A Greener Christmas

MAKE YOUR CELEBRATIONS ECO-FRIENDLY, RECYCLABLE AND ZERO-WASTE WITHOUT SKIMPING ON STYLE…

NAPKIN RING

Thread 10 beads onto some craft wire. Fasten the wire by twisting the ends together. Push the wire ends back through the nearest bead to hide the join for a nice finish. Pop your new napkin ring over a napkin.

GARLAND

Create a beaded garland that can be displayed all year round. We used almost 100 beads, plus a 3m length of fine cord. Before you start, lay out the beads in a design of your choice, then tie a loop at one end of the cord and thread on the beads. Once all the beads are threaded, tie a loop at the other end and hang the garland on the Christmas tree, a wall or from small hooks on your mantelpiece.

WOODEN BEAD WREATH OPPOSITE

To make a beaded wreath, make a 25cm metal ring from 16mm gauge wire. Thread beads onto the ring in a pattern of your choice; ours was 1 big bead, then 3 small ones. Once the ring is full, twist the ends of the wire closed using pliers. Tie a length of wide ribbon about 75cm long over the join to disguise it. Tie the loose ends together and hang.

Space-saving trees

BAMBOO LADDER CHRISTMAS TREE OPPOSITE

This simple ladder can be used for towels once the decorations have been packed away. Cut two lengths of bamboo about 1.5m long with a hacksaw. Cut 5 rungs starting at 25cm and increasing in length by 5cm. Attach the first rung 20cm from the bottom. The rung should extend by 3cm on each side. Tie together with a criss-cross method using a length of brown leather thong. Attach the next rung 25cm up, using the same method. Continue until all the rungs have been attached.

POM-POM TREE

Use a glue gun to glue different sized pom-poms to some branches and arrange in a vase of your choice. You can use any colours you like.

SLIMLINE DOWEL TREE