Inspired by Jess and Sam’s post about making Lego ornaments for Christmas, I looked up some sites I know offer patterns for other Christmas ornaments. If you want to make ornaments or are looking for a gift for a crafty person, try:
Needlework Boutique (based in Melbourne) 
A design by Krista Lynn (I like the Santa one!)
Modern Teaching Aids (mainly aimed at groups but you could just make heaps of them as gifts!)
Just stitching – kids and adults (check out their hints & tips, too)
Christmas crafting and other craft books from Fishpond books
Paint Christmas balls (adjust the materials and do all sorts of balls)
Any other suggestions?
Unfortunately, none of the above really cater for a summer Christmas and there is a lot of snow featured. If you know of some crafty patterns that suit an Aussie Christmas, please let us know!
Wow, this is a really handy compilation of sites- I hope you’ll do another as this Christmas comes closer 🙂 I especially loved the one about painting Christmas balls. I so often wish I were craftier but those look like something really fun that even I could manage. Thanks!
You’re welcome and a similar list this Decemebr is very likely, tulosai 🙂 I think we get craftier the more we do crafts, so start with osme easy ones nwo and who knows what you coudl be creating by Crhistmas!
Being a self proclaimed craft master, I’m always on the look out for new exciting and different crafting ideas. 80% of all my holiday decorations are homemade. I agree with Santa’s Elf, the more you do the easier it gets. Even Martha Stewart did not start as a professional. My family allso paints the glas balls, but a few years ago we changed it up a bit. Instead of painting the outside, we dropped drips of paint on the inside and swirled it around a bit. They were amazing. Give it a try, I think you will like how they turn out.
wWirling paint inside would look fantastic but be so easy to do – great idea, pocs 🙂
Also something to decorate your home or gift is a nice plate. If you can paint you can paint beautiful Christmas scenes on them, let dry an clear coat so they last and last. Or if you aren’t to handy with a paint brush you can use your old Christmas cards cut out design, make a collage or use the entire card. Modge podge with several coats. Clear coat twice, and you have a beautiful plate to either hang or use for small party tray.
What do you coat them with, pocs? I’m scared to use such plates much as I don’t think I can wash them and keep their design…
For those who crochet, here is an easy but cute idea to make Christmas ornaments or gift tags. Save the plastic rings from milk jugs or any item that has the ring connected to the cover. These are your base.
Take green worsted weight yarn and a size G hook, and do a simple single crochet around the plastic ring. Make sure this is fairly tight so the ring is completely covered. Slip stitch to close, then chain 1.
Single crochet in each stitch around. Slip stitch to close, chain 1.
Single crochet in first stitch, then work two single crochet in next stitch; repeat around, close with slip stitch.
Chain 3, skip first chain, single crochet in next; repeat around. Slip stitch to close. Cut yarn and work in ends.
Now you have a pretty little wreath. Decorate with beads, roses or what have you. Add a ribbon or length of gold thread to create a hanging loop.
I have no idea what half of that means, but thank you for sharing a simple (for those in the know!) little craft with us, hohoho 🙂
I am crafty as a rule. Crafty means as per crafts;) Around Christmas my craftiness escalates to full blown fanaticism. But it’s a nice thing to watch for the others. But my mother is even worse. She lives to touch, feel and admire craft books.
If nothing else, it sounds easy to know what to get your Mum for Christmas, Magic Pixel 🙂 Although finding a craft nook she doesn’t yet own could be a challenge I’m guessing!
I think craft is great – you get to be creative, use your hands, step away form our technology-driven busy world and you can end with something beautiful and/or practical.
Also Australia is the crafts capital of the world. I just wanted to say that, just because!!!
Never heard that, but happy for you to say it, Magic Pixel 🙂
Crafting is something I put slot of thought into especially around Christmas time. I don’t just craft to spruce up my home but I also use Mt crafting skills for gift giving. I think a lot more thought goes into a gift made by hand vs a store bought gift. It’s about the persons personality as much as the craft. For example the first Christmas each of my girls moved away from home they each got a quilted photo album designed with them in mind. The first page was always a hand written page that told all the things I loved about them and why they were special. Followed by a few pages of pictures when they were younger. The rest was left blank to fill in as the desired. Although the same gift, they were completely different.
What lovely gifts for your daughters, pocs. Even for those less skilled at crafts, the concept and a page of loving words is simple and special to do. And certianly a unique gift no one else will give them 🙂
Me to Magic Pixel, I usually don’t buy the books though, I try to figure it out, if I can’t, then I will purchase a book or check the Internet. If I get it wrong, I might come up with a new craft idea. I just look around and see what inspires me, and go from there.
trying and experiementing is what craft is all about – making something yoruself that express you 🙂
Many craft books I see look lovely but I would only make one or two things (if that) from them so you could end up with heaps.
I copy things I see or use the internet, too, pocs. Someimtes I reuse an old idea amny times, tweaking it to suit.
Hohoho, thanks for the tip. That sounds so much easier than crocheting wreaths without a form, which can be a pain.
I’m a tweaker also. Many of the books I find have hard to interpret instructions. I wing it most of the time. And sometimes turns out completely different, but equally as lovely.
I hate struggling with instructions that aren’t easy to understand! That’s soemthing I look at before selecting a craft or cooking book.