Christmas baubles

I know, it's only October! But if you want a handmade Christmas you have to start early.



I love how these look together. These use a mixture of Laura Ashley and Amy Butler papers.

You will need:
Polystyrene balls (I got mine from ebay, about £5 for 20)
Some 7inch florist wire
Wallpaper paste
Paper
Acrylic varnish



Step 1:
Use wallpaper paste because it stays nice and wet for ages, and you want to be able to mould the paper to shape. Make the paste quite "sloppy".
If you use quite thick paper, leave it to soak for a minute or so in the paste to soften.

Step 2

Chop up the papers randomly, into little bits.

Step 3

Bend the wire into a loop and twist the end inch together.

Step 4

Stick the end into the bauble

Step 5

This is the messy bit. Start by handing the bauble from something, then gradually cover the surface in your gluey paper.

Take your time, and allow the paper to soften if it's too stiff to work with.

Step 6
Allow to dry, it could take a whole day. When dry, apply a coat of varnish.

It also works quite well without the wire. Here are some I made using mullberry paper and some gold thread which look quite effective arranged in a bowl.

A

A note from Julie : Thanks for a great tutorial Anna !! For further inspiration check out Anna's Marmadaisy Blog HERE