CHRISTMAS CRAFTING

I was on such a crafting kick this time last year, but this year I'm not so into it. I've done quite a lot of my Christmas shopping (don't hate me!), but I still love to include a few handmade items, so I thought I would do a little round-up of some craft ideas you might have missed if you haven't been reading my blog for very long - sorry about the repeat for anyone who's stuck around a while ;)

Last year I went on one of Quill London's calligraphy workshops with Imogen Owen and they kindly offered to create a free printable for 91 Magazine. This was one of my favourite features I put together for 91 Magazine because I loved the calligraphy class but it turns out I wasn't quite as talented as I thought I was going to be. Siobhan shot the lovely image above for the feature, which has templates to create a card and a gift tag.

I also got crafty with the printable myself, using the calligraphy motif to create little gift 'medals' and transform everyday paper bags into something a little bit more personal; the super-easy tutorial can be found here.

I actually created these little gift boxes for Valentine's day - and still have them piled up beside my bed because I couldn't bear to give them away! - and they would be perfect for gifting tiny treasures this Christmas too. Little children would love them (they could be gifts from Father Christmas' elves!) and they're perfect to wrapping up stocking fillers or little jewellery gifts.

And last but not least, clay ornaments. These are the easiest (not to mention cheapest!) DIY ever and result in a really thoughtful gift. I sent out plain brown paper Christmas cards with tiny personalised ornaments last year and they went down a treat. This year, I'm using the same tutorial to make larger discs as candle covers to stop my favourite candles getting dusty. On a side note, this DIY also informed my Christmas present from my parents; a new lens for my camera. Up until then, I had been using the kit lens it came with, but I borrowed my friend's lens to take these photos and knew I had to have one! It made a marked difference to my photos and has allowed me to take all of the food photos I'm not so proud of!