Make Cardboard Christmas Tree Decorations with Children

Why Cardboard Is a Brilliant Christmas Craft Material

Every household in Britain seems to accumulate a stack of cardboard between October and December — delivery boxes, cereal packets, the backs of drawing pads. Rather than flattening it all into the recycling bin, keep a decent pile back for crafting. Cardboard is free, forgiving and sturdy enough to hold paint, twine and a bit of weight, which makes it ideal for tree decorations that need to survive being hung, knocked and packed away again year after year.

It is also wonderfully forgiving for small hands. If a star comes out lopsided or a bauble gets snipped a bit small, nobody minds — the wonkiness is part of the charm, and a slightly wobbly homemade robin will always beat a shop-bought one in the sentimental stakes.

What You Will Need

Gather everything on a washable tablecloth or a sheet of old newspaper before you start, because once the painting begins there is no going back.

• Cardboard: corrugated boxes for sturdy shapes, cereal packets for finer, flatter pieces.
• Scissors: small, sharp craft scissors for older children; a craft knife for grown-ups only, for cutting out fiddly middles.
• PVA glue: the white school glue that dries clear. Buy a big bottle.
• Paint: poster paint or acrylic in festive colours — red, green, gold, white.
• Twine and ribbon: garden twine, baker's twine or narrow ribbon for loops and edging.
• Embellishments: buttons, sequins, scraps of fabric, wool, and old Christmas cards to cut up.
• Tools: a hole punch, a pencil, a ruler and a fine paintbrush for details.

Four Simple Shapes to Start With

Keep the first session simple. Cut a template from a piece of spare card, then let the children draw around it onto their cardboard. Four shapes cover almost everything:

• Stars: draw a five-pointed star on a 10cm square and cut it out. Two layers glued back to back make a satisfyingly chunky decoration.
• Baubles: circles of any size, from a 5cm tag to a 12cm disc. Use a mug or a roll of tape as a guide.
• Christmas trees: a simple triangle with a small trunk. Glue two together with a lolly stick sandwiched between them if you want it to stand up.
• Gingerbread figures: a round head, a body and stubby arms and legs. Do not worry about proportions.

Once the shapes are cut, punch a hole near the top before you decorate — it is much harder to punch cleanly through a painted surface.

Painting, Sealing and Decorating

Bare cardboard drinks paint like a sponge, so the first job is to seal it. Mix PVA glue with an equal amount of water and brush a thin coat over both sides of each shape. Leave them to dry for about half an hour. The card will stiffen and the paint will sit on the surface rather than soaking straight in.

Now for colour. Poster paint gives bright, flat coverage; acrylic gives a richer finish with a slight sheen. Two thin coats always beat one thick one. Once dry, add detail: white dots on a red bauble, a face on a gingerbread figure, a dusting of glitter along a star's edge.

Glue or wrap a length of twine around the rim of a star or tree for a framed effect. Buttons glued on make brilliant bauble centres, and small squares cut from last year's Christmas cards give you instant, free decoration.

Hanging Your Handmade Decorations

Thread a 20cm length of twine through the hole and tie a neat knot at the top. If you want the loop to sit straight, knot it on the reverse side so the decoration hangs flat against the tree. A dab of glue over the knot stops it slipping.

There are plenty of places to display them beyond the tree:

• String a garland of decorations across a window or along a mantelpiece using garden twine.
• Hang a few from a bare branch stood in a sturdy vase.
• Tie a small one to a wrapped gift instead of a bow.
• Use a larger cardboard star as a door hanger.

Tips for Crafting With Children

Set up in a space where mess does not matter, and keep a damp cloth to hand. Give each child their own tray of materials to avoid squabbles over the gold paint. Work in short bursts — twenty minutes of cutting and gluing is usually plenty for younger children before attention wanders.

Let them own the design. A purple robin with three legs is still a robin, and it will be the decoration they look for first when the box comes out next December. Store finished pieces in a labelled shoebox with a sheet of tissue paper between layers, and they will come out ready to hang for years to come.