There’s nothing like a homemade touch to add a special touch to your festive celebrations. It’s also fun and relaxing to take a moment or two to be creative, and it can often be a much more economical way of decorating for your festivities.
To decorate each place setting at the Christmas dinner table, follow our DIY Christmas cracker how-to. An easy craft you can do with children, it’s lots of fun adding personalised treats to each guest’s cracker. This method makes one Christmas cracker, so simply increase the quantities below depending on how many you need.
DIY Christmas Cracker
What you’ll need:
Cardboard tube
Crepe or tissue paper
Glue gun & glue sticks
Ribbon
1-2 surprise gifts (small enough to fit inside the tube)
Scissors
Method:
Step one: Lay out one sheet of crepe paper on a flat surface and place the cardboard tube long-ways nearest to the longest edge closest to you. With the glue gun, place one line of glue along the top of the cardboard tube.
Step two: Roll the cardboard tube up in the crepe paper, securing one edge with the glue and stopping when you get close to the opposite longer edge. Place another line of glue along the edge of the crepe paper, the same length as the cardboard roll, and continue to wrap the roll, allowing the glued edge to seal.
Step three: At one end of the cracker where the cardboard roll ends, twist the loose paper and tie closed with a ribbon.
Step four: Drop your chosen gifts into the cracker from the open end.
Step five: Repeat step three for the remaining open end of the cracker and finish off both ends by snipping triangles into the paper with scissors.
Step six: Repeat step one – five for the number of crackers you need and once complete set out on your Christmas table for guests to enjoy.
Wreath Centrepiece
Create a statement centrepiece for your Christmas table in a few simple steps with our wreath centrepiece how-to. You can use real or fake spruce and decorative foliage depending on your preference, but we highly encourage garden foraging for extra special additions.
What you’ll need:
Natural wreath ring
Spruce
Decorative foliage, we’ve used:
Pinecones
Dried fruit
Faux red berries
Wooden mushrooms
Method:
Step one: Place the wreath ring flat on a table and arrange the green spruce around the ring, keeping to the same direction and tucking the foliage into the wreath to hold it in place. Keep adding the foliage until you can no longer see the wreath ring.
Step two: Arrange the pinecones, dried fruit and red berries around the wreath, spacing them out to decorate the whole wreath. Here’s where you can get creative and add whatever festive foliage you like, such a holly, mistletoe sprigs and ribbon.
Step three: Place your wreath in the centre of your tablescape and arrange two-three pillar candles in the middle. When you’re ready to sit down to dinner, arrange your place settings as normal, light the candle and enjoy.
