bed. She raced to the doorway and peeked into the lounge room. The room looked very different.
The glass on the chest was empty. The letters were gone. There was nothing on the plate except golden crumbs. Chunks of chewed-up carrot were scattered on the floor beside the red clogs.
The three sacks were no longer hanging on the mantelpiece. Instead they lay stuffed and overflowing on the floor beside the hearth. And under the Christmas tree was a pile of presents wrapped in green and turquoise paper. Lulu felt her heart jump into her mouth.
âRosie, Gus,â she cried. âWake up.â
Her brother and sister straggled in, yawning. They stood in the doorway and stared.
Lulu looked at her brother and sister with shining eyes.
âSantaâs been,â Rosie said.
âYay,â cried Gus.
âAnd I think this is going to be the best Christmas ever,â said Lulu.
LULUâS CHRISTMAS CRAFT
Make your own Christmas decorations and costumes with the help of Lulu and her artistic mum! Check with a parent or adult before you start any of these projects. They might be able to help you find the materials you need. And be sure to tell an adult before you use tricky tools such as scissors.
Paper Plate Decorations
These decorated Christmas shapes make lovely tree decorations or gift cards.
Materials
paper plates
pencil
scissors
hole puncher
watercolour paint
glue
glitter, beads, silver stars, tinsel
satin ribbon
Directions
Draw an outline of an angel, butterfly, heart, bell or tree on each paper plate. The edge of the paper plate can create a pretty crinkled effect on part of the shapes, such as the angel wings and skirt.
Use scissors to carefully cut out the shapes.
With the hole puncher, make a hole in the top of each shape.
Paint the shapes and then decorate them by gluing on beads, silver stars, glitter or tinsel.
Allow the shapes to dry. Next, thread a piece of ribbon through the hole. Tie the ends of the ribbon together to make a loop for hanging your decoration.
Lulu and Rosieâs Christmas Star Bunting
Materials
cardboard
scissors
watercolour paint
hole puncher
jute string
Directions
Draw a star on cardboard, and cut it out. Use it as a template to trace and cut out more stars.
Paint the star shapes with watercolour paints. You could experiment with pale washes or streaky colouring.
Choose colours to match your Christmas colour scheme. While the paint is still wet, the stars can also be decorated with glitter, sparkles or letters that spell out âMerry Christmasâ.
Allow the paint to dry. Then use the hole puncher to make two holes on opposite points of the star.
Thread the stars onto your string and space them out evenly. The bunting can be hung above the front door, on the Christmas tree, across a window or on a wall.
Painted stars can also be used as gift tags and cards, or individual decorations for the tree. Just put one hole in the top instead of two on the sides and add string.
Angel Costume
Materials
white material or an old sheet
scissors
gold or silver tinsel
cardboard
stapler or glue
glitter (optional)
white ribbon or elastic
ballet slippers (optional)
Directions
Fold the material in half width-ways. When folded, the material needs to be long enough to cover the angel from shoulders to ankles. If the fabric is longer, carefully cut off the excess.
Cut out a half circle at the fold to create a head hole. The sides can be sewn shut, or left open.
Make a circlet from tinsel to fit around the angelâs head. Knot the tinsel firmly and cut off any loose ends.
Knot a length of tinsel around the childâs waist to form a belt.
Wings can be made by cutting two large wing shapes from cardboard and stapling or gluing them together. Decorate the wings with glitter or tinsel.
To attach the wings, make two arm loops from white ribbon or elastic. Check that the angel can slip their arms through the loops before tying the loops off. Staple the loops to the wings.
Angels