What is your approach to Christmas decorations? I bet most people pull out the same box from the attic every year, containing a selection of baubles bought around 1982, plus some wacky creations from the kids’ primary school years. But the popularity of Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas reveals that there are plenty of people who like to craft their own.
However, Kirstie Allsopp’s designs are quite ambitious. Most recently on Channel 4, she was chiseling a giant nutcracker ice sculpture, making a garland out of choux pastry and making winter dioramas out of walnut shells. If that’s all a bit beyond you, fear not. Crafty Christmas by Stacey Solomon (BBC One) has come up with some easier projects to try. They all seem eminently attainable and fun to do with kids, if you’re looking for ways to keep the little ones entertained between now and Christmas.
Choose from a homemade elf on the shelf made with a toilet paper tube, pipe cleaners, colored felt and a polystyrene ball for the head, or a wreath made from an iron coat hanger, or upcycling baubles with old nail polish poured into a bowl of water. The program also had plenty of gift ideas: a candle in a teacup from a thrift store, a wooden cutting board personalized with an etching pen, or a version of those expensive chocolate slices made by melting three family bars of plain chocolate on a cookie sheet before adding the toppings of your choice.
Solomon is a wonderfully natural, bubbly presence, and was joined here by her husband, Joe Swash (a former EastEnders actor and lover of fake tan who is the color of a peach melba) and her children. One of TV’s favorite buzzwords is “recognizability,” and Solomon has that in abundance. She survived on benefits as a single teenage mother before her life was changed by an appearance on The X Factor in 2009. Despite a significant change in circumstances – she hosted this show from her beautiful home in Essex – she has not forgotten what a struggle it can be are to make ends meet.
“I’ve seen sheets that would literally wrap a present for three or four quid!” she said of expensive wrapping paper. She made her own using stamps, rollers, and paint on plain paper, with results that wouldn’t disgrace any branch of Paperchase. Swash said that when he first met Solomon, she gave collections of makeup counter tester products to his relatives for Christmas. They loved them, but wouldn’t you love something delivered with a dose of Stacey Solomon’s glee?