7 Christmas Stash-Busting Ideas

Using just one simple macrame knot, you can brighten up any space with this fluffy yarn tinsel!

You Will Need

2 balls of Cosy On Up in Cream

2 balls of Cosy On Up in Electric Blue

Scissors

How To Make 

The amount of yarn stated is to make two lengths of tinsel, each 3m long, but you can easily adapt this to whatever length you want. You could even make a multicoloured tinsel by using up scraps of different kinds of yarn!

1. First, cut a piece of yarn to your desired length. This will form the base of your tinsel.

2. Then you need to cut some yarn into strips that are around 15-20cm long. The easiest way to do this is to wrap the yarn around your hand several times. You can then carefully cut the yarn across the top of your hand. The exact measurements don’t matter too much, and it can look good to have a slight variation in lengths, so don’t worry about it too much. You will need to cut quite a lot of yarn for the full length of your tinsel, but it is up to you whether you cut and knot your yarn in batches, or whether you cut all of your yarn to size first before beginning any knots.

3. To start off your tinsel, take one end of your piece of long yarn, and one small strand of yarn and tie them together in a secure double knot. This will hold your tinsel together and stop it from falling apart.

4. Now you are ready to begin tying your yarn strands onto your tinsel. To do this you are going to use a knot called the Square Knot.

5. Take a strand of yarn, fold it in half, and place it underneath your tinsel. Then take a second strand, fold it in half and place it on top of the first strand, but facing the opposite way.

6. Now carefully thread the tails of one strand through the loop of the other. Repeat with the other loop.

7. Then simply pull both sides to tighten the knot.

8. Repeat steps 5-7 until you have enough knots to cover your entire length of tinsel. You will be able to slide the knots up and down the tinsel as necessary. As you do this, try to slightly twist each knot to a different angle, so that your tinsel becomes bunched up and bushy, as opposed to flat.

9. When you reach the end of your tinsel, tie your last yarn strand to your tinsel in another double knot. This will stop any strands from slipping off the end. You have finished your yarn tinsel! Use it to decorate your christmas tree, your walls or whatever you’d like!

Create this wonderful pom pom wreath in icy colours this winter for a chilly aesthetic. I used the 3.5cm and 5.5cm pom pom makers, but you could use whatever sizes you like

You Will Need

1 ball of Knitcraft Baby Brilliance in Cream

2 balls of Knitcraft Everyday DK in Blue

2 balls of Knitcraft Everyday DK in Light Blue

Pom Pom Makers 30.5cm

Metal Wreath

Hot Glue Gun + Glue

Small Scissors .

How To Make 

1. Open up your pom pom maker and hold together as shown, the ridges on one half of the maker should slot into the holes on the other side.

2. Take your yarn and begin wrapping it around one side (side A) of the pom pom maker. At first you will need to hold the yarn in place with your other hand, but once you have wrapped it a few times it will secure itself fairly well to the pom pom maker.

3. Keep winding the yarn, working your way evenly from one end to the other across the whole of side A.

4. Then work your way back across until you reach the end you started at.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until the whole of side A is full.

6. Cut your yarn.

7. Now rotate the pom pom maker so that your left hand is holding the yarn on side A in place whilst you make side B.

8. Repeat steps 2-6 for side B.

9. You now need to close your pom pom maker, using the white clips to secure it.

10. Now take your scissors and begin cutting your yarn between the two sections of the maker. Slowly work your way around the entire pom pom until it has all been cut.

11. Cut a new piece of yarn in the same colour about 10-20cm long.

12. Wrap this around the pom pom, in between the two sections of the pom pom maker, and tie a double knot. When you do this, ensure that you pull tightly so your knot is secured onto the centre of the actual yarns and not onto the maker itself. Do not cut off the tail from this, as you may need it to attach your pom pom to the wreath.

13. Undo and remove your pom pom maker.

14. Wiggle or roll pom pom in your hands to even out the yarn pieces.

15. Give your pom pom a haircut to trim off any stray yarn. Make as many pom poms as you want, to fill up your wreath. I made 10 small pom poms (using the 3.5cm maker) and 5 larger pom poms (using the 5.5cm maker) for each of my 3 colours.

How To Put Your Wreath Together

1. Begin attaching your pom poms by tying the yarn tails to your wreath frame. I attached all of my larger pom poms first, and then attached smaller pom poms in between.

2. Now get your glue gun and put a small amount of glue in between each of these attached pom poms and stick them together. You can then attach any leftover pom poms wherever you want to.

3. Finally, once your glue has dried, snip off any excess yarn tails.

4. You also may wish to add a loop of yarn or ribbon to the top of your wreath for easy hanging.

Your pom pom wreath is complete! Hang it on your door to welcome guests in style.

Make this larger than life pom pom garland to brighten up any space! These instructions are for a 3m long garland, but you can easily adjust to your desired length by increasing or decreasing the number of pom poms you make.

You Will Need

3 balls of Cosy On Up in Bubblegum Pink

2 balls of Cosy On Up in Cream

1 ball of Hug It Out in Shell

Scraps of Women’s Institute Soft And Chunky in Cream and/or Dusky Pink (optional)

Cardboard

A small plate, and a mug to draw around

Pen or pencil

Scissors

Ruler

How To Make a Giant Pom Pom Maker 

1. First draw around your side plate twice, and then cut these out.

2. Now place your mug in the centre of one of your cut out circles, and draw around this.

3. Next, take your ruler and draw two lines from the edge to your centre circle, to create a small wedge shape.

4. Then cut this entire shape out.

5. Now use this as a template to draw out the same shape on your second circle and cut this out too. You should have two identical cardboard shapes as shown.

6. Now you are ready to start making your pom poms!

How To Make Giant Pom Poms

Make 4 cream pom poms and 5 pink pom poms

1. Hold your two cardboard shapes together so that they line up correctly.

2. Wrap your yarn in an even layer from one side to the other.

3. Continue winding back the other way.

4. Keep winding evenly from one side to the other, until you have 4-5 layers of yarn, ensuring you can’t see any cardboard showing through.

5. Now cut your yarn.

6. Then slide your scissors in between your two pieces of cardboard and slowly cut through your yarn all the way around. Make sure you take care to keep all the strands contained inside your cardboard; you may need to hold it in place to prevent it from falling out.

7. Next, cut a length of yarn around 30-40cm long. (Note: you can simply use a length of the same Cosy On Up yarn for this, however you may find that it is not strong enough to tie tightly. Instead I recommend using some WI chunky yarn, which you will be able to pull much tighter.)

8. Insert this piece of yarn in between your cardboard and wrap it around to the other side.

9. Tie a tight knot, to hold your yarn in place.

10. Now you can carefully remove your pom pom from the make.

11. Take your scissors and give your pom pom a haircut! Make sure you do not cut off the strand of yarn you used to tie everything together as you will need this to attach your pom pom to your garland.

Putting Your Garland Together

1. Cut a 3m length of Hug It Out yarn.

2. Using your ruler, measure 30cm from one end.

3. Take your first pink pom pom and, using the tail you left earlier, tie your pom pom tightly to your garland.

4. Continue tying your pom poms on to your garland by measuring 30cm along each time and alternating colours as you go.

5. Now you can trim off the excess tails Your GIant Pom Pom Garland is finished!

Note: Your garland will be quite heavy with all your pom poms attached, so take care when hanging it up.

These finger knitted garlands are super easy to make, all you need is some chunky or super chunky yarn and your hands! Make several in different colours and lengths to create a beautiful decoration. A 200g ball of super chunky yarn should give you just over 4m worth of garlands, so adjust your desired yarn amounts accordingly.

You Will Need

2 balls of Lion Brand Touch Of Alpaca in Evergreen

1 ball of Knitcraft Hug It Out in Ruby

1 ball of Cosy On Up in Cream

1 ball of Cosy On Up in Bubblegum Pink

Scissors

Your hands!

How To Make A Finger Knitted Garland

1. Start by holding your non-dominant hand open, with your palm facing you.

2. Hold the end of your yarn between your thumb and the rest of your hand. (This will be referred to as the yarn tail from now on.)

3. To start off, you are going to make a figure of eight around your first two fingers. So, wrap your yarn behind your index finger, in front of your middle finger, and then around the back of your middle finger and in front of your index finger. Now you are ready to make your first stitch.

4. Wrap the yarn around your middle finger from front to back and then your index finger from front to back, continuing the figure of eight motion.

5. Then tuck your yarn between your ring and little finger to help keep some tension on it.

6. Starting with your index finger, gently pull the bottom strand of yarn up and over the top of your finger. Repeat with the middle finger.

7. You can now let go of the yarn tail with your thumb and gently tug this tail away from you.

8. Repeat steps 4-6 until you have your desired length of garland. Make sure you gently tug on both your yarn tail, and your working yarn after every stitch you do. This will help to keep your tension consistent. You may also need to move your yarn down your fingers slightly as you go, to avoid the yarn slipping off your hand.

9. To finish off, cut your yarn, leaving a tail of around 10cm (Or longer if you want to use this to attach your garland to something.)

10. Remove your fingers from the loops.

11. Thread your yarn tail through the loop from your middle finger, and then through the loop from your index finger.

12. Gently pull the tail until your last stitch closes tightly. Your finger knitted garland is complete!

Using Knitcraft Make the Change in green make 4.

Rnd 1: Ch8, dc in 2nd chain from hook, dc to last chain, 3dc in last chain, (turn to continue working in the unworked loops of foundation chain) dc to end, sl st to first dc. (15sts)

Rnd 2: Ch1, dc, *[dc, htr, picot, htr, dc] in next st, dc in next 2 sts; rep from * three times, [dc, htr, picot, htr, dc] in next st, dc, ch5, sl st in 2nd chain from hook, sl st in each ch to end, sl st to first dc, fasten off and weave in ends. (30 sts)

Attach a small piece of green yarn to the tip of each leaf stalk to attach to the garland

Make 5 pom poms in mustard and biscuit, leave a long enough tail of yarn for tying the pom poms to attach to the garland.

Cut a 225cm length of cream yarn.

Attach pom poms and holly leaves to the cream yarn at 15cm intervals then weave in ends to finish.

Using mustard make 5.

Rnd 1: in mc make 5 dc, close mc. 5 sts

Rnd 2: 2dc in each st. 10 sts

Rnd 3: [dc, 2dc in next st] five times, sl st to first dc. 15 sts

Rnd 4: Ch1, [dc, (dc, htr, dc) in next st, dc] five times, sl st to first dc. 25 sts

Rnd 5: Ch1, [dc in next 2 sts (dc, htr, dc) in next st, dc in next 2 sts] five times. 35 sts

Rnd 6: Ch1 [dc in next 3 sts (dc, htr, dc) in next st, dc in next 3 sts] five times. 45 sts

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Repeat Rnds 1-6 to make a second star, do not fasten off after Round 6. Place 2 stars together with right sides facing and lining up the stitches of round 6. Continue working through stitches of both stars to join them together. Stuff with a small amount of scrap yarn before closing the round.

Rnd 7: Ch1, [dc in next 4 sts, 3dc in next st, dc in next 4 sts] five times. 55 sts

Fasten off and weave in ends.

Using cream yarn make 5 tassels.

Wrap yarn round a 4inch piece of card 50 times then cut in half to make 100x 8inch lengths.

Tie in the middle and fold the yarn lengths down. The tie at the top will be used to attach to a star.

Tie another piece of yarn around the top of the tassel to make the rounded shape. Trim neatly to finish the tassels.

Use the yarn tie at the top of each tassel to attach to the bottom of a star, weave in ends.

Cut a 180cm length of cream yarn and tie a small piece of mustard yarn to the top of each star. Attach a star to the cream yarn at 30cm intervals then weave in ends to finish.

Using duck egg yarn make 5 trees made up of 3 different sized tassels.

Wrap yarn round a 3inch piece of card 50 times then cut in half to make 100x 6inch lengths.

Wrap yarn round a 4inch piece of card 50 times then cut in half to make 100x 8inch lengths.

Wrap yarn round a 5inch piece of card 50 times then cut in half to make 100x 10inch lengths.

Tie in the middle and fold the yarn lengths down, trim each tassel neatly. Use the ties to attach the largest tassel to the medium sized tassel then the medium sized tassel to the smallest. Thread a 20mm bead to the tie at the top of the smallest tassel.

Cut a 200cm length of cream yarn and thread with 10x 12mm beads. Tie a knot approx. 15cm from one end to secure the beads.

Tie on a tree then thread with 20x 12mm beads. Repeat 4 more times then thread 10 more beads. Tie a knot to secure and cut yarn leaving approx. 15cm from the last knot. Weave in ends to finish.