5 Simple Christmas Crafts | 12 Crafts of Christmas

Happy 4th of December everyone! Now that we're officially in the month of Christmas, I thought I'd share a whole load of Christmas crafts with you which you may be pleased to know are all simple and very much user-friendly! I'm carrying on my 12 Crafts of Christmas theme so by the end of this post I'll have shared 7 crafts with you. So without further ado, onto crafts number 3 and 4 which come in the form of craft kits.

We don't always have a vast amount of materials to hand or perhaps we need a bit of guidance when it comes to trying something new which is why craft kits are brilliant.

Craft no 3- Felted Robin Kit

I picked up this cute felting kit from Kirstie Allsopp's Handmade Fair back in September and couldn't wait to give it a try. It comes with everything you need to create this cute Christmas robin, plus there's enough felt left over that you could easily make another one. As a newbie to felting, I was keen to give it a try and found poking and manipulating the felt into a robin-esque shape somewhat therapeutic!

I still feel I could do with a bit a lot more practice as mine doesn't look quite like Kirstie's but I like to think he has a bit of character and will be nestled in the branches of our Christmas tree this year.

Craft no 4- The Retro felted Bauble

Craft number 4 I also picked up at The Handmade fair and is another simple but effective Christmas craft from Mollie Makes magazine and is a great design for any retro lover.

Again the kit comes with everything you need from the felt to the embellishment and is a great introduction into felt crafting- again something I've never tried before! It's also a great way to incorporate your love for handmade into your Christmas décor. There are so many kits on the market, some as little as £1 (like this one) and make for a fun crafternoon with friends and family. I also love this one and at £2 you can't really go wrong!

Now felting and craft kits aside, lets get onto the final 3 simple Christmas crafts.

Craft No 5- DIY Noel

Another quick and easy craft is to simply paint some letters for Christmas. I picked up these MDF letters in Hobbycraft along with some red acrylic paint and set to work painting them red. The acrylic paint dries really quickly and after two coats I was done! You could easily get more creative and add a design or even decoupage the letters- whatever your creativity desires. I opted for plain red letters as there's A LOT going on in our living room this Christmas.  Watch this space...

Craft No 6- Super simple Christmas cards

Card making can be quite time consuming so to save yourself some hassle and look like you've gone to a lot of trouble- invest in a stamp.

I picked up this amazing hand carved wooden stamp at The Handmade Christmas Fair in Manchester and instantly fell in love. It was so intricate and beautiful I just had to have it. At £15 it was a little pricey but I knew it would be an investment in my craft kit.

I tried both stamp ink and paint with the stamp, each giving a different type of effect and decided to go with paint as it gives a crisper and clearer image.

Team it with a bit of added sparkle and glitter and you've got yourself a Christmas card! They take minutes to make and your loved ones will, well... love them!

Craft No7- Pine cone baubles

These pine cone Christmas tree decorations are by far the easiest to do and are also a quick make which is perfect for a mid-week make.

You will need:

• Pine cones
• Twine
• Nail polish
• Hot glue gun

Step 1- apply nail polish to the edges of the pine cone. You can use paint if you wish but nail polish is quick drying and something every female has around their house!

Once you have painted each edge they should look something like this...

Step 2- Cut a piece of twine to your desired length to create the hanging loop. 

Step 3- Apply hot glue to the end of your twine ends before applying to the pine cone.

Step 4- Hold the twine in place until the glue has set.

And voilà! There you have a super quick and easy DIY christmas decoration!

I also did a step by step video tutorial below:

So those are my 5 simple Christmas crafts! I hope you enjoyed them all and and found them useful.

Which one is your favourite and will you be making and yourself this Christmas?

Easy DIY Dog Bed Tutorial

Well hello everybody and happy Tuesday. I have another DIY post for you today which I'm really excited to share with you, especially as Harry is modelling for me today (he's such a poser this one) on his lovely dog bed I made!

This DIY dog bed is really easy to make and takes very little time too! It's perfect for any crafty beginners and I'm sure your pooch will thank you for it too!

You will need:

• Scissors
• Material- I used a patterned piece for the top and plain for the underneath but you can have it patterned all over if you like!
• Pins
• Sewing Machine
• Thread to match your material of choice

Have you noticed the material I'm using has dog print on it? From afar it's not too noticeable- a perfect print for any pooch!

Step 1

Measure your material. The top piece needs to be 100 cm by 76 cm and the bottom piece needs to be 114 cm by 76 cm. The bottom piece is longer to allow an overlap of material for the opening of the pillow. (If it doesn't make sense right now, don't worry it will- trust me!)

Step 2

Hem both ends of your bottom piece of material. These ends are going to be the opening of your dog bed.

Step 3

Fold your bottom piece of material in half, then cut along the fold.

Step 4

Lay out your top material on a flat surface. Place your bottom material over the top material, with the ends meeting and allowing an overlap of material in the middle to create an envelop effect. (This is will be your opening for the dog bed stuffing.) Ensure that the hemmed edges are in the centre and that all your material is facing inside out before sewing.

Step 5

Pin all the way around your material, pinning the edges of the envelop overlap on your bottom material also.

Step 6

Sew all the way around your material in a colour thread that best suites your material.

Step 7

Turn your dog bed cover the right way out and then stuff it to make a comfy bed! I used an old single bed duvet cover, which surprisingly wasn't too big! It fits really well, making a very cushioned and fluffed up doggy bed!

And you're finished!

I hope you guys like this DIY as much as I do. It's so simple and quick to do! I ended up making two covers so I can have one on and one washed. Harry LOVES his bed so much which I'm really pleased about and I like that the material fits in well with our decor as opposed to some of the garish mass produced dog beds.

If you have any questions leave a comment below and if you want to see more on how to make this I've also done a video tutorail below:

Have you done any DIYs for your pets?