First up is the lowly pine cone – you can find plenty of these on a country walk, and if you collect too many, you could even give away the surplus on Gumtree. The options with pine cones are endless. How about adding a little spray snow or making them shine by painting them in metallic gold, silver, red or green? If you don’t want to paint them, why not add some clear glue and dip them in glitter? If you’re of the more is more school of thought, you could even do all three. Then you just need to add a loop of cotton or ribbon and they’re ready to hang on the Tree. If pine cones aren’t for you, you could try getting creative with Brazil nuts or cinnamon sticks instead.

A slightly more involved but equally simple and effective idea is the clothes peg star. Some old-fashioned wooden pegs and a little paint are all that you need. The first stage is to separate the two halves of a handful of pegs by removing the metal clip and to build your star by arranging them side-by-side in a circle around a coin. You can use as many as you need to get the star effect then glue them together. Once dry, you can paint and decorate your star however you like.

If you’re anything like us, you’ll have some old glass jars cluttering up the kitchen or maybe some candle holders that are an under-used gift from last year. These can be repurposed with a bit of ribbon and a battery-powered tea-light candle. You’ll need a jar with a rim so you can fasten the ribbon around it and tie it in an attractive bow. That will give you a secure place to attach another loop of ribbon so you can hang it from the tree. If you’ve got some suitable glue, you can use that to add some extra grip; if not, you’ll need to tie the knot nice and tight. Once done, you’ll be ready to pop in your tea-light (you could try using glam glittery ones or easily make your own) and voilà – your stylish tree decoration is done.

Our last quick and easy idea couldn’t be simpler and will give your tree a cool, retro look. You can do this by:

If you’re feeling more adventurous, you can use exactly the same approach to make paper stars or Christmas Tree shapes. We suggest drawing an outline on card first then using that as a stencil so each one looks exactly the same. You can even experiment with sizes, doing smaller versions for higher up the tree.
If you’ve got kids, this is definitely something they can get involved in too – you might want to let them add their own colours and decoration for a more family feel to your Christmas tree craft.

The bauble has been a mainstay of Christmas Tree Decorations for decades. We love them as much as the next person but they can be a little uninspiring when bought off the shelf. Not so if you craft your own unique versions that will make your festive flair the talk of the season.

There are a few things you can do to spruce a standard bauble ready for the tree:

Clear baubles are a great base from which you can make something special – the possibilities are limited only by your imagination. You could try:

Saving money, helping the environment or enjoying a fun activity – whatever your motivation, we hope you’ve been inspired to have a go at crafting something truly one-of-a-kind. Why not start by exploring Gumtree’s arts and crafts listings today?