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Hi All. I'm a newbie. Possibly a little older than most, so ignore me if I am an embarrassing elder 
I was searching for an image of Affixofix paste when I came across this forum. Hence my new thread. This was the time of year when we really got into turbo production during art & craft lessons at school. Especially primary school, where the teacher would bring out (joy of joys) a new wallpaper sample book. I particularly remember a year when I managed to bag a pink and white candy-striped paper... Anyway, we seemed to have more time allocated to art and craft in those days and it certainly helped fill in those long drawn-out days anticipating Christmas.
And so a page of wallpaper + cardboard + postcard + calendar + ribbon hanger = main present for your Mum. Whilst Dad got a treacle or syrup tin covered in wallpaper full of spills - either home-made newspaper with a twist at the top or multi-coloured spills bought at the tobacconist's.
Does this ring a bell with you? I wonder if anyone has seen those little calendars around recently? I have not found anything useful online or in the shops. As I recall they came from a stationer's and cost around 6d (2.5 p) each. We do not even have a W.H.Smith's left in our town, let alone an independant stationer's, so a bit stumped on where to look.
We also made Froebel Stars aka German Stars using strips from the great wallpaper sample book. They started to get really good in the 1970s when really strong colours started to appear and no just wishy-washy pastel shades.
Was there anything else we made? Or you made? Had the Age of Blue Peter brought more sophisticated Christmas present-making for parents? I had the grands making paper chains last year, but it was not a great success. They could not see the point of making something which could be bought. It saddens me, because many skills were learned using our hands and simple tools. No wonder they cannot use a pair of scissors even yet!
Thanks for your time. I will look forward to hearing your input
I was searching for an image of Affixofix paste when I came across this forum. Hence my new thread. This was the time of year when we really got into turbo production during art & craft lessons at school. Especially primary school, where the teacher would bring out (joy of joys) a new wallpaper sample book. I particularly remember a year when I managed to bag a pink and white candy-striped paper... Anyway, we seemed to have more time allocated to art and craft in those days and it certainly helped fill in those long drawn-out days anticipating Christmas.
And so a page of wallpaper + cardboard + postcard + calendar + ribbon hanger = main present for your Mum. Whilst Dad got a treacle or syrup tin covered in wallpaper full of spills - either home-made newspaper with a twist at the top or multi-coloured spills bought at the tobacconist's.
Does this ring a bell with you? I wonder if anyone has seen those little calendars around recently? I have not found anything useful online or in the shops. As I recall they came from a stationer's and cost around 6d (2.5 p) each. We do not even have a W.H.Smith's left in our town, let alone an independant stationer's, so a bit stumped on where to look.
We also made Froebel Stars aka German Stars using strips from the great wallpaper sample book. They started to get really good in the 1970s when really strong colours started to appear and no just wishy-washy pastel shades.
Was there anything else we made? Or you made? Had the Age of Blue Peter brought more sophisticated Christmas present-making for parents? I had the grands making paper chains last year, but it was not a great success. They could not see the point of making something which could be bought. It saddens me, because many skills were learned using our hands and simple tools. No wonder they cannot use a pair of scissors even yet!
Thanks for your time. I will look forward to hearing your input
Lovely to see your own childhood reawakened every year... It is quite special. Would the tree be the same without? No! A lot of memories are stuck to that simple little bell. Remade? Not at all! Possibly just a replacement here and there. Tinsel does get tatty over time 
I have a clutch of bells my Mother made... She collected the tops of Bell's whisky for a couple of years then tied them all together on gold ribbons to attach to the door wreath. Very effective they were too! Shame they now have ordinary screw tops, so no more "bells".
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