Green Christmas Window
 

Hi folks, half my neighbours have their houses lit up like dublin airport for the past two weeks! Drives me nuts. Anyway, I want to get cracking on my own decorations next week but I'm looking for ideas to do up my window. I have lots of glass jars and food tins ready for decorating and turning into lanterns. I have any amount of cotton wool for snow. I need lots of ideas of easy things to do that won't take up too much time. Also, anything that can include a three year old who loves getting hold of the craft glue!! Thanks a million.

[Update 21 Dec - yeah about time] I'm gonna post up some photos of the window finished but the photos didn't come out great but I'll show you the photos of everything that went up in the window.

Lots of cds covered with old christmas cards and the penguin is wrapping paper. The wreath was done the way Unapam said and then bits of sheet & ribbon entwined and roped around skeleton leaves I had in my craft box and the "berries" are quality street wrappers! The angel is also from a card I got last year and she's so gorgeous so I just carefully cut around her outline and suspended her from a thing strip of ribbon. The second one was just wrapping paper twisted round - scrunched up the pale yellow one and left the red one intact. The snowflake was one that didn't go up on the window. Some of the cards (the 3d one with the snowman and what looks like silver snow!) were embossed. The silver snow is actually white with tiny flecks of silver in it. The little Christmas tree came with a chinese takeaway last Christmas eve! There's a jar in the window too I took a close up of it. It was a coffee jar and myself and my 3 year old munchkin took into painting two of them. I put outline stickers on both of them and away we went. Removed her sticker when the paint was dry and that's what you see there. I removed my sticker and big lumps of the paint came with it and broke the outline sticker too! Annoyed me a little that! The only thing bought in my window is the little tri-fold Santa, Reindeer and toy train that I bought for two euros! And a practically empty green bin! Really proud of my window folks. Thanks for all the ideas. I'm gonna start earlier next year and add to all these wondrous things. Sorry I did buy something else - a disco ball for €8! It's great fun on a foggy night with the curtains open! Merry Christmas everyone and thanks again for my beautiful window.

Emer

P.S. The dog in the photo is not part of the display. She's very fond of cameras! Proof enclosed now too!

hi bluecurlygirl, if you cut snowflakes out of thick white card and let your 3yr old glue on the glitter? then you can hang them in your window at different lenghts? kiara x

xmas decs
 

dont forget the holly and if you can find old cards with robins on cut them out also plenty for a child to do to help

Lovin it..
 

Keep them comin folks. I'm lovin it so far. I want a really good window to show to those who feel the need to use enough lights to make the national grid surge (or meltdown!). Won't be doing any robins though - a bit of a superstition. But I have plenty of snowmen and santa and reindeers.

You can make decorations of bits of straw into the window and for the tree.

no robins
 

i have two china robbins given to me by edwina mountbatten when i was a kid mmmmmmmm ok a very long time ago and still put them on the tree along with a very nice match box parceled by my oldest when she was a child This year my two grandsons will add to my tree with their own made bits lol havent been told yet what they are its my surprise which im lookng forward to

Dried orange, apple, lemon and grapefruit slices make nice decoration, too. I'm making a christmas wreath like this for the table, and one for the door.

Decorations mae of string, pinecones and bits around the house...

Tracing paper glued behind shapes cut out of white or colour peper, also you can gat tracing paper in different colours. Just pop a small lamp or candle behind it, it' lovely.
Now I got too excited... I'm off to make some of these thing for myself! ;)

Trust you Paprika!
 

I might have known that you'd have loads of ideas. I'm off to search the "allfreecrafts" website too for ideas although keep going with these ones and I won't need to they're so good - but I especially love the one with the tracing paper behind it and a little tealight (in one of my jars maybe to keep it safe). The wreaths are gorgeous too. Lovely lovely ideas. Keep them coming - I'll be lucky to get any christmas shopping done at this stage (or housework ...)

Paprika, did you buy the dried apples etc or did you cut them up and let them dry out yourself? I have any amount of pine cones too from numerous nature walks (and chestnuts - some still in their shells!). I have a lovely little candle holder for the table already. It just needs some repairs done to it and it'll be fine. Need a wreath for the front door though. But would really love to create maybe a christmas village in my bay window but it would have to be safe enough for a 3 year old and a dog (big eejit of a labrador)! Doing snowflakes tonight - I have loads of different colours of glitter. Also have loads of embossing powder which may be better again. Oh I just remembered, I have a beautiful porcelain angel setting a dove free that I bought in dunnes last year - gorgeous. She'll have to go into the window too.

fake ginger bread
 

60 dkg flour
30 dkg salt
1,25 dl water

mix these then gradually add more water, appr. 1,25 dl again, until it's a firm dough. Cut out shapes with a cookie cutter and paint them, or you can make small figurines too.
Bake in the oven 120 C for 2 hours.

You can hang these on the tree or in the windows, or dot around the house. I loved it when I was a kid, now found the recipie again!

Just found a pic, you can add wire or bells (or ANYTHING) to the shapes to make them nicer.

And if you mix some cocoa powder or something brown to the dough it's gonna look like real gingerbread. Only thing, it's NOT EDIBLE!

I've dried them meself. Made lovely decorations last year, was gonna use the bits again, but oh no, they are covered in mold! So new load of apple and orange slices are drying on the stove now. I like to make all festive decorations myself. Bit time consuming but great fun! And there are so many good sites! Like the allfreecrafts.

If you pop them into the oven they dry out quicker.

Mmm - gotta try all that
 

Lookin forward to the dough and the drying of fruit! Found another website called howstuffworks and it shows you how to make angels etc. Some nice stuff on it. Thanks a million.

Pardon my ignorance....
 

..... but whats a dkg and a dl? I'm an old fashioned girl who works on pounds and ounces (grams also). Teaspoons, tablespoons, mls.... can you convert for me please?