If you’re on a budget and want to make your own Christmas decorations, then making your own fairy lights is a great way to go. You can use them on the tree, around windows and even as table decorations.

The process is quite simple and we’ll show you how you can do it in this article. If you have kids, then this is also a great craft activity that they can help with too.

First…

• Buy some wire, thin enough to bend easily but thick enough that it won’t break easily. It should be flexible enough to curve into a circle, but still sturdy enough to hold up when bent back on itself.
• Cut the wire into short lengths (about 10cm). The number of lights you need will depend on the size of your tree and how many points you want to light up at once.
• Take one piece of wire and bend it into a U shape so that it looks like this (there’s no need for fancy bends – just bend it around two fingers). Repeat with all the wires. You’ll need three U shaped pieces per light (one for each leg).

OR

• Thread the wire through the beads, attaching the battery pack to one end of the wire with a crocodile clip.
• Tape the other end of the wire to something sturdy like a table leg or chair leg.
• Attach an LED light bulb to each end of the wire with crocodile clips, leaving about 15cm of bare wire between them (this will be wrapped around your tree). If you have any leftover beads, now is a good time to add them in between the lights for extra decoration.
• Cut off any excess wire from each end of the string and tape it down so that it doesn’t snag on anything as you hang up your fairy lights later on.

OR

• Step 1: Cut the wire into lengths of about 75cm (30 inches).
• Step 2: Bend one end of each length of wire into an “L” shape, with the straight part of the angle pointing away from you and the other part pointing toward you.
• Step 3: Push one end of another length of wire into the hole at the top of the first length of wire so that it makes a loop with the first length of wire. This will make it easier to make more loops later on.
• Step 4: Bend both ends of this second length of wire into an L-shape so that they point away from each other at an angle; this is called an “eye.” Make sure that these eyes are facing in opposite directions – otherwise they won’t connect properly when they’re strung together!
• Step 5: Push one end of another length of wire into one eye so that it makes another eye-shaped loop with that second length (with two eyes now). Repeat this step until all wires have been used up.