The idea and photograph were kindly provided by Karen Brooks-Hodges.

What you will need

• 39 toilet paper roll tubes: use fewer to make a tree smaller than that shown in the photo; you can use halved kitchen towel rolls instead
• 39 small Christmas baubles (you need as many baubles as toilet paper roll tubes); shatterproof baubles are safest
• Wide, festive ribbon
• Tree topper of your choice
• Sheet of cardboard or thick paper to stick the toilet paper roll tubes onto (optional)
• Suitable glue
• Scissors

What to do

1. Simply glue the cardboard rolls together in the form of a Christmas tree shape. Make sure that the “trunk” of the tree is wide enough to stop the tree from toppling over. Also, to help make the structure sturdier, you may want to use a large piece of cardboard or thick paper as a backing. You can draw the shape of tree you want to make on the cardboard before you start sticking on the rolls. If you do use a cardboard backing, remember to cut off the excess card around the tree shape.
2. Now glue a bauble inside each tube. You can really change the appearance of the decoration by changing the color scheme. Consider choosing baubles to match your bathroom.
3. Tie a wide ribbon around the entire Christmas tree shape (you may want to glue it down). A bow on the top, like that shown in the picture, looks particularly pretty.
4. Attach a tree topper to the top of the tree and you are done!

There are several things that you can do with your old, used Christmas cards besides simply recycling them along with your usual paper and card. Here are several ideas that are fun to do, festive, and environmentally advantageous!

Making new cards and tags

• Cut out pretty sections of the old cards to make into gift tags for the following year. You might want to cut using pinking shears so that the tags have zig-zag edges. Use a hole punch to punch a hole in one end of each tag, and leftover ribbon to attach the tag to a gift. Remember to recycle the remaining parts of the cards that you have not used.
• Some cards can be cut in such a way that they can be refolded into miniature Christmas cards. These would be ideal for children to give or receive.
• Cut the backs off your old Christmas cards and turn the “fronts” into Christmas postcards. A bonus is that postcards are normally cheaper to send than cards in envelopes.
• Cut out parts of the card and use them to make homemade cards the following year. Many card-making kits contain card shapes that could easily be replicated using old Christmas cards.

Framing ideas

• Frame your favorite winter scenery cards. Framed pictures make lovely gifts, especially for people who have just moved house. Many Christmas cards actually show local landmarks or scenery. Framing such a card and giving it to someone who lives or has lived in that area is also a nice idea. It shows that you have put thought into the gift.
• Some serving trays are designed to double up as a frame for either one or several pictures. These are sometimes called “photo trays” or “picture trays”. Put in your favorite Christmas cards and you will have a lovely festive tray!
• You can also get photo frame coasters. These are normally square and made of glass with foam pads underneath to protect the table from scratches. Like with the trays, insert your favorite Christmas cards (you may have to cut them) to add festivity to your home decor.
• You could make a framed collage of your favorite cards and hang it up as a holiday decoration.

Decoration ideas

• Use cut out shapes of old cards to decorate wrapped presents. This works especially well with gifts wrapped with Kraft (brown) paper or single-colored paper.

Other ideas

• Make a scrapbook of all your favorite cards.

Although the contents of Christmas card kits vary, they all contain everything you need to make beautiful and unique Christmas cards. In general, Christmas card kits contain blank cards, envelopes, and a selection of embellishments. Embellishments may take the form of ribbons, glitter, stickers, die cuts (cut out shapes made of paper, material, foam, wood, or cardboard), beads, false jewels, etc. The kit may include adhesive foam pads that are used for sticking items together to create a 3D effect. The kit might also contain a festive stamp or stick-on metallic letters. General instructions are sometimes included too. Christmas card kits normally have a certain color scheme or theme. Therefore, if you want to make more varied cards, consider purchasing several kits. You can then mix and match the contents of the kits to produce your own style of Christmas cards.

You can also purchase cross-stitch Christmas card kits. These contain all you need to make Christmas cards each featuring a festive cross stitch panel. They’ll normally contain a selection of cotton, aida fabric (the material you stitch on), a needle, cards, envelopes, and a chart with full instructions. These kits often contain materials for making just one card.

If you want to write a verse or poem on the inside of the card, consider some of these Christmas quotes.

Before you send your card, you may want to write something like “Handmade by …” on the back of the card. You can even purchase stick-on metallic lettering with the words “Handmade by”.

Christmas card kits can be purchased from many places. Try your local craft or art stores. Or shop online at stores such as QVC (which also has a TV channel) or Amazon. Remember to give yourself plenty of time to make the cards before Christmas!

If you have any more ideas to add, please contact me!

Indoor living areas

• Fill a colorless glass bowl or sphere with Christmas lights.
• Decorate your indoor plants with Christmas lights. If you use battery-operated lights, you won’t have to worry about having a plug socket nearby. You could even hang small Christmas ornaments on your plants. Decorating plants you already have is ideal if you don’t have space for a traditional Christmas tree.
• Tie wide-ribboned bows around the pots of your plants.
• Put pieces of holly, preferably with berries, on the tops of the picture frames on your walls.
• Wrap a long tinsel garland around your stairway banister.
• Drape tinsel over the tops of the picture frames on your walls. You could hang a light-weight bauble at either end.
• Make a paper chain garland by gluing strips of red and green paper to make connected rings. These chains can be hung on your Christmas tree or anywhere else in your house.
• 
  Photo credit: Ti Marner

  Fill a large glass dish with water and add some floating candles. Remember that you should never leave lit candles unattended.

• If you want to create an old-fashioned display around your fireplace, consider hanging regular, long socks (preferably red or green) instead of the wider Christmas “stockings” that you find in Christmas decoration departments.
• If you have a fireplace, but don’t use it, place a roughly tangled set a Christmas lights where the logs or coal would normally be.
• Fill a decorative bowl with pinecones, acorns, and dried fruit, such as orange slices and clove-studded pomanders.
• Fill a glass bowl with baubles. This will make a lovely table centerpiece.
• 
  Photo credit:
  Anne-Marie Huffman Garcia

  Make a Christmas display on the top of your piano. You can use anything you like, such as lights, (artificial) pine garland, baubles, Christmas cards, fake snow, model village buidlings, etc.

Christmas tree ornaments

• Make little “parcels” to hang on your tree by wrapping empty matchboxes (or any other small boxes you may have) with Christmas paper. Use ribbons or string to create a parcel effect and a loop for hanging. If your tree has a color scheme, choose paper and ribbons that will match your existing ornaments. If you have kids, you may want to fill the boxes with small gifts or candies before you wrap them. Just make sure there are no matches still inside the boxes! For fire safety reasons, make sure that the boxes don’t touch any Christmas lights.
• Hang Christmas cards you have received on your Christmas tree. Hang larger cards near the bottom and smaller cards near the top of your tree. Again, for fire safety reasons, make sure that the cards don’t touch any Christmas lights.
• Make small red and green yarn pom pom ornaments. You could mix in some silver or gold-colored yarn to add extra sparkle.

Windows and windowsills

• Make paper snowflakes and hang them in your windows (inside) using very thin string, wire, or cotton. Alternatively, stick them to the inside of your windows using white tack. You could also hang them on your Christmas tree
• Cut out star shapes from cardboard and cover them with aluminum foil (shiny side up). Like with the snowflakes, use them to decorate your windows or Christmas tree.
• Lay or hang Christmas lights along the windowsill of your front room. You and passers-by outside will enjoy their festive glow.

Doors

• Wrap Christmas lights around your Christmas wreath. Make sure that they are suitable for use outdoors if your wreath is outside.
• Instead of hanging a wreath on your door, hang a bunch of holly, ivy, berries, and mistletoe, tied together with a red bow.

Garden

• Decorate a tree or bush in your front garden with Christmas lights. Make sure that they are suitable for use outdoors.
• Hang shatterproof baubles on a tree or bush in your garden. Shatterproof baubles are becoming increasingly popular for safety reasons.

NOTE: Lights and candles are both fire hazards. Never leave them unattended and always make sure that they are not near anything flammable!

If you make a living garden, you might want to first decide whether it will be kept indoors or outdoors. This way, you can choose the most suitable plants.

You can really be creative with this project. There are endless styles of garden that you can create, depending on the plants you choose and the accessories you add! For instance, you could make a winter wonderland with a frozen lake and miniature snowmen. Or you could add some snow-covered buildings and a Santa to create a North Pole village!

What you need

• A pot for your “garden”. It is best to have one that is fairly shallow but wide, so that you have a large surface area to work with. If it is going to be a fake garden, you could use a dish or tray.
• Soil or, in the case of a fake garden, another pot-filling material.
• A small trowel or knife for digging holes in the soil.
• Surface covering materials (optional). Possible materials include real or fake moss, wood chippings, glass stones, and pebbles. Snow could be imitated using cotton wool or polystyrene chips, or, if your garden is fake, salt or sugar. Use glitter to make the snow sparkle.
• Plants (real or fake). Here are some plant suggestions: miniature evergreens, poinsettias (these won’t survive below 10°C (50°F)), holly or other berry plants, “dusty miller” plants, and moss. Instead of discarding your garden after Christmas, consider transforming it into a Spring or Easter garden by planting some bulbs and decorating with accessories such as rabbits, chicks, and eggs.
• Christmassy accessories (optional). Here are some accessory ideas: Santa Claus, sleigh, reindeer, snowmen, penguins, model houses and/or church (you could put battery-operated candles inside the buildings, but remove them before watering!), nativity stable, and a mirror (looking like a frozen lake). If you are not sure how to get miniature accessories for your garden, consider using Christmas cake decorations. If your garden is fake, you could even decorate it with miniature led Christmas lights. Using battery-operated led lights will allow you to easily place your garden anywhere.

General instructions

1. If it is going to be a living garden, you will need to fill your pot with soil. If it’s going to be a fake garden, you will need to fill your pot with a filler so that the garden is at the right height. Alternatively, use a shallow dish that doesn’t require any filling.
2. It is now time to build your garden! It is a good idea to at least roughly design it before you start planting any plants. Remember that your garden does not need to be level; you can make hills or mini mountains using pebbles or rocks. Once you have a plan, start planting plants and placing Christmas accessories. You may want to cover some or the entire surface of the soil (or filling material) or dish. See the list above for suggestions.
3. Once made, try not to put your garden next to a radiator. Also, remember to water your garden!

1. Roll up a piece of (coloured or patterned) paper into a cone shape. Before securing this with adhesive tape, make sure that the hat will fit the intended recipient!
2. Now start decorating it! Consider glueing on glitter, ribbons, Christmas tinsel, holly, and any other Christmassy decorations.
3. Why not wear it during your Christmas dinner?