1 Mini-bouquet foliage cards
These sweet miniature bouquets of festive foliage make wonderfully inventive greetings cards.
YOU WILL NEED • A4 white card • Scissors • Sprigs of foliage • Red cotton thread • PVA glue or a hot-glue gun
1 Fold a sheet of A4 card in half. Cut along the fold and fold each piece in half to create two A5 cards.
2 Gather festive foliage, such as rosemary, pine leaves and cotoneaster. Cut the sprigs to similar heights – our longest sprigs are around 10cm – and remove the lower leaves.
3 Arrange your mini bouquet so that the sprigs of foliage fan out gracefully, rather than being bunched up together.
4 Tie the sprigs tightly by wrapping red thread around the stalks from the bottom to around 2.5cm up the spray. Secure by tying a knot at the back.
5 Glue the bouquets to the front of your cards using PVA glue or a hot-glue gun.
2 Ribbon twig tree decoration
This simple tree decoration is full of colour and rustic charm. It’s so easy to do, why not get the kids involved so they can try making one themselves?
YOU WILL NEED • Twig (approx 15cm long) • Secateurs • Selection of ribbons including ricrac ribbon and twine • Scissors • PVA glue • Scatter stars
1 Collect a selection of twigs and use secateurs to trim them to a length of around 15cm each. Choose twigs that are naturally quite straight.
2 Cut a piece of ribbon around 15cm long. Cut five more, each around 2cm shorter than the last. Starting with the longest piece, tie the ribbon onto the twig at its centre, 2cm from the bottom of the twig. Repeat with each ribbon at 2cm intervals, decreasing the length as you get to the top.
3 Tie on a loop of ribbon or twine at the top for hanging, and stick on a little wooden scatter star with PVA glue to top it off.
3 Lavender & rosemary body scrub
This wonderfully scented beauty gift is perfect for the person in your life who needs a bit of ‘me time’. The soothing body scrub gently exfoliates your skin – ideal for some indulgent pampering.
YOU WILL NEED • Medium-sized storage jar • 150g granulated sugar • 120ml cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil • Lavender essential oil • Rosemary essential oil • Dried lavender
1 To make the lavender and rosemary body scrub, fill a medium-sized storage jar with the granulated sugar and then tip the sugar from the jar into a mixing bowl so you have the right amount.
2 Add the cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, 6 drops lavender essential oil, 4 drops rosemary essential oil and a few dried lavender flowers to the sugar. Mix together well with a wooden spoon, pour back into the storage jar and seal it tightly. Add a label and festive ribbon.
4 Mini tree place markers
Swap a traditional floral arrangement for a tiny evergreen forest on your Christmas table with these adorable mini trees – simply pop one on each plate.
YOU WILL NEED • Untreated timber • Electric saw (optional) • Sandpaper (medium-grade and fine-grade) • Drill (optional) or a hammer, nail and pliers • Alphabet stamping kit or letter stencils • Pine sprigs
Buy a
