Christmas decorations from chip packets

Challenge 8 in our 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges was to make Christmas decorations from chip packets.  This is one thing I haven't found anywhere to take them to be recycled and we do eat a fair amount of chips, so throw away the packets each week.

The chip packets have a lovely shiny silver inside which I thought, surely can be used to make some kind of Christmas decoration!

I saved the big packets that the smaller chip packets came in so that I had bigger bits to work with and didn't have to wash them!

(We bought the Jumpy's - which are kangaroo shaped chips when we had a visiting Japanese student!!)

First of all I tried making little origami stars. A visiting Japanese student a couple of years ago, brought us a packet of paper strips with instructions for these cute puffy stars.

So, I cut some strips of chip packet and small lengths of embroidery thread and gave it a go.

Now I like working with fabric. Fabric is very forgiving if your cuts aren't totally straight and perfect,  Paper is less so for origami, and I don't think I cut my chip packet strips very accurately, so the stars weren't perfectly sized either!  I also found that the chip packet material was very slippy and you had to pull the strip tightly to keep it together neatly.  I took pictures of the steps along the way, until the last folding, which I kind of just did but don't understand which way to fold enough to be able to explain it! Sorry! 

Here's a short and very clear youtube video showing how to make the stars!

Here's how mine worked out. Not perfect but not to bad!

I also decided to make a few silver snowflakes too!

Then I hung my new shiny silver decorations on the tropical tree I made for Challenge 7!

For a hot and sunny tropical Christmas here in Australia, I like our upcycled outdoor tree with decorations!  I think it looks neat by the pool! What do you think?

Have you ever made decorations from chip packets?  If you have or decide to give it a go - then do link up to our Christmas Challenge linky for this challenge  (8 - make  Christmas decorations from chip packets) The challenge video and linky can be found here and will remain open until Christmas!
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For 12 days starting on November 2nd we will set a challenge a day to create something for Christmas using just the resources you have on hand. 
The idea is to show that Christmas Shouldn't Cost the Earth. If you're reading this, chances are you love to craft, but why not craft with the resources we have on hand - let's get creative!

Each day a challenge will be set by means of a video and blog posts giving some suggested ideas and crafts. These posts will also contain a linky party for anyone and everyone who wants to join in to link up their projects - both past and present, that answer the challenge.  The linky party can be found on all our blogs and we'll  try and come up with different ideas and tutorials for the challenges too. So please to visit us all, and then share your ideas with us as well! We're looking forward to seeing how these challenge are met!

Ready, Steady....Let's Christmas Craft!


The 12 Days of Christmas DIY Challenges is brought to you by

Jill @ Creating my way to Success
Vicky @ Vicky Myers Creations
Anna @ Tea and a Sewing Machine
Pam @ Threading My Way
Anne @ Domesblissity

Previous Challenges
Challenge 1 - Upcycle old clothes to Christmas Decoration
Challenge 2 - Make a Christmas Gift from a pair of old jeans
Challenge 3 - Make a fun Christmas snack - use what you've got
Challenge 4 - Make a Christmas Card from a cereal box
Challenge 5 - Make a Christmas Decoration from something in your shed
Challenge 6 - Use Fabric Scraps to make some Gift Wrapping
Challenge 7 - Use something from your garden to make a Christmas Decoration