By Stephanie Farry

We have so many boxes and parcels arriving at this time of year with all sorts of deliveries – why not reuse them and create some beautiful seasonal decorations?

You will need:

– cardboard packaging

– scrap paper (we used plain white packing paper that came as padding inside a delivery, and scraps of leftover wrapping paper)

– glue

– scissors

– pen or pencil

– tape – recyclable, if possible!

– two short ribbons

– anything you like to decorate – ribbon, holly, glitter, pens, stickers

Step 1: draw your shape on cardboard, with a nice thick border, and cut out. We did a simple circle to make a wreath, but you could make stars, hearts, holly leaves – it’s up to you. Note: if you want to hang your decoration somewhere where the back can be seen, you might like to make two identical shapes, then secure them back-to-back before displaying!

Step 2: cut your paper into strips. Thinner strips work better as they are easier to position, but thicker strips might be quicker!

Step 3: decide which side of your shape is the front and which is the back. Spread glue over the front, then begin carefully wrapping the strips of paper around. Start each new strip at the back, and make sure they overlap to fix down the loose ends and neaten the edges.

Step 4: continue to wrap strips around until the card is fully covered. If you have different types of paper you can create a pattern as you go. We used two layers of white to create a solid look, then added on the other colours. Add more glue as needed.

Step 5: use small pieces of tape to secure any loose ends or edges on the back.

Step 6: tie one piece of ribbon around your shape at the top and secure loose ends at the back, and then tie the other piece of ribbon into the first to create a hanging loop.

Step 7: finish off your decoration with any embellishments you have to hand – we added a miniature bauble and some sparkly tape.

Step 8: hang your decoration and enjoy it all season!  Then when it’s time to tidy away, you can recycle it – just remember to remove any non-recyclable parts, of course!