When many think of Christmas decorations, very rarely do toilet roll tubes first come to mind.
Yet, many leftover household items can be used to transform your house this Christmas – reducing waste and costs.
While simply buying fairy lights and armfuls of tinsel are a great way to bring the festive spirit alive, making your own can help keep costs down and also produce fun activities for the kids.
Christmas crafts are a good way to keep families entertained but the costs can quickly tally up when buying a lot of different materials.
To help, The Press and Journal has tried and tested a few fun and low-budget festive decoration ideas for you and your family to enjoy this Christmas.
Wallpaper Christmas baubles
These baubles are a great way to use up odd bits of wallpaper and look brilliant on the tree.
If you do not happen to have any wallpaper lying about at home, charity shops often tend to have a few rolls being sold cheaply.
This lovely starry number was bought for £2 a couple of years ago.
Requiring wallpaper, a bit of thin wire, scissors, a holepunch or a needle and some twine, no crafting specialist equipment is needed.
While each paper bauble might take around five to 10 minutes to make, they are a good investment and a fun thing to do with friends or family.
You can find a guide on how to make these here which also add small wooden beads to finish the effect.
Ease to make: 3/5
Furry Christmas trees
These mop-headed Christmas trees are a fun and playful addition to any home.
Made from a ball of wool, a pizza box and some thread, they are a colourful yet simple garland-like design.
It does however require the assistance of a hot glue gun. No Pritt Sticks will help you here.
You can use ready-made stars and balls for baubles but they can also be cut from paper, card or even an old pizza box.
Ease to make: 4/5
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Dried orange garlands and Christmas tree decorations
One of Pinterest’s most eye-catching and beloved designs, dried orange garlands are definitely a firm favourite on many people’s social media.
While they may take a wee while to bake in the oven (here is a handy guide), if stored in an air tight container, they can be used year on year.
Although, it is advised they only be used for inside decoration. The winter weather tends to turn them soggy and rotten.
They are also a more sustainable option and make the house smell great. Especially if you are feeling fancy and use cloves or add cinnamon sticks to the design.
Using only a pack of oranges, baking paper, a working oven and some string, it is an easy and colour-popping decoration for the home. The most expensive thing probably being the electricity or gas bill from the oven.
They can be strung together to be used as garlands and also as decorations for the Christmas tree.
Ease to make: 2/5
The Christmas loo roll angel
Ah, the famous toilet roll angel. This is a great way to put your cardboard toilet roll tubes to use.
Made using nothing but toilet roll tubes, a pizza box, glue and string, this is one of the cheapest decorations to make.
It was made using a glue gun but if that is not an option, a glue stick or sellotape should do the trick.
Simply cut the tubes vertically into thin circles/ovals and stick three together to form the body.
Then cut one circle at the bottom and overlap the cardboard until you have created a small oval, head-like shape.
Stick this to the body and then cut another three thin circles in half and stick the halves into small teardrops. Attach three teardrop shapes to each other and repeat and then stick them to the body as wings.
Lastly cut a star and attach it to the centre of your angel.
Of course, for those who prefer their angels a little more colourful, this can be beautified by using different coloured card and stars.
These can be made into decorations for the tree or turned into garlands.
Ease to make: 3/5
Wooly stars
For those who are fans of decorations who are also wrapped up warm this winter, this one is for you.
These can be made in lots of different sizes depending on preference and could also be used as a tree decoration.
Using nothing but an old bit of cardboard, twine and some wool, it is a simple and low-budget option for a hanging decoration.
Just cut out a star template from an old cereal box and start wrapping until the cardboard is fully covered.
Loop or attach a piece of string and hang in your desired spot.
Ease to make: 5/5
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