Make an impact with UNDOCTORED and The Lullaby Trust!

When you buy UNDOCTORED by bestselling author and comedian Adam Kay you’ll be supporting the Lullaby Trust and donating a book to a child in need! £5 of every copy will go towards helping The Lullaby Trust fund the distribution of life-saving safer sleep advice to four families with new babies.

The Lullaby Trust raises awareness of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), provides expert advice on safer sleep for babies and offers emotional support for bereaved families. “Around 1 in 1000 otherwise healthy babies may die suddenly and unexpectedly in their sleep (…) This is the commonest group of deaths in childhood of children without known underlying medical problems.” (Sebire & Bryant) To this day, The Lullaby Trust has spent over £12 million on over 265 research projects to try and find out more about potential causes and risk factors for this condition.

As well as funding vital research, The Lullaby Trust offers support to bereaved families, and advice based on strong scientific evidence to help parents reduce the risk of SIDS.

Adam Kay has been a patron of TLT since 2019, contributing to raise awareness about their mission and through fundraising in his nationwide tours. We are delighted to be collaborating with Adam and the Trust to support their efforts by donating five pounds for every copy of UNDOCTORED we sell. Your purchase will also be contributing to improving literacy in the country, as one book will be donated to a child in need for every book we sell as part of our Book for Book initiative.

Meet an Awesome Author: Christiane Bellstedt Myers

Christiane Bellstedt Myers, author of Scandi Christmas: Over 45 projects and quick ideas for beautiful decorations & gifts brings us her favourite quick ideas for awesome decorations you can make to impress your guests this holiday season.

Don’t forget to check out her book and the awesome guide she shared with us to make a glitter paper tree.

Will you be trying any of her awesome ideas? If you do, don’t forget to tag us on social media!

Awesome Author: Scandi decorations to make your Christmas AWESOME

Today we have an awesome guest takeover of our blog —Christiane Bellstedt Myers, author of Scandi Christmas brings us one of her amazing Christmas projects to make your decorations even more special.

Don’t forget to share your creations with us through social media!

Without further ado, let’s get to crafting!

Glitter Paper Trees by Christiane Bellstedt Myers

Photography by Caroline Arber © CICO Books

There is something special about being able to create a stunning centerpiece for your Christmas table without spending a lot of money. Adding a pinch of glitter reflects the light, making your table shimmer and feel magical and festive. Make a large tree or several smaller ones—or whatever combination works best for you!

MATERIALS

  • Oasis block
  • Terra cotta plant pot (I used an antique terra cotta pot but any = would work)
  • Wooden skewers
  • Paper (preferably old newspaper with a Christmas story or old sheet music)
  • Silver glitter

TOOLS

  • Craft knife
  • Small paintbrush
  • White craft (PVA) glue
  • Star cookie cutter
  • Pencil
  • Clothespin

How to make your Glitter Paper Tree

Step 1 Picture, oasis foam cube, skewers, plant pot and knife.
Photography by Caroline Arber © CICO Books

Step 1

Use a craft knife to cut a piece of oasis from the block. Make sure that the oasis fits into the plant pot snugly. Push a wooden skewer vertically into the center of the oasis, with the pointed end at the top. You may want to trim the wooden skewer, depending on the size of your pot.

Step 2 Picture, old and yellowed music sheets and some torn up pieces of paper next to them
Photography by Caroline Arber © CICO Books

Step 2

Take your paper in bunches of three or four pages and rip them into squares of varying sizes. There is no need to be precise; it is actually much cuter when the edges of the paper are not straight.

Step 3

Start pushing your bundles of paper onto the skewer. Turn the pot slightly as you add more paper bundles so that the edges of the paper are not all lined up evenly. You want to gradually decrease the size of the torn squares to resemble the shape of a tree.

Step 3 Picture, plant pot with some paper through the skewer and other pieces next to it.
Photography by Caroline Arber © CICO Books
Photography by Caroline Arber © CICO Books

Step 4

Take a small paintbrush and use it to spread glue on the edges of the paper. Sprinkle with as much silver glitter as you want! (Do this over a piece of old newspaper so you can catch and reuse the excess glitter.)

Step 5

Use a cookie cutter or draw and cut out two star shapes.

Photography by Caroline Arber © CICO Books
Photography by Caroline Arber © CICO Books

Step 6

Apply some glue on one star and press the other star onto it with the tip of the skewer sandwiched in the middle. Use the clothespin to hold the star in place while the glue dries; remove when the glue is dry. Paint the star with a little more glue and sprinkle with glitter to finish.

If you want to see more of Christine’s wonderful ideas, don’t hesitate to check out Scandi Christmas!

We hope you have fun making some awesome paper trees to decorate this festive season!