6. The Twelve Days of Christmas (part 2)

For me, Christmas generally starts some time in early July. It's one of the perils of working in publishing and has, in the past, seen me visit mocked-up winter wonderlands in the middle of summer. Tinsel-trimmed houses, roaring log fires, piped Christmas carols and Santa hats all inspire a distinct lack of either comfort or joy when it's 30-degrees outside. So, it was maybe no surprise when I ended up becoming a little bit jaded and (ssshh!) Scrooge-like about the whole affair. What came as more of a surprise - to me at least - was the thing which saved me sinking into full on humbug-ishness, namely the wonderful online community of bloggers and makers embracing the idea of a homemade Christmas. It's a no-brainer, really. Spending time at home creating presents and decorations from your favourite supplies vs. stressing your way through a mall-full of heaving shops buying over-packaged, overpriced and, in the end, often unwanted gifts. Which probably makes me sound, well...pretty Scrooge-like!

What I'm trying to say is that if your heart sinks at the very idea of Christmas when it's still only October, maybe it doesn't need to. Ignore the supermarket aisles already stacked with cards, gift baskets and stodgy festive puddings, and instead, start dreaming up some super-creative ideas for handmade presents, decorations and paper periphery. By way of (hopefully) a little inspiration, here you go with my take on the Twelve Days Of Christmas challenge.

*Paste* : Kirsty's project =

I'm very keen on the idea of changing the details in a room according to the time of year, and slipping festive prints into picture frames fits the bill perfectly. Replacing a few of your regular wall-hangings with Christmas alternatives makes things instantly more seasonal, and without the need to bang in a single extra nail.

For my Twelve Days print, I took inspiration from the words of the song and set them out in a graduated and, ok - fairly predictable, holiday shape. But not wanting to make things quite that obvious, the real challenge of the thing was in picking out the fonts. Each one in some way relates to the day it's representing.

The font for the first day, for instance, is called Partridge, while the three French hens are set out in Parisian and the ten lords-a-leaping represented by Little Lord Fontleroy.

Just in case your fancy is taken by any of the typefaces, here you go with the full list: Partridge, Two Turtle Doves, Parisian, Bird, Ringbearer, Goose Neck, Ronda Seven, Milk Run, Lady Ice, Little Lord Fontleroy, Piper Pie, Boss Drum.

With each one downloaded, installed and set at a suitable size, all that was left to do was to print onto a sheet of linen-textured cardstock and frame. I'm also thinking a smaller version might make for some fun Christmas cards when the time comes.

So, whether you're inspired to try something equally word-y, a more picture-ish project like Julie's below, or just to make an early start on your Christmas plans, we'd love to see what you're up to. Link us up in the comments, or post your projects in the Flickr group.

Meanwhile, I'm going to be just as cryptic as the lovely Miss J and tell you that there might still be a little bit more to come from this particular prompt. Keep your eyes peeled and your diaries open.