A Homemade Holiday Gift

Are you looking for a hostess gift that even the kids will love?   Here is a simple, easy , colourful and tasty homemade holiday gift.  Just follow these simple instructions, make one for your friends, family and even yourself!

You will need:

• 14 bags of lolly pops
• tin foil roll
• ribbon
• silver bucket
• oasis
• stones
• scissors
• glue
• polythene (not essential)

Take your Oasis and cut into a circular shape. You can buy Oasis online or pop to your local florist. Mine were very kind and gave me a rectangle piece big enough to make two trees.

Start to insert your lolly pops into the Oasis. It’s best to start at the bottom and work up and around. Leaving the top until last. I found the best way to add the lollies was to complete one side and then move around to the next. Pack the lollies in as tight and close together as possible and leave around half of the stick showing.

Once you have completed the tree, gently pack in each side to make sure the circle looks even and to avoid any lollies falling out.

Take your cardboard tube and wrap in your chosen ribbon. Glue your ribbon to the tube at the bottom and simply wrap it around to the top. For an even more striking effect use a second coloured piece of ribbon and add that over the top of the first.

Take your decorated cardboard tube and insert it into the base of your treeSimple slot the tube in as you did with the lolly sticks. You can then decide how tall you want your tree

In order for your tree to stand you will need to weigh down your silver bucket. I am planning a wedding on a budget so I used the slate pebbles from my garden.

Place your tree into its pot and then place around the stones to make it secure.

Double check your tree to ensure you have no gaps and tweak any lollies which are uneven. Add more lollies if necessary to cover any holes.

Once your tree is complete, you are ready to add any finishing touches.

Cover the tree in polythene and add a complementary ribbon to finish.