The Billy Lids

The light will dance on these wintertime snowflakes, made from a variety of crystal-like beads.

It's easy to make a blizzard's worth of these sparkling snowflakes.

What You Need:

For each snowflake:

• 10 corsage pins with pearl ends (available in fabric and craft stores)
• Crystal-like beads in desired shapes and sizes
• 1 small cork
• Iridescent white glitter paint pen (usually used for fabric, available in craft and discount stores)
• Monofilament thread

Instructions:

1. Add beads to 4 pins. Place beads on 1 corsage pin in desired order, leaving the last 1/4 inch without beads. Make 3 more beaded pins using the same arrangement.

2. Make another set of 4 beaded pins, using a different arrangement. Make an additional set of 2 beaded pins. (You should have a total of 10 beaded pins.)

3. Add 4 matching pins to cork. Cut the cork, if necessary, so it is about 1/4 inch long. With the round side of the cork laying on the work surface, poke one beaded pin into the cork (close to work surface) like a spoke of a wheel. Place a matching beaded pin opposite the first. Place the remaining two opposite each other, between the first set.

4. Add remaining pins. Using the remaining set of 4 matching pins, poke each into the cork, slightly closer to the top of the cork and alternating with the first set of four. Place the remaining 2 beaded pins into each round end of the cork.

5. Cover the cork using glitter paint pen. Allow to dry. Apply a second coat, if necessary, and let dry.

6. To hang, cut a desired length of monofilament and tie to one spoke of the snowflake.

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These gingerbread friends hold hands to create a delicious holiday decoration for your wall or fireplace.

This decoration may be irresistible.

What You Need:

• Gingerbread Friends in desired quantity (see recipe)
• 1/8-inch-wide red ribbon
• Scissors

Instructions:

1. Make gingerbread mix and shape several gingerbread friends in the size desired.

2. Before baking, use a straw to make a small hole in each hand. Bake and cool cookies as directed.

3. Decorate as desired using icing and lollies.

4. Join hands. Connect the cookies together by threading thin ribbon through the holes in their hands. Knot the ribbon and trim the ends.

More Ideas:

• For a more lasting version, use oven-bake clay to make the gingerbread men.
• Other cookie cutter shapes make cute garlands, too -- try reindeer, snowmen, or Santa boots.

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Borrow this idea from a fresh garland of fruit and create a wreath that outlives the real thing.

You'll need:

• 10cm round saucer
• Dough
• Modelling tool
• Large and very small leaf cutters
• Cloves
• Small piece of net
• Calyx cutter (from a sugarcraft store)
• Cocktail stick (toothpick)
• Blossom plunger cutter

Paint colours: Winsor and Newton - Olive Green, Rose Malmaison, Linden Green, Spectrum Red Golden yellow, Spectrum Violet, Permanent White, Lamp Black.

Here's how:

Using the saucer, draw a circle on a baking sheet. Roll half the dough into a 35cm rope. Form the rope into a ring on the circle. Join the ends with water, smooth with a flat bladed knife, then flatten the ring with your fingers to about 4.5cm wide. Make two holes through the dough, opposite the join, for threading ribbon to hang the wreath.

Roll out half the remaining dough thinly and cut out 24 large leaves. Mark veins in these and arrange randomly on the ring often overlapping the edge, leaving room for fruit.

Apples and pears

Make five apples and five pears from small balls of dough. Taper the balls to make the pears. Push a clove into the top of each one so that the stalk is left sticking out and into the bottom so the star shaped end of the clove is showing. Arrange these in pairs evenly around the wreath.

Cherries

Make two pairs of cherries and place these on either side, adding a couple of small leaves to cover the ends of the stalks. Stalks are just very thin dough ropes joined at the ends to make pairs.

Grapes and strawberries

Working directly on the dough build up a bunch of small dough balls to represent grapes, again adding a clove for a stalk. Arrange a bunch of grapes and a small group of strawberries (simply use a cocktail stick to mark a strawberry-like texture on the moulded fruit and use the calyx cutter to stamp out a top) towards the bottom of the wreath.

Blackberries and plums

Model two or three sets of blackberries and plums (note the groove down the back of a plum) and arrange these to balance your design. To make a blackberry, roll a little ball of dough and place on a piece of netting. Gather the net around the dough and squeeze out through the holes. Remove each blackberry carefully on a knife and transfer it to the ring.

Flowers

Finally, cut out a few small flowers and fix them here and there where you think they are necessary. Indent the flower centres with a modelling tool or pencil and bake at 145C for 3 hours.

Painting and Finishing

Paint patchy, watery Olive Green on the leaves so that some dough is uncovered. While still wet, paint thin Rose Malmaison over the patches and blend the colours with a clean dry brush.

When the leaves are dry, paint the fruit - first the apples (watery Linden Green followed by equally watery Spectrum Red) and pears (Golden Yellow); dry before attempting the plums and grapes. Paint plums in Spectrum Violet/Rose Malmaison.

Then paint the cherries (Spectrum Violet with even more Rose Malmaison to get a purple-red) and the strawberries (Spectrum Red). Paint the flowers first with Permanent White, then add a little watery Rose Malmaison, before they are quite dry. Blend the colour a little with a clean, dry brush. Finish by painting the blackberries in Spectrum Violet/Lamp Black.

Varnish with one or two coats of clear gloss polyurethane varnish and add a ribbon bow.

Tip: To make hanging holes, simply wobble the end of a sharp modelling tool through the dough until the hole is large enough. Alternatively a far neater hole is made by using a plastic drinking straw to remove a little plug of dough.

Note: sugarcraft is another word for decorative cake icing. Suppliers can be found in the Yellow Pages under Cake Decoration Supplies

Source: Decorative Dough Joanna Jones (Merehurst)

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Mould some salt dough into a gift for a child's door or wall decoration.

Any initial is easy.

Basics

Before you actually start modelling, it is a good idea to make a small sketch of the initial so that you can decide on the best position for any figure or other decoration such as flowers, fruit, an animal - whatever is meaningful to the person receiving it.

Letters with bars and horizontal lines, such as A, H, B and P, generally look best with the figure arranged over the bar. Letters like J, I and L usually look better with the figure leaning against the upright. There are rogue letters, such as K, W and N, but with a bit of jiggling about you will always find somewhere to fit the figure - so don't give up even if you have got a friend called Zaria!

You'll need:

• Original Dough
• Cutters, moulding tools
• Paint and varnish

Here's how:

1. First draw the initial. Make sure that your dough is particularly well kneaded when you are making this type of initial, especially when shaping a letter with curves, such as B, D or P, as these tend to crack or dent if your dough is either too wet or too dry.

2. With perfectly kneaded dough and your little preparatory sketch to hand, roll out some ropes of dough in suitable lengths for your chosen initial. The ropes should be about as wide as two fingers held together.

3. Initials made from ropes of dough always look more professional if the corners are mitred and joins at other angles are cut to fit. However, do not let this prospect frighten you, because, unlike badly mitred wooden corners, mitres in dough can be gently coaxed into perfection using a modelling tool and with a bit of squeezing. Arrange the ropes of dough into the shape of your letter, making sure that all joins are dampened before fixing them together.

4. Build up the chosen figure and any other decoration such as flowers. When you have completed the arrangement, bake the initial at 145C for 2'/2 hours. When dry varnish back and front several times.

Tip: if you only put one hook in the initial it will probably hang at a crooked angle because of the unequal weight. Two hooks in the top with a ribbon running through them is better. If the initial is destined for a child's room, and particularly for the room door, add an anchoring hook at the bottom.

Source: Decorative Dough Joanna Jones (Merehurst)

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A web on the web!

Dreamcatchers look good against a wall as decoration, or hang them near a bed or window if you want to catch your dreams.

Dreamcatchers were originally made by the children of the American native Kiowa and Cherokee tribes.

Dreamcatchers represent a spider's web with a hole in the centre. The web catches the bad dreams which melt in the sunlight, and the good dreams pass through the centre hole and travel down the feather suspended from the centre.

It's believed that when you make a dreamcatcher, you should clear your thoughts and be at peace, because whatever energy surrounds you will be transferred to the dreamcatcher.

You'll need:

• Wire coathanger
• Thin wire
• Red and black knit fabric (eg, old T-shirts)
• Yellow and turquoise 12-ply wool
• Rubber band
• Decorations: ceramic beads, feathers and a snall piece of broken mirror
• Tools: pliers, scissors, pencil, wool needle

Here's how:

1. Cut and bend the coathanger into a 25cm-diameter circle. Overlap and bind the ends with the wire.

2. Cut a strip each of the black and red fabric, 4cm-wide and 3.5m in length. Snip each strip to measure 2.5m and keep the off-cuts. Starting from the right-hand side of the ring, bind the black fabric in a downward direction around the ring to the halfway point and back again to form a double layer. Knot both ends together and leave them loose. Repeat the process with the red fabric, starting from the bottom left-hand side, and bind in an upward direction and back again. You should now have the black ends on one side and the red ends on the other .

3. Divide the circle into quarters and mark. Wind 9m of wool into a skein (a ball) and secure with a rubber band. To form the web: work from left to right, threading the skein from the front, back over the ring and through the loop as in the diagram. Form four loops in each quarter.
   
   Continue, in this manner, working subsequent rows into the previous one until the circle is almost filled. Thread the wool onto the needle as the circle becomes smaller. The tension should be kept tight throughout. When finished, the centre hole should be about 4cm in diameter. Tie off the end.

4. Cut one 50cm-long strip each from the black and red off-cuts. Fold the strips, leaving one end longer than the other. Loop strips over the bottom of the ring (one to right, one to left of centre). Bring ends through the loops. Thread two to three beads onto each strip. To attach the feathers, tie a knot about 3cm from the ends, arrange a few feathers above the knots and bind tightly with wool. Trim the quill ends of the feathers flush with the binding.

5. Cut one strip of red fabric 40cm long. Fold the strip in half and enclose the mirror in the fold. Tightly bind with wool just under the mirror to hold in place. Holding the mirror in front, loop the ends around a small section in the centre of the web (see pic at top). Leave these ends loose at the front and wrap some wool above the mirror to hold the strip in place. Bind feathers to the ends, adding a few strands of turquiose and yellow wool.

6. To make the hanger, cut a 30cm strip of black fabric and attach in the same way as step 4 at the top of the ring. Thread a bead onto the strip and knot the ends together, leaving them loose.

Tip: The healing powers of a dreamcatcher are said to be greater when it is a gift. Personalise your gift by adding bits and pieces that hold special significance for the recipient.

Source: Better Homes and Gardens March 1996

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Bonbons are not only great for a festive table setting or kids parties, they make perfect lucky dip prizes.

Soft apricots or pinks work just as well as bold colours. The instructions make 12.

What You Need

• Crepe paper in various colours (e.g. red, yellow and purple)
• Ribbon to match, allow 70cm for each bonbon
• 14 cardboard toilet rolls
• Scalpel
• Masking tape
• Scissors
• Double-sided tape
• 12 snaps (sold in craft supply stores such as Lincraft for around 15 cents each)
• Trinkets

Instructions

1. Cut down the length of one toilet roll. Re-roll it so that the edges overlap and the roll is only 3cm in diameter. Tape the sides together using masking tape. Repeat for the remaining rolls.

2. Cut a piece of crepe paper 35cm long. Fold in each side 10cm. Trim the corner from the folded paper on each side of one end only. Place a piece of double-sided tape across the end of the crepe paper between the cut corners.

3. Place the snap on the paper towards the other end, and then place the prepared toilet roll beside it. Place a trinket in the toilet roll. Place a toilet roll at each end of the prepared roll. Remove the cover from the double-sided tape. Roll up the bonbon neatly from the snap end and secure at the top end with the double-sided tape.

4. Cut 2 pieces of ribbon 35cm long. Take one and place it 8cm from the edge of the roll. Move the outer roll slightly but do not remove it at this stage. Overlap the ribbon and pull tightly, then tie and make a bow. Now remove the outer toilet roll. Repeat at the other end of the bonbon, being careful to tie the ribbon the same distance in from the end so that the finished bonbon will look symmetrical.

5. Tease out the crepe paper gently around the edge at both ends to make a flower-like shape.

Source: Making Christmas Decorations (Murdoch Books)

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Stockings are a universal symbol of Christmas giving. Soon you'll have a stocking for every member of the family!

These in crystal organza cost very little in time and money and are sure to make a dramatic impact.

Indulge in the pleasure of lush fabrics and rich trims and decorate your home with extravagant-looking Christmas stockings.

You'll need:

• Paper; pencil
• 30cm crystal organza
• 50cm braid or cord for cuff decoration as desired
• Buttons, charms or findings
• 20cm cord for hanger
• Thread

Instructions

1. Enlarge pattern to desired size. The cuff is a rectangle shape - for the dimensions, double the width of stocking pattern top for the long side and measure halfway down stocking pattern for the short side.

2. Cut two stocking pieces and one cuff from organza.

3. Fold cuff in half lengthways, wrong sides together. Press. Open out flat and position braids and decorations along length of one half only, stopping at fold line. Stitch in place.

4. Fold cuff in half widthways, right sides facing. With raw edges even, stitch 1cm seam along raw edge. Press seam to one side. Fold cuff on previous fold line, wrong sides facing and baste raw edges together.

5. Place stocking pieces together, wrong sides facing and stitch around stocking shape, excluding top, with a 5mm seam. Trim, turn through and press.

6. Stitch around stocking shape, excluding top, 5mm from edge. Turn through. Press.

7. Place right side of cuff to wrong side of stocking, raw edges even, seams matched at back. Insert cons loop, for hanging at back seam. Stitch cuff to stocking wig a 5mm seam. Trim, overcast edge with zigzag stitch, turn cuff to right side of stocking and press.

Other ideas

• Damask and velveteen are a regal combination of colour and texture. Make stockings longer and leaner with heavier materials such as these.
• Organza, velvet and lace is very pretty. Why not embroider and bead them by hand or machine.

Enlarge diagram to desired size to make your stocking.

Source:Christmas Decorations (Murdoch Books)

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