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Make your own decorative fairy lights

Craft idea from Elna Sewing Machines

Most people (and shops) have cottoned onto the idea that fairy lights are a pretty, creative and inexpensive form of secondary lighting that shouldn't just be reserved for the Winter season. Here's a great way of making your own, with no need to sew.

Materials you'll need:

Two 30cm x 30cm sheets of template paper
Four 25cm-wide strips of lightweight fabric (netting, crepe de chine, taffeta or tulle)
Staples
Elastic bands or ribbons
One ordinary string of fairly lights (readily available from supermarkets and large chain stores)

Instructions for making the fairy lights:

Using the template paper, cut out 20 or more rectangles measuring 5cm x 15cm (the number of rectangles should correspond to the number of fairy lights on the string).
Roll up each of the paper rectangles to make a small cylinder, and staple into place, overlapping the edges by at least 1cm to ensure each cylinder is firmly fixed.
Taking the lightweight fabric, carefully tear or cut (depending on fabric type) a quantity of 25 x 25cm squares corresponding to the number of lights on the string.
Place each cylinder vertically in the center of a fabric square, and bring the four corners of the square together so that the fabric surrounds the cylinder.
Holding each cylinder from underneath, position it over a fairy light.
Pull the fabric tightly over the cylinder to cover the bulb, as if you were wrapping a tiny parcel. The fabric should hold the cylinder in place.
Bring the four corners of the fabric together over the cylinder and attach firmly using an elastic band or ribbon.
Repeat until you have covered all the fairly lights along the entire length of the string.