Advent Day 6 - A Tutorial

So I've already fallen behind a couple of days with the Advent Blogalong so I thought I'd "catch up" by sharing one of my traditional Christmas crafts!!

First, gather your supplies - red and green cellophane, a packet of Jaffas and a packet of Mint Leaves, plus sticky tape and scissors.
Cut the cellophane into squares (approx 5" square - I tend to just follow the fold lines and then cut those rectangles in half so they're not quite square but close enough!!). Take three red bits and two green bits of cellophane and three jaffas and two mint leaves.

Now wrap each lolly in a matching piece of cellophane.

Now get a bit of sticky tape about 8" long and start wrapping it around the stem of a jaffa...

...then add another jaffa, and another...

...and then the two mint leaves, until you have lolly holly!

Tie it to the gift you've brought for your grandma with curling ribbon!

I've been making this stuff for 20+ years - I'm sure it was something we did at Brownies so is probably suitable to make with kids from about 8 years of age (as long as you can trust them not to eat the lollies)! If you can't get jaffas or mint leaves where you live then just substitute them for any round red lollies (like jelly raspberries for those who can't eat chocolate) or any green leaf shaped lollies - if you don't want lollies then you could probably use red and green crepe paper to fill the cellophane and get a similar but not-quite-so-delicious effect!!

Keep following - since this is my 110th post so my next one will probably involve a giveaway!