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DIY Lighting - 12 Makes of Christmas

Updated: Nov 15, 2023

A festive buffet of craft, lighting and lantern making ideas, any one of our 12 Makes of Christmas are guaranteed to bring a unique and very personal handmade touch to this special time of year!


Each of our 12 Makes of Christmas is designed with the beginner crafter in mind, making them easy to achieve when following the linked step-by-step tutorial. Better still many of them use fabrics, trims, tapes and feathers you may already have at home, making them budget-friendly and, as always, all the lampshade making materials you need to complete your projects are available on Dannells.com.


Happy festive crafting!




Sprucing up your Christmas displays with a handmade decoration or two is a fun way to spend an evening in the run-up to Christmas. Our fun Mini Cracker Light Garland is perfect for using up your Stick It Lampshade Making PVC scraps, and paired with your favourite festive fabric, some sparkly ribbon and a string of LED Lights, they'll make a unique and twinkly addition to any home. We'll be making a few for stocking fillers too!



An easy alternative to a more traditional wreath, we’ve enjoyed putting together this more rustic version, made with glittery hessian, a plain lampshade making ring and our rustic rope lights, that add the all-essential festive twinkle. Quick to make, this wreath makes a great base for lush, green festive foliage as well as being a great budget option. If you’re in full festive swing, go wild and add a bauble or two!




We’re a huge fan of chocolate at Dannell’s HQ and we’ll not only be making plenty of these rich, chocolatey (and a little bit boozy!) bombs of loveliness but making these hand-decorated truffle boxes too. Taking a cardboard Lantern lid and base (cheese box) and a sheet of A3 polyester sheet we’ve used pretty, rose gold washi tape to add a touch of festive sparkle. It's the ultimate quick and easy last-minute Christmas gift without putting the oven on or getting the glue gun out!


Hunkering down for a little hygge is just what's needed as the winter sets in, so we've taken the popular influence of Scandi interiors and combined it with Christmas, to make this delightful, yet minimal light cover. With our Massai White Parchment as the main body, in keeping with the Scandi vibe, this light cover cleverly uses embroidery hoops as its main frame. Add a little sparkle too, by making Stick It PVC trees, covered in a festive fabric.



It’s nearly time for the festive ritual of putting the Christmas decorations and making new decorations for your own tree is a lovely family tradition. Our 'Little circles of bright' are fun, cheerful and simple enough for everyone to join in and make. Simply take three 10cm plain rings and raid your crafting stash for the rest!




A touch of gold never goes a miss at Christmas, so we’ve jumped on the gilded bandwagon and have put together this Luxurious Art Deco Lantern DIY tutorial, using gorgeous gold trim and our lantern making kits, for you to make. Perfect for lighting a festive dinner table, or for giving out a warm and stylish glow from your Christmas mantle piece, this lantern making hack is really straightforward to make. We think you should give one a go!



Christmas approaches fast our attention is turning to the smaller details. For us the Christmas dinner table is one of the most important, setting the scene for the company of family and friends and some pretty delicious food. Today we’re showing you how to turn our candle clip lampshade making kits into a clever balloon glass shade. The perfect finishing touch for any festive dinner table, they add a warm festive glow and are completely safe using electronic tea lights.


That special time of year is fast approaching! It’s time to start thinking about what sparkly decorations you want to make to give your home that extra special glow. We’ve asked Emma of Rock Paper Scissors shades to share her special Christmas fairy light lantern know-how with us! Using Copper Metallic PVC, glittery fabrics and trims these pretty lights are a perfect Christmas holiday activity for the kids to make.



Ideal for adorning an internal door or popping on a wall, our Gold Luxe wreath is great for using up odds and ends from your crafting stash, such as ribbons, trims and you could even add a bauble or two! The Boho raffia wreath, on the other hand, will add a fresh twist to a festive home, and you can use any size of plain ring, and with plenty of colours of raffia to choose from, you can pick and mix, to suit your style!



Our Mini Chinese Lanterns are a great alternative to bring festive red and yellow into your home and are brought to life using electronic tealights. Made from our lightweight, flexible Less Rigid Stick It Lampshade Making PVC in place of traditional paper, they'll also last for many more Christmases to come!




With Christmas just around the corner, our minds turn to decorating the house, ready for the festive season. With a sprinkling of LED lights, our contemporary DIY Hessian LED Star Light is made with striking gold-flecked hessian and two star frames, and is not only straightforward to make but is cost-effective too! At home as a festive centrepiece for a cosy Christmas vibe, it might be the decoration that you keep out all year round.



Originally on the Dannells Blog as a Mother’s Day project, we can see these Mini Empire Fairy Lights Shades taking pride of place amongst your other Christmas decorations. Ideal for using up scraps of fabric and trim, this tutorial comes with a FREE PDF Template too.






Check the Dannells Blog

Our blog is packed with hundreds of posts that are not just for Christmas, including creative tutorials, lampshade making tips, product information and business advice. Written with new and experienced lampshade makers in mind, our inspirational posts help you get creative with our products and truly master the craft of lampshade making. Take a look evat everything our blog has to offer below.


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