Christmasin the country

Create Clare Buswell’s rustic Christmas ornaments using corrugated cardboard – it’s surprisingly versatile!

MASTERCLASS

Quilled decorations

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Project: Quilling with corrugated cardboard

Time: 45 mins per ornament

Expert: Clare Buswell

Clare has always loved arts and crafts and studied graphic design at college. Before her daughter, Isabelle, was born she worked as a full time artist. Clare loves quilling, stamping and paper piecing and is on numerous Design Teams, including The Craft’s Meow, Core’dinations and Nina B Designs. Visit her blog at clare-buswell.blogspot.co.uk

KNOWHOW

Masterclass quilling

Turn the page for your

step-by-step instructions

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T here’s something extra special about handcrafting your own Christmas ornaments, as you are making

something for keeps. I love indulging in a little nostalgia when it’s time to bring out the Christmas decorations each year! These quilled ornaments would make lovely gifts too; you could even make smaller versions to decorate your Christmas parcels.

Quilling traditionally uses strips of thin paper rolled into a variety of coils and shapes to make various patterns but you can apply the same techniques to thicker materials like patterned and corrugated card. By using corrugated card the shapes are much larger and the results are faster than with traditional quilling. If you haven’t tried quilling before this is a great starter project as the larger strips are much easier to handle.

I love the Kraft corrugated card look as it gives a lovely rustic feel and teams perfectly with red ribbon and gingham. If you are going for a country cottage Christmas look this year these quilled ornaments are perfect. You could also experiment with different colours of corrugated card – red and green would look great – and different shades of ribbon.

I’ve shown you how to make a quilled hanging heart and quilled standing star but you could try some other shapes, like a Christmas tree or angels. You need very few materials to create these decorations, so why not give this technique a try?

Follow these

simple steps to create

stylish Christmas decs from humble corrugated cardboard

1 Assemble glue, scissors and double-sided tape. Using a long ruler and pencil measure four 25x700mm strips of Kraft corrugated card and cut out, as shown.

2 Fold one strip in half; roll each end tightly towards the centre to form a heart shape. Hold the rolled ends tightly for 30 seconds to hold shape; release. Set aside.

7 Arrange coils inside heart shape. Add dabs of glue to the sides and stick in place. Glue tight closed coil from step 3 in the centre. Use small closed coils to fill the gaps.

12 Turn the eye shape and pinch the other sides, as shown, to form a kite shape. Repeat for each coil so you have five kite shapes.

6 Cut two 90mm strips from remainder and roll into tight coils. Glue ends. Take the rolled heart shape you made in step 2 and stick the largest coil inside it, as shown.

11 Each of the five coils from step 10 should be the same size. Pinch both ends of each coil to form an eye shape. Hold for 30 seconds and then release.

MASTERCLASS

Quilled decorations

Shopping list Clairefontaine Corrugated

Cardboard Roll – Kraft, £2.12

From Artyfect

Needle nose tweezers

Gingham ribbon

Narrow red ribbon

Long metal ruler, pencil

From your local craft shop

For stockists turn to page 91

To make the heart

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3 Cut two of the 25x700mm strips in half, to make four 25x350mm strips. Roll one of the shorter strips into a tight, closed coil and glue the end in place. Set aside to dry.

9 For the standing star: use a long ruler and pencil to measure five 25x700mm strips and one 25x90mm strip of Kraft corrugated card and cut out.

13 Arrange the quilled shapes with the longer sides pointing outwards to form a star. Roll the 25x90mm strip into a tight peg (closed coil) and glue end to secure.

4 Roll the remaining three 25x350mm strips into loose coils (one slightly larger than the other two) and glue the ends in place, as shown. Set aside to dry.

5 Using the remaining 25x700mm strip, cut two 180mm strips from this and roll into tight closed coils as in step 3; glue the end in place and set aside to dry.

8 Fold gingham ribbon in half, stick ends together. Glue ribbon between the two rolled ends of the heart at the top, pinch shut with tweezers. Add bows, to finish.

14 Glue the shorter sides of the kite shapes together in pairs, then glue the sections together. Pinch together with tweezers. Add coil to centre of star.

15 While the glue is still tacky, lay the star down and press gently to flatten. Make a bow from narrow ribbon and adhere to centre of star, to finish.

Turn the page for

Clare’s top tips

10 Roll the five 25x700mm strips into loose coils (measuring approximately 45mm wide once rolled, as shown). Glue ends to secure. Set aside to dry.

To make the star

Masterclass quilling

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MASTERCLASS

Quilled decorations

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Clare’s hints & tips Follow Clare’s advice for professional quilling results every time I recommend using a roll of corrugated card, it makes rolling the strips much easier. It’s best to roll the strips by hand and then tighten the centre using the needle nose tweezers. Once rolled tightly, hold the shape firmly for 30 seconds, this helps it to hold its shape. Don’t use too much glue, just add a few dabs at the end of the coil to secure. Always use clear drying glue. Use tweezers to pinch the ends of the coils tightly shut when gluing for a neat finish. Also use the tweezers to pinch two coils together when assembling the heart and star shapes. If you want to seal your ornament and add a varnish-like effect you can coat it with a layer of PVA glue.

The ornaments can easily be adapted to suit other occasions, such as Valentine’s or an anniversary.

What does it mean?

QuillingQuilling is a versatile papercraft with a rich history from nuns to society ladies!

The art of quilling involves rolling strips of paper or card to create coils and shapes, which are arranged to form flowers, leaves and patterns. Projects range from cards and Christmas decorations to earrings and even three- dimensional models.

The origins of quilling are believed to date back to the Renaissance when French and Italian nuns and monks used quilling to decorate books and religious artifacts.

In the 18th century quilling, or paper filigree as it was then known, became a popular pastime for upper class ladies who decorated objects such as picture frames, work baskets, cabinets and purses.

If you enjoy this project and feel inspired to try more, you’ll find lots of ideas online. To meet fellow quilling enthusiasts from the UK and around the word join the Quilling Guild at www.quilling-guild.weebly.com or visit www.quillingcafe.com where you’ll find tutorials, ideas and news of local events.

Next month’s

MASTERCLASS

Spectacular centrepieces

Craft technique explained

Clear drying glue and tweezers are essential for this project

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