Holiday Memories Craft with Bostik

holiday memories craftTodays holiday memories craft tutorial is the perfect way for kids (or adults) to turn all those little mementoes into a hanging wreath to decorate your home.

If your family is anything like mine then you often come home with all kinds of bits and pieces like teeny tiny shells, postcards or even bits of sand. But what do you do with them when you get home? Getting crafty is one way to use those special collections and a door hanging means everyone can appreciate the fun you had. I received the materials used in this craft as part of the Bostik Craft Ambassador program.

What You’ll Need

Cardboard

Foam

Bostik Fine & Wide Glu Pen

Sand

Lolly Sticks

Wooden holiday shapes

Fabric Stickers

Small Shells

Ric rac or ribbon

Small bunting flags

Bostik Glu Dots

Sticky Tape

All the instructions you need are contained in this video or you can follow the text version below.

Step 1

Begin by drawing around a dinner plate onto a piece of cardboard. Draw a smaller circle in the centre (I drew around a roll of tape). Then cut out.

Step 2

Using the Bostik Fine & Wide Glu Pen cover the back of the wreath shape in glue (use the wide end of the pen). Then stick onto a piece of foam or you could use some strong cardboard. Once dry cut out.

Step 3

Using the fine end of the glu pen make swirls, dots or any pattern you fancy all over the front of the shape. Then pop some sand into a cup and sprinkle all over the glue pattern. Once the glue has dried shake off the excess sand.

Step 4

Time for decoration! You can use anything that you collected or that reminds you of your trip, I like to lay everything out before sticking into place. I used Bostik Glu dots to attach plain wooden holiday themed cut outs. Of course you could decorate these, I just think the bare wood looks really good. Next I laid lolly sticks to remind us of all those lovely iced treats and fabric stickers look great, especially if they have googly eyes!

Step 5

Bunting screams summer to me so I made some bunting using ric rac and ready made flags. If you can’t find any pre-made flags an alternative is to cut triangles from fabric and either stick into place or use a hole punch to loop the ric rac or ribbon through. The bunting was stuck to the reverse using sticky tape.

Step 6

Finally I stuck some miniature shells into place using glu dots. Then I used more ric rac to make a hanging loop, this was also stuck to the reverse of the hanging using tape.

Step back and admire your handy work!

Hotel Chocolat Festive Wreath Review

Hotel Chocolat Festive WreathI’d be happy to review chocolate all year long, but at Christmas it’s very much a part of the proceedings and I was thrilled when I was sent the Hotel Chocolat Festive Wreath to review.

Hotel Chocolat have earned a reputation for quality chocolates designed to make the recipient feel special and valued (even if they purchased it for themselves!) The only problem with having such a glowing resume is of course living up to the higher expectations it undoubtedly brings.

Style

Obviously the first thing you notice about the Festive Wreath is its appearance, stunningly moulded from chocolate which would grace the centre of any Christmas table.

As a centrepiece it’s also a novel idea and a great way to impress your guests. The wreath was slightly smaller than I had imagined but when I lifted it up and felt the weight I understood why, there is a lot of chocolate in there!

Hotel Chocolat Festive WreathTaste

Cutting the wreath is harder than you might think as a direct result of it being made from solid chocolate with nibbly biscuits and crushed almond florentines, make sure you have a plate underneath to catch the crumbs.

It’s made from a higher quality chocolate than you might ordinarily buy and the taste reflects this in its rich deep flavour. Saying that all my children really enjoyed tucking into this wreath and they have been introduced to different qualities of cocoa. Some kids may find this too rich, but it will definitely suit an adult palate.

Price

At £21 I personally think this wreath is really good value for money, for the sheer number of grams included it’s a great deal for a quality brand such as Hotel Chocolat. Obviously these cost more than certain high street Chocolatiers but as the courier who delivered this to my door said ‘ooh posh chocolates, lucky you!’ this brand is a cut above the average.

Would I recommend this product?

Without a doubt, it’s beautifully presented, tastes devine and would make a fabulous gift!

Details

The wreath is available in Hotel Chocolat stores nationwide or you can order online and view the rest of their range on their website.

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to write a quick post to say a great big Happy Christmas to all my lovely followers! It’s been a fun filled and busy year and the blog has grown beyond all my expectations. I love it when you comment or email to let me know you like my little rambling posts, it always makes my day. But this is going to be my last post until after Christmas now as my little people have broken up from school and all my attention has been diverted to keeping them out of trouble happy.

So for my last bloggy craft project I decided to make a Christmas Wreath today. Unfortunately I got so involved in it’s creation that I forgot to take step by step pics. But it really is very simple.

I bought a plain artificial wreath from Ikea from the grand old sum of £6.67. Then I wound some battery powered led lights around the wreath. I bought these from a local garden centre for £4. I then taped the battery pack to the back.

For my decorations I visited a local florist and bought two dried oranges and one dried lime. Then various dried orange, lime and apple slices.

I pushed wire through the whole fruits and slices and twisted at the back. I then pushed the wire through the wreath and twisted together at the back. I did the same with a few pinecones. The golden berries were also bought from the florist but you can buy these in most stores that sell decorations for about £1 a bunch.

Then all I needed was some ribbon to hang the wreath with and I was done. I’m quite pleased with the end result although I did intend to add bunches of cinnamon sticks as well, but forgot until the end when I didn’t have any space left.

So with that I shall say goodbye until the festive craziness has ceased. Have a wonderful time whatever your plans, Merry Christmas!