DIY Christmas Make Your Own Christmas Tree Baubles

With Christmas just around the corner, we’re still going strong on the homemade Christmas decorations here at Ryman. Our latest DIY Christmas decoration is a simple, yet effective paper mache bauble with a vintage feel. It’s also a good decoration for you if you enjoy getting hands-on. Follow our easy-to-understand guide below to make your way to a homemade Christmas.

What you will need

PVA glue, available from Ryman a paintbrush, also available online and in Ryman Stores an old book that you don’t mind ripping up; an old Tupperware pot; a bauble and some metallized tissue paper – find this online For your bauble, we recommend either heading to a bargain store and finding a cheap bauble with a smooth surface, or, perhaps more easy – just dig around your bag of old Christmas decorations for a bauble that doesn’t get much tree time anymore. Now you’re ready to get started.

Step 1

The first thing to do is to mix up your paper mache paste. Take your old Tupperware, or any receptacle that you don’t mind filling with glue, and use your paintbrush to combine a mixture of 2 parts PVA glue to 1 part water.

Step 2

Next up, you’ll need to take your selected book and literally rip it to shreds. Maybe you have a book that particularly offended you in some way – this would be perfect for the task. Alternatively, any old paperback that you don’t think you’ll read again will do. It’s going to a good home after all.

Step 3

Here’s the fun part. Paint the bauble with the paste mixture then coat your book shreds with paste and layer them onto the bauble using the paintbrush to stick them down. Do this until your bauble is completely covered with 2-3 layers of paper.

Step 4

Leave your Christmas bauble to dry for a couple of hours before adding the finishing touches. For the final part of the decoration you simply need to take your tissue paper and cut out some festive shapes. We’ve gone for a star and a Christmas tree. You might also want to try holly, bells, mistletoe or even a sledge (that might be a bit adventurous!). Now, you just need to use the remaining paste to stick on your chosen shape and loop a bit of string or wool through the bauble’s hook attachment so that it’s ready to hang from your Christmas tree.