5 items you can upcycle as Christmas decorations
Don’t want to shell out for expensive Christmas decorations? We’ve compiled a list of five things that you might have lying around that you can upcycle and give a new lease of life to this Christmas.
With Christmas just around the corner, for many it’s decorating season. Whether you’re looking for something creative to do with your family, reduce your carbon footprint, or just looking to save money, there are many benefits to upcycling something old into something, well… festive!
If you’re a newcomer to upcycling and find the idea quite daunting, why not check out our blogpost on upcycling and rearranging tips? Once you’re good to go, have a look at these five items that you might have in your home or business that you can repurpose as decorations:
- Old Toilet Rolls
Old loo rolls: we all have them. And especially if you are waiting for fortnightly recycling collection, they might start to pile up. Luckily, there are multiple ways that toilet rolls can be spruced up and turned into something festive.
Carol Singers:
You can utilise a multiple old rolls at once by turning them into a little group of festive carol singers – this will work best if you have around four rolls. For a full list of instructions, click here. And if you want an extra little flourish, you could knit, sew or find a small hat and/or scarf so your carollers don’t get too chilly.
Reindeer:
A slightly trickier option for your toilet rolls is making reindeer. These require more decoration, but are sure to add a splash of DIY Christmas magic to your home or workspace. For our personal favourite method of upcycling loo-roll to reindeer, check out this comprehensive guide from firstpalette.com.
- Coffee Cans and Larger Tins
Have used coffee cans or large tins lying around? Good news! You can make them into a festive Santa Planter with very little effort. All you have to do is take a can or tin of your choosing and paint it a nice red colour. Then find a spare belt, preferably black (it is meant to be Santa after all) and fasten it around the can/tin once it has dried. The only thing left to do now is add soil and a plant of your choice, and voila: your very own Santa planter!
- Wine Glasses
Wine glasses: a Christmas essential? In this case, we certainly think so. Why? Because you can use them to make decorative snowmen of course! You might need a trip to the shops for some Epsom salt for this one, but we think it’s definitely worth the extra trouble. For details, including a full list of instructions, please visit the original creator.
Bonus – Lightbulbs:
For an extra tip, you can also use the same method used to make your wineglass snowmen to make lightbulb snowmen, which you can thread some string through and hang on your tree as an ornament.
- Clothes pegs
It’s safe to say that you probably won’t get much pegging-out done over the festive period. But don’t worry, you can still get plenty use out of your clothes pegs. All you’ll need is some paints and you can use these versatile tools to create a number of different festive friends. You can paint them black and use a pipe cleaner scarf and make a penguin, or make a paper hat and paint them green to make an elf – the choice is yours! Pin them to your Christmas tree, or just around the house, there are plenty of options. Bear in mind that this works best with classic wooden pegs as they’re the easiest to paint. Click here for a full list of instructions.
- Pine cones
Pine cones?! Yes, pine cones. They might not be lying around the house, but you won’t have to stray very far from your door to find some at this time of year. The best thing is, like the clothes pegs, pine cones are a versatile decoration. You could paint them to look like a mini Christmas tree, and more.
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