sanitary than logs!) My Nan has been saving jars for me for months for the wedding and these little dish ones seemed perfect for tea lights, teamed with ribbon perfect for the occasion! I can't however take credit for the making of the wine bottles... My mum's partner's daughter (what a mouthful) also got married recently and asked if we'd like the bottles along with some other decorations she no longer wanted. I was so chuffed and thought up-cycling the bottles would be perfect for the theme, why didn't I think of these? Another great DIY.
General Decoration
Cardboard letters- Hobbycraft
White wicker heart- The Range
Plain Wicker heart- QDs
Painting cardboard letters of you and your husband or wife to s a simple DIY but also effective and ensures the colour scheme is kept to. I used acrylic paint that dries matte for our letters and didn't fuss too much on the application as I wanted them to look rustic. The cardboard also helps with the effect.
The wicker hearts were easy to pick up and decorate. I used foam flowers dotted around a few of them to add a bit of extra something.
Jug- QDs
Corn- From a field!
Fake lavender- eBay
I thought these jugs really lend themselves to the rustic country feel and again are easy to pick up. I managed to get some corn last year before the harvest from a local farmer and the great thing is it keeps! These will look great dotted around the marquee but also for outside decoration.
The Hangers
Hangers (set of two)- Poundland
Jewellery wire- Hobbycraft
Faux flower- Wilkinsons
Acrylic Paint- Hobbycraft
Blackboard Paint- Wilkinsons
This is probably my favourite DIY I've done for the wedding. I love photographs of the dresses all hung up the day of the wedding and why not frame them with beautiful hangers? These were super simple, drawing the letters on paper then bending the wire to shape the letters. I used jewellery wire but you can use florist wire, just ensure it is easy to bend and shape for your letters. Once it was bent I cut the excess wire to fit the length of the hanger before drilling a hole. I then painted the hangers in acrylic paint, hot glued the wire into place and wound the faux flower around the wire. Voila! For the groom's it was slightly different in that instead of a flower he had a little black bow tie and black painted collar. As you can see some are better than others but practice makes perfect and they have a lovely home made touch. All of these were super simple and effective and also make a nice reminder or present to the wedding party.
So those are just some of my wedding DIYs. I don't want to post them all now as it'll spoil the surprise of the day but rest assure there will be plenty more ideas and inspiration for you once my day has passed! Any questions on the decor, please comment below!
Hey everyone as promised I have a blog post for you this week and it's one of my wedding editions.. Incase that doesn't give it away I'm engaged and planning a wedding for Chris and I!
I've been looking around for quirky save the date cards but nothing really caught my eye or if it did it was ridiculously expensive (in my opinion anyway!) So I came across this design on Pinterest/another wedding blog and decided to do my own twist on what they had created. I mean why pay stupid money when you can make your own? Chris and I wanted some rustic and rather bohemian so our guests would get the feel of what type of theme we have in mind. We both felt a relaxed bohemian style wedding would best suite our day so went with this idea!
To make these save the dates you will need:
- A guillotine
- Raffia ribbon
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Pen & pencil
- Artist gummed tape
- A pair of round pliers (or another tool to pierce a small hole)
- A hole punch (I opted for a heart shaped one)
- Twine
- Double sides sticky tape
- A4 brown card
- A4 paper with your template design printed three times
I hope the list doesn't appear too overwhelming! I managed to pick up the guillotine quite cheaply in a pound store type place. It isn't the most sturdy but it does the job for small amounts of card and paper. I picked up most of my materials from eBay.
Step 1
Take your ruler and mark with a pencil 7cm and 14cm from the edge of the card, lying the card horizontally. Repeat this with your A4 templates.
Next take the paper and cut it at the marks horizontally, using the guillotine.
Step 2
Once cut into thirds, measure the width of one template, marking 7.5cm from the left hand edge and 20cm from the left hand edge. Repeat this process with the same measurements on the card then put through the guillotine, this time using a pair of scissors to score the marks gently so that they fold.
Step 3
Apply three small pieces of double sided sticky tape to the centre section of the card. Line up the centre template with the centre of the card and stick down. If you have problems lining it up (like me lol), take a pair of scissors and trim the edges to neaten up the card and paper to become symmetrical.
Step 4
Once your edges are neat, take your ruler and mark where you'd like your twine to thread through and "tie the knot". Mark with a pencil and then pierce through with pliers or tool of your choice.
Step 5
Take your twine and cut off enough to tie the knot whilst considering that some tension is required for the knot to tighten when opened. Thread the ends through the holes of the card and secure ends with a small knot.
Step 6
Take your hole punch and punch along the gummed tape to create a pattern, then cut off the required amount for the cars.
Step 7
If you haven't done so already write in your guests names! Then open up the knot as big as possible so that when your guests open the card they get the full effect of the knot tying. Close the card and secure the edge with gummed tape by licking or wetting with a sponge.
Step 8
Next you'll want to turn your card over and right your guests name and address. For this post I haven't bothered as its a dummy card.. Then take your raffia ribbon (I haven't specified a length as its personal preference on bow size and shape!) and cross over to one side on the back before bringing the two ends to the front and making a bow. Note: I double bowed the ones I made to be posted to ensure they don't untie.
And voila! That is one rustic save the date finished. As you can see I've made quite a few which are all ready to be sent!
I'm really rather proud of these and anybody who knows me well will know I love making things so this will certainly be a rustic DIY wedding! I just think they add a real personal touch for your guests and are great for any bohemian, outdoors, rustic style weddings.
UPDATE 23rdMarch 2015: I am extremely chuffed that
so many of you love this template and I have received increasing requests for
the template I created in Word. Due to the number of requests I am happy to
continue sharing the template but I am asking for a small fee of £2 to cover my
time which can be paid via Paypal. If you would like the Word template I
created, please leave a message in the comments below or email me atlaydey_katabella@hotmail.co.uk
I also have templates for the following:
-Rustic Save the Dates
-Thank you cards
-RSVP Cards
Each template is £2 each or to purchase the
entire package (including extra images) it’s £6.
Please note: My ‘DIY guide and template’ are for
individual, private use and not to be used for distribution or resale. Many
thanks
I hope you liked this DIY. Please feel free to ask me any questions below and stay tuned for more wedding DIY :-)
