THIS MONTH...
Here are four great Christmas gifts, sure to thrill whoever you give them to!  Details below...

Gift 1 - Mulberry Candle Pot

YOU WILL NEED
White, green and red mulberry paper, top coat glass paint varnish, ultra fine glitter, paint brush and water, glass pot to decorate, tealight.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

• Use the paintbrush dipped in water to draw the outline of 3 small squares (about 4cm) on the white mulberry paper. Rip the paper along the wet lines (the water helps the paper to tear easily). Use the same method to draw the outline of 3 holly leaves on the green mulberry paper and tear them out and then draw small circles to make holly berries on the red mulberry paper.
• Paint the back of the first white square of paper with the top coat varnish and stick it on the side of your glass pot. Repeat this with the other 2 squares.
• Paint over the white mulberry squares on the side of the glass with the top coat varnish. Don’t go over the whole glass – just the paper.
• Position one holly leaf and one berry on each of the white mulberry squares and paint over the top with the top coat varnish. Leave to dry for about 30 minutes.
• Paint a thin line of top coat varnish around the rim of the glass and sprinkle the rim with the glitter whilst the varnish is still wet. Leave to dry for about 30 minutes, then carefully brush off the excess glitter with a soft tissue or dry brush. Finish off with a second coat of top coat varnish over the mulberry paper and leave to dry.
• Place a night light inside. The glass is washable as the top coat varnish protects the paper. Why not try your own designs.

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Gift 2 - Painted Light Bulb

YOU WILL NEED
Glass paint outliner (black), Glass paints (red, green and gold), light bulb, Paintbrush, sponge, surface cleaner.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

• Use the surface cleaner on a bit of tissue to clean the surface of your light bulb.
• Decide on your pattern - we chose to do holly leaves and berries, and draw the outlines onto the surface of the bulb using the outliner. (Something random is easiest – even just plain stripes can look really coo)l. As you paint on your outlines, be careful not to smudge the lines you have already painted.
• Wait for about 15 minutes for the outliner to be touch dry, then fill in the holly leaf outlines with green glass paint and the berries with red glass paint.
• When the red and green glass paint is touch dry (about 15 minutes) sponge in between the painted shapes with gold glass paint. Leave the bulb to dry completely – a tip is to stand the bulb upright in a shallow nest of kitchen roll in a small dish.

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Gift 3 - Snowflake Painted T-shirt

YOU WILL NEED
Ice blue and Diamond glitter Tulip Paint, masking tape, a palette or old margarine style lid, sponge, 2 pieces of A4 scrap paper and a pre-washed plain T-shirt.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

• Use the masking tape to make an outline for the background blue and then make 3 different size  shapes inside this outline using strips of masking tape. It looks best if 2 of your shapes go over the edge of your outline.
• Press the masking tape down really well. Position the scrap paper inside your T shirt behind the outlined pattern to protect the back in case the paint soaks through whilst you are painting your design.
• Squeeze the blue tulip paint onto a palette (we used on old clean margarine tub lid as it can be thrown away after you’ve finished) and use the sponge to dip into the paint and sponge over the whole of the inside of your masked outline.
• When this is dry – about 30 minutes, carefully peel off all the masking tape. Use the glittery tulip paint to draw snowflake shapes inside the masked shapes. Leave to dry flat (overnight is best). When dry, you can remove the paper from inside your T-shirt.

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Gift 4 - Photo Bookmark

YOU WILL NEED
A piece of funky foam, acetate and card all cm x  cm, a piece of tracing paper, pencil, glue, the photos you want to put into the bookmark, sequins / glitter / stickers / gel pens etc to decorate your bookmark.

WHAT DO YOU DO?

• Arrange your photos on the card and when you are happy with the layout, place the tracing paper over the card and draw window shapes a bit smaller than your photos.
• Transfer these window shapes onto the piece of foam and cut the holes out.
• Decorate one side of the card – write a special message, personalise with a name or with a favourite colour etc
• Place the foam against the undecorated side of the card and draw round the window shapes with the pencil. Use these to show you where to stick your photos. Glue the back of the photos and stick them down.
• Trim the acetate to be a bit smaller than the card and foam, but big enough to cover the holes you have cut in the foam. Glue it in place behind the holes.
• Glue round the edge of the foam and stick it in place over the photographs. Decorate the front of your bookmark – we used snowflake sequins.

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JUST BEFORE YOU GO...

As with all our projects, the originals are on show in the shop where help is also on hand. We would love to see the cards you make – come in and show us.