By Nick Thorogood and Caroline Pearl
Christmas is the perfect time to be creative – whether you are an experienced artist or just fancy trying something new – when the shops are filled with so many similar gifts and decorations, making something of your own is unique, personal and a lot of fun.
It can be something you do with your partner, or the whole family, and scheduling an afternoon with glitter and glue can be a wonderful start to the festivities. Even if you are not confident about being creative, there are plenty of easy to follow tutorials on You Tube, with design ideas for Christmas cards, decorations and wrapping.
Maybe you have tried arts and crafts in the past – now could be the time to dust off the paints, or shops such as The Works and Poundland sell a great range of crafty bits such as selfadhesive jewels and pearls, ribbons and bells which you could use to make your own cards or decorations.
What you might find is that the process of making things is FUN, and you will certainly feel a sense of pride when people admire your creations – and they will – for in a world of mass produced plastic, a bowl of pine cones sprayed gold, or oranges tied in ribbon and studded with cloves, or traditional baubles with patterns of ‘diamonds’ (carefully stuck on by you), shines brightly with Christmas spirit and love.
The members of Cranleigh Art & Crafts Society got into the festive spirit in good time this year with a pottery workshop run by local potter Shelley Bock (). The workshop took place over two days, the first when we built our masterpieces and the second when we glazed them. The workshops were a lot of fun and were attended by complete beginners as well as some who had attended Shelley’s classes previously. Our members created some wonderful and unique festive decorations and we hope to schedule another workshop with Shelley next year.
Our next workshop is Christmas wreath making on 3rd December 2022.
The Society ran a Christmas Craft Fair in the Village Hall in November which was very well attended and was a great opportunity for our members to sell their crafts and for visitors to see the sort of things our members create.
If you would be interested in joining us, or have any questions, then feel free to visit our website www.caacs.co.uk or email .
