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.

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