Gemma, our branch manager from Cheadle vintage is on hand with some upcycling and DIY Christmas decoration ideas. Keep scrolling for more!

With the festive season just around the corner, you’ll already see that the high street is sparkling with Christmas lights and decorations. The festive cheer seems to get earlier each year. Soon we’ll be following the lead of high street stores and bringing the Christmas sparkle into our homes.

Decorating your home for Christmas doesn’t need to be expensive. To prove it, I’m going to show you a couple of quick and easy decorations that you can make at home by recycling items you have already.

When creating decorations for the shop I like to be well prepared. I make sure that they are quick and easy to make so I can easily create more if needed. They can also make great presents.

The quickest and easiest to make and always visually effective, is the humble paper chain. We use books that have been damaged, aswell as comics and annuals that have been scribbled in. To start, cut your pages into 5cm strips and either staple, glue or tape together, then build them as long as you want.

We’re using glossy knitting magazines here:

This one is a munch bunch annual in the children’s department. We keep this one up all year round.

Last year I was inspired to make garlands. Pom pom makers are available in all good craft shops and depending on the size, range from £2.99-£4.99 for a pack of two. They are so quick and easy to use and we sell lots of balls of wool in our haberdashery corner from 49p.

I chose to do a garland with three colours and another few with multi-coloured pom poms. It’ a great way of using up the oddments of wool that you may have lying around.

Here are some multi-coloured garlands. They are strung up with fishing wire and hung around the shop.

All supermarkets have great affordable ranges that I have fun up styling. I especially love the ‘create your own baubles’ that Aldi is selling for Barnardo’s this year. They are available in all Aldi stores at £1.99.

I also find inspiration from vintage craft and cookery books, which are available in store. They can inspire some great family activities. I’m getting inspiration from this amazing Christmas cake, found in a 1970’s cookery book in store.

These paper decorations from IKEA are great; they have a fun, vintage feel to them. Why not get creative and personalise them with some glitter and sequins?

Please share all of your festive creations with me via @barnardos_vintage and share your Barnardo’s Christmas gift buys via @barnardosretail.

Don’t forget to join us at our vintage fashion show on Friday 18th November, 6-9pm at Barnardo’s Vintage, find store details here.

Happy thrifting!