Our beautiful wreath on the contents page of The Green Parent magazine in the UK

Stoked that one of my favourite projects from the book is featured on the contents page of The Green Parent magazine in the UK. This is such a simple but pretty project. And a hot glue gun speeds things up a treat if you're into instant craft gratification. Like me.

Tiny Table Top Tree

This Tiny Table Top Tree was one of the biggest Christmas hits of last year. Start collecting pinecones now and you could have these sweet Christmas trees running down the centre of your Christmas table. For sparkle, dip the edges in glitter, or use some silver thread for tinsel.

How to make a Pay it Forward Advent Calendar from Craft it Up Christmas ...

We love a chocolate Advent calendar as much as the next person. But we were thinking, wouldn't it be good to give something back in the days leading up to Christmas, instead of taking? The divine Jen at CICO books has made a fabulous You Tube tutorial so you can make one just in time for the 1st of December!

Warrior princess dolly peg

Here at Craft It Up HQ we love a fairy doll as much as the next gal. But we also love strong, wise warrior dolls too! Let your girls role play with girl power with these wise warrior dolly pegs! Smaller girls could skip the paper altogether and just paint clothes on! This project was part of the shoot we did with the wonderful Tickle The Imagination Magazine.

REVIEW: Craft It Up Christmas Around the World 

http://ukhandmade.co.uk/content/review-craft-it-christmas-around-world

Review by Maggy Woodley of Red Ted Art

I was very much looking forward to receiving Craft it Up Christmas Around the World and having a good old browse. Basically, I LOVE Christmas and I think that it is a particularly wonderful time of year to craft with the kids. For me it is all about cozy afternoons together, huddled around a table and creating new things, maybe a Christmas Ornament to keep or a gift for a family member. It is all about memory making and that warm festive feel! I was also very interested to see the book because of the “Around the World” element. I love traditional crafts from around the world that have been passed down through the generations and define childhoold crafting. For me that means making Walnut Babies and Foil Angels, as I have vivid memories from my own Germanic childhood of making these.

When the book arrived it was immediately hijacked by my daughter (aged 4.5 years), then later by my son (aged 6 years). All I could hear from my daughter were delighted little exclamations of “Ooh, Mama, take a look at this, you can make button trees” and “Awwww, these little hearts are so cute” and “Can we make these please?”. Later, when I was finally allowed to get my hands on the book, the three of us browsed through it together; my son loved checking out which country we were in and I enjoyed reading out the different country specific facts to them.

There are number of cute projects that we are definitely keen to try. My son loves the Santa Cards, my daughter wants to make the Pom Pom Christkind, whilst I rather like the idea of the Jingle Bracelets. Having said all that… I have to confess, I was a little disappointed by the “around the world” element of the book. Yes I did like the little country specific facts, that was definitely up my street, but the crafts, although relating to the given fact were (mostly) not what I would call a traditional craft from a specific country (which is what I was expecting). If you are simply interested in the quirky information about different countries and a craft that relates to that information, than this is indeed a lovely Christmas Craft book from around the world. If like me, you come with “traditional” interests and expectations then it is a little disappointing. 

I think this book would make a great gift for kids, they will enjoy reading through the projects and are probably able to do a majority of them unaided (aged 8 years +, younger children will need assistance, which of course is fine as it is all part of the Christmas craft memory making). If you are an avid user of Pinterest, a number of these crafts will look familiar to you, but they are brought together in a lovely and approachable format.

Craft It Up Christmas Around The World
Libby Abadee & Cath Armstrong

RRP: £9.99
CICO Books

ISBN-10: 1782491562
ISBN-13: 978-1782491569

Craft It Up Christmas available now!

Our beautiful book Craft It Up Christmas Around The World is available now online and from all good bookstores.

This would be a fantastic addition to a pre-Christmas craft party. Just add wine...or milk and cookies!

I can see it rolled up in a stocking too. So maybe tip off Santa now? Or play Santa and buy it for all your pals!

Craft It Up Around The World and Craft It Up Christmas Around The World by Abadee and Armstrong are available from all good bookstores, online and also from our publisher.

http://www.rylandpeters.com/ourshop/craft/craft-it-up-christmas-around-the-world

http://www.rylandpeters.com/ourshop/craft-it-up-around-the-world

Quick jazzed up jam jar

This jar was made for the Tickle The Imagination magazine shoot we did recently. The issue is out now and available from their website http://www.tickletheimagination.com.au It's such a gorgeous magazine. Hop on over and see if you can snap up some back issues too.

For this quick project we used a jam jar with a lid, which makes the perfect size for storing tiny treasures or everyday items like paper clips, rubbers or even a few rolls of washi tape! Glass jars are awesome. They're widely available, inexpensive and environmentally friendly. 

We used some gorgeous fabric tape from our friends at Sarbe www.sarbe.com.au The middle tape is a glittery paper tape. Washi tape would also work really well.