Next on the List: Ribbon Baubles for the October Craft Fairs

With the October craft fairs now firmly in my diary, the next item on my very long to-do list is officially underway: a fresh batch of my handmade ribbon baubles. I couldn't resist giving you a sneak peek of the first one finished — an emerald green and gold bauble photographed against a rather festive background, hanging on its gold cord ready for a Christmas tree.

If you've never come across a ribbon bauble before, here is how one comes to life. Each decoration starts as a plain polystyrene ball, and ribbon in two or three co-ordinating colours is folded into neat little triangles and attached with sequin pins, one fold at a time. Layer by layer the ball slowly disappears until the whole surface is covered in that classic woven, pinecone-like pattern. A few organza bows, a hanging loop, and a plain ball of foam becomes a tree decoration that catches the fairy lights beautifully.

One of the things I love about these is that every fold is placed by hand, so the pattern surrounds the bauble evenly and looks the same from every side. They come in lots of sizes too, from little baubles that suit a smaller tree or a pretty gift box, to statement pieces for the branches that are seen first.

The emerald and gold bauble you can see here uses one of the most traditional colour combinations for Christmas, and there will be plenty of classic red, green, gold and tartan looks in the batch for the fairs. But they are not the only options: because each bauble is folded by hand to order, I can make one in a completely different colour of your choice as a custom order — a favourite room colour, a wedding palette, or simply your best-loved shade of blue. Just ask and I'll be happy to put one together.

You can find the dates and venues for all my October craft fairs on my events page — I'd love for you to come along and see these baubles sparkling in person, along with the ribbon wreaths, bows and crochet flowers that will be sharing the stall. Between now and then, the needles (and a great many sequin pins) will be very busy indeed.

Thank you, as ever, for reading — and if you'd like a bauble in your own colour, do get in touch. There's still plenty of time before Christmas.