No festive door is complete without a festive Christmas wreath. You’ll need a wreath frame, or a hula-hoop, florist wire, scissors, evergreen branches, and anything else you’d like to decorate your wreath with. Start by wrapping your branches and foliage around your wreath frame and secure it with your florist wire. There are so many personal finishing touches, dried fruit, gold walnuts, little ornaments…if it’s attachable by wire, it works!

Fireplaces come into their own at Christmastime, we love cosying up in front of the fire as a family and it’s such a lovely area to decorate for the festive season. Forage for some foliage in your back garden or local surrounding area to proudly display on your mantelpiece…eucalyptus always looks gorgeous! Bring colour to your mantelpiece display by dotting dried orange slices and baubles amongst your greenery.

Get the lights up first and then put the decorations on with the lights lit, so you can see your gaps. We took apart an old chandelier and used every crystal on our tree…every year when we take it out, we smile and it brings back so many happy memories of Dick and I watching old movies and spending hours threading paper clips onto them!

Paper is a glorious material to use for your handmade Christmas decorations. You may think back to the 1980s when you think of paper garlands however, they are back on trend! The best part is that you can use leftover wrapping paper to create your own garlands or you could use simple brown craft paper and draw your own festive designs onto them. Drape them over your mantelpiece or be more traditional and hang them from the ceiling! Even add them to your wreath!

We are rather partial to a traditional gingerbread house! Arthur and Dorothy love making them and it’s become a tradition. Rather than buying one that’s already made up, try making the gingerbread yourself (an extra pinch of cinnamon is our top tip)! Or, if you’d rather, pick up a gingerbread house kit so you and the family still have fun constructing it without the extra hassle of baking your own gingerbread. The fun bit is decorating so let the kids run wild with this part.

Reuse your old toilet roll tubes by making Christmas crackers! Simply wrap the toilet roll tube with a patterned paper of your choice and secure. Then twist both ends and tie them with a ribbon. Make your crackers extra special and personalise them with your guests’ names, insert a treat and a handwritten joke (the cheesier the better) and they make for the perfect place setting.

Stockings are a Christmas tradition around the world and in the Strawbridge household we wouldn’t be without them! There’s nothing quite like the feeling of watching the children come down in the morning to open their stockings that are hanging above the fire…the excitement is just magical. As a fun craft project, you can print out a stocking template, there’s lots available online, and sew together using your favourite fabric.

Every year, Arthur and Dorothy help make our Christmas cards. You don’t have to be a and artist or a crafting expert, you just need to have fun and get a few supplies, a pack of stickers, for instance goes a long way! Little kids love a good old-fashioned potato stamp…Whatever the design, if it’s made with love, it’s perfect.