INSPIRATION – DIY
CREATIVE COUNTDOWN TO THE WINTER HOLIDAYS
In the countdown to the winter break, we’ve dreamed up lots of fun craft projects for all ages and abilities. Here we offer tutorials on creative projects using our wonderful wallpapers. Get a head start on festive-season decorations, and decorate a tree or your whole home for wintertime celebrations!
Most of our DIY craft decorations can be made using wallpaper scraps left over from your interior decorating projects. Our A4-format wallpaper samples are also ideal to use, so be sure to order plenty!
Tools and supplies needed:
- Wallpaper
- Scissor
- Ruler
- Glue or tape
Instructions:
- Fold the paper into a cone so the tip is at the centre of one of the long sides. Apply tape or glue to secure the cone shape.
Hanging Cone Decorations
Make traditional Scandinavian hanging cones to fill with sweets and nuts or tiny gifts and other surprises! For this project, our A4 wallpaper samples are the perfect size.
Tip!
If you want to hang your cones up, cut a 1-2 cm strip from one of the short sides before folding your cones, that way, you get a hang-loop in the same wallpaper pattern as your cone.
Decorate Matchboxes
For festive wintertime, do like Scandinavians, and celebrate with candlelight! Decorate your matchboxes with wallpaper, as pretty accents for lighting candles and give-aways.
Tools and supplies needed:
- Wallpaper
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Glue
- Matchboxes of any size
Instructions:
- Measure the width of your matchbox. Bear in mind that your wallpaper doesn’t need to go all the way around the box, as some boxes have rounded edges. The main thing is to cover over the pre-printed design on the box.
- Place your box on top of the paper strip to mark its length.
- Trim to size and glue onto the box. Make one each for the front and back of the box.
Pleated Wallpaper Hearts
A traditional Scandinavian craft with endless variations. Pick two complementary or contrasting wallpaper designs to show off the criss-crossed weave.
Tools and supplies needed:
- Wallpaper
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Glue or tape
Instructions:
- Cut two strips: we made ours 5 cm wide and 18 cm long. Some of our hearts are bigger, with the strips measuring 7 cm x 21 cm (the width of our A4 wallpaper samples)
- Fold the strips in half.
- Cut from the folded edge inwards, as illustrated. (Our cuts are 1 cm apart, but you can make the cuts so you end up with just 3 or 4 cut loops. You can also cut varying loop widths.) Make the length of your loops slightly longer than the paper is wide: about 5.5 cm for the small heart and 7.5 cm for the larger variant.
- Now pleat your heart by alternately weaving the cut strips inside and outside each other. To make it easier, you might want to weave one strip at a time. The last strip may be a bit tricky to weave, but our wallpapers are sturdy enough for some handling. If you’ve got the pleats right, your heart should open out as a basket. If you make a mistake, simply undo and redo.
- Take a small round bowl or glass tumbler of a diameter matching the width of your strips and trace around it to round the heart edges, and trim along the traced line.
- To finish, glue or tape a strip as a loop hanger.
Festive Season Buntings
DIY wallpaper buntings! Hang on the wall, from the ceiling or drape on a tree. Our instructions are based on using our A4 wallpaper samples. We used 5 different prints for the little bunting flags.
5 wallpaper sample sheets are enough to make about 200 cm of bunting pennants placed edge to edge. For this length, we used 40 wooden beads with a diameter of 150 mm, which made the bunting 260 cm long.
Tools and supplies needed:
- Wallpaper
- String
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Wooden beads
- Glue
Instructions:
- With the short side of the sample sheet facing you, measure out 14 cm, so you end up with 2 strips for each wallpaper sample.
- Fold the strips in half (lengthwise) so you have two long, narrow strips.
- Make a mark for every 5 cm from the folded edge and then cut to make 4 flags per strip. Each piece should now be 5 cm wide and 7 cm long.
- Holding them at the folded edge, cut inwards to the centre, so each square is made into a pointy pennant. (If unsure, mark a mark at 2.5 cm)
- Apply glue to the inside and down towards the tip and fold over the string. Take care to do this evenly.
- Thread beads between each bunting pennant.
- Repeat until you have the length you want.
Gift Wrap
Wrap festive gifts in our wonderul wallpaper designs! Use different size scraps of wallpaper as gift wrap to match your home interiors! Vary your gift wrapping with different types of ribbon and tape for that added extra touch to your presents. Swap scraps with other wallpaper fans for even more varied and creative gift wrapping!
