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Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas and all that. I don't want to sound too much of a scrooge but, I just don't feel the Christmas spirit yet. That could be because it is still only October and we still have a good many weeks to go before the yuletide is upon us or it could be because I don't have any children to keep reminding me that Santa is coming soon, who knows. What I do know is that the shops have started stocking Christmas decorations, mince pies and Christmas puddings already, so in order to keep up with our overly eager competition, we at ScotlandShop have decided to present to you a series of blogs covering all things festive. So, although in reality it may not, let's pretend that the song is right and say, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Make your own Christmas decorations
In order to help it begin to look a lot like Christmas, we thought it would be fun (I use the collective pronoun quite inappropriately I assure you) to show you how to make your own Christmas decorations. All of the ScotlandShop staff have pitched in ideas to help you add a touch of tartan to your tree's trim. Anna's idea is up first.
Gingerbread Clan Biscuits
Basically it seems that this time of year is a time not for family but for fattening, especially if you live in the north of the UK like we do. Think about it, the days get much shorter, the weather is appalling and the Great British Bake off is on telly. This means that there is very little time to do any exercise and if you were to venture out for a run or a bike ride, you'd likely die of exposure so we sit inside and watch Mary Berry tasting amazing delicacies created by talented amateur bakers. With this in mind, I have decided that my decoration is going to be a Gingerbread Clan - that is gingerbread men decorated to look like highlanders, and like all highlanders, there can be only one - in this case it is because I was too lazy to make more than one and the Bake Off was on the telly.
What you need to make Gingerbread Clan Biscuits
- 450g Plain Flour
- 1tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
- 2 tsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Mixed spice (I used All Spice, Cinnamon and Nutmeg)
- 125g Unsalted Butter
- 115g Light brown sugar
- 100g Golden Syrup
- 1 egg
How to make Gingerbread Clan Biscuits
- Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
- Mix the sugar, golden syrup, and butter in a pan. Place the pan over a low heat and stir until the butter is melted and all the sugar has dissolved. It may look a little funky at first, but persevere and you will end up with a nice smooth syrup. Once this has been achieved, remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool.
- Mix all the remaining ingredients, except for the egg, in a bowl.
- Add the cooled syrup to the dry ingredients along with the egg and give it all a good stir until a dough is formed.
- Put the dough in the fridge to firm up for a wee while
- Roll out the dough so it is about half a centimetre thick.
- Using a cuter, make as many gingerbread men as you can (I made a custom cutter out of cardboard for mine so I could get the appearance of a kilt and tam then used a knife to go around this template).
- Put your Clansmen on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.
- Remove the gingerbread men from the oven and allow to cool before icing them with your favourite tartan design (I cheated and used shop-bought icing but you could always make your own).
Tartan Chains
We have come up with a these fantastic tartan chains that you could use to decorate your Christmas Tree or anywhere in your house if you felt so inclined. Can you not remember as a child sitting stapling coloured paper or chopped up magazines? Use a single tartan for a co-ordinated look, mix and match your plains and tartans if you want to pick out a particular colour, or just use up all your scraps to create a fantastic mish-mash of colours.
What you will need to make tartan chains
- Plenty of strips of tartan
- A roll of Wundaweb (or any other heat activated hemming adhesive)
- An iron
How to make tartan chains
1.Cut your tartan into strips. I find that strips of about 10 inches in length are best. Also, you will need strips of two different widths, I think 1 inch and 1.5 inches are about right and then you can see plenty of the tartan pattern too.
2. Using your heat activated, adhesive hemming tape, glue the narrower strip onto the wider strip and iron to secure.
3. Repeat this as many times as you can, the more strips you make, the longer your chain will be.
4. Form the strip into a ring and secure the ends together, you could use staples, glue or thread, it's really up to you.
5. Feed a second strip through the centre of the ring you just made and then turn this strip into a ring, as above.
6. Repeat this until you have either used up all of you tartan strips or all of your patience.
We love to see pictures of your creations so if you make some magnificent tartan chains or any other Christmas decoration then send us the photos and we can share your inspiration with our followers.
Tartan Tree Trim
Emma has come up with this fantastic way of using up leftover ribbon.
What you will need to make a Tartan Tree Trim
- A good length of ribbon (wired tartan ribbon would work well)
- A whole bunch of beads
- A length of yarn or twine
- A large needle
How to make a Tartan Tree Trim
1. Tie a knot in one end of your yarn, then thread your needle on the other end - simple, eh?
2. Thread one of the beads onto the yarn before making your first fold in the ribbon. This first fold will form the base of your tartan tree. After making this fold, pierce the ribbon with the needle as close to its middle, making sure to go through both layers of ribbon.
3. Add another bead to your thread and then repeat the treading process, making sure to put beads between each double layer, these will give the tree its height
4. Continue threading the tartan ribbon on to the yarn until you get to the top. Cap it off with a final bead and tie the yarn into a loop so you can hang it from your tree.
We have had great fun learning how to make our own Christmas tree decorations. Have you got some clever ideas to share with us? Let us know and we will share your inspiration with our readers
Tartan Christmas decorations
Bonnie Tree Baubles
Emily has come up with a great way of using up some of those tartan scraps you may have lying around (if you don't have any scraps of your own at home, check out our bags of remnants to make these quirky Christmas baubles.
What you will need to make Bonnie Tree Baubles
- A spool of thread
- A couple of needles
- A pen
- A plastic cup
- A pair of scissors
- A nice stack of tartan
How to make Bonnie Tree Baubles
1. Draw around the cup to create a circle, repeat this until you have more circles than you can count.
2.Now cut out all of your lovely little circles.
3. Take one circle and lay it on a flat surface. Fold a second circle in half and place it on the first circle then secure this half circle with a stitch. Repeat this action so you have two half circles stitched to the centre of the original circle.
4. Choose another circle of tartan, fold it in half and then half again so you end up with a circle of tartan a quarter the size of the original. Take the corner of this piece and stitch it to the centre of the pile of circles.
5. Repeat the action stated in 4 until the quarter circles have filled the area of the original shape, remembering to secure each one with a stitch.
6. Secure all of these with a stitch, turn over the bauble and repeat all of the above for the other side to form a spherical ball of tartan cheer.
If you want to get really personal and create baubles in the family tartan then our craft swatches give you enough fabric to do this. You can always mix and match your tartans or include a few plain coloured circles if you are running out of fabric.
Tartan fabrics
Those are some of our ideas of how to add a touch of tartan to you Christmas decorations. If you have a go at making some of these yourself, why not send us a picture of how they turn out, we'd love to see it. Also, if you have your own excellent ideas for tartan decorations, don't hesitate to get in touch.
