Handmade cards with hanging heart Christmas tree decoration

These Christmas cards combine techniques from two of last year's craft projects to make a lovely Christmas card with a removable Christmas tree decoration.

They're very simple and all you need is

• White card
• Wrapping paper
• PVA glue
• Wool or string
• Needle

1. Begin by ripping the wrapping paper into smallish pieces. If the paper has words or motifs on it, such as snowmen, try to keep a few of these whole and put them to one side.

2. Fold the white card down the middle

3. Draw a heart on the front and cut this out - both the heart and the hole are needed

4. Take the cardboard heart, pieces of paper, and pva glue and begin building up layers of paper over it as in Paper mache Christmas decorations

5. After a couple of layers, and while the glue/paper is still wet and soft, push the needle through the heart where it will hang from.

6. Let the glue dry, then add a final layer using the pieces that you put aside earlier.

7. Push the needle through the hole again

8. On the inside of the folded card, lightly draw a slightly larger heart around the heart shaped hole

9. Follow the instructions for Sew simple Christmas cards to stitch the outline

10. Thread wool through the hole in the heart decoration

11. Line the heart decoration up with the cut out heart, and make a hole in the back of the card so that heart can hang - tie the string loosely at the back so that it can be untied and hung on a tree later

12. Write your greeting on the front and you're done



Christmas tree baubles

This is a bit of an addition to my Paper mache Father Christmas decorations, rather than a completely new post or idea.

Basically you follow the instructions in the Paper mache Father Christmas decorations post to create a solid paper mache base, but then instead of proceeding to paint it pink and turn it into Father Christmas, we go down a very slightly more tasteful route!

You will need
 

• Pva glue mixed with a dash of water
• Paintbrush or spatular
• Christmas wrapping paper
• A paper mache bauble (see Paper mache Father Christmas decorations )
• Need and string

Begin by carefully ripping out motifs from your Christmas paper - e.g. a whole reindeer or penguin, the words Merry Christmas, or whatever is on your paper.

Set these aside, they go on last to ensure that they remain whole and are not covered by other layers.

Now rip the rest of your Christmas paper up any way you like.

Cover your bauble with glue and then build up a layer of Christmas paper.

Once the whole bauble is covered with bright Christmas paper, add the pieces you set aside earlier as a final layer, trying to keep the motifs whole.

Finally, once dry, take your needle and firmly, but slowly, push it through the top of the shell and pull string through to create a hanging loop.

Then you're done!