Christmas is the most magical time of the year for children. From making the Christmas cake with mum, to decorating the tree with the most beautiful baubles with dad and of course the anticipation of Santa’s arrival on the rooftop – we all remember just how fabulous Christmas time with the family was as a child. So to show you just how much fun it is, my beautiful daughter (who insisted on wearing her princess outfit and had her face painted) and I thought we’d take some snaps and share them with you…

Make sure you get the kids involved with decorating your Christmas tables and home this year – they’ll love the praise from family and friends when they proudly announce they helped and of course it gives them the chance to get creative (and out from under grandparents feet!)

As a mum myself, my little boy and girl love helping to decorate the big family table, adorning plates with folded napkins and sprinkling gems across the white linen table cloth. I’ve put together some wonderful hints to make decorating with kids the most lovely of Christmas traditions.

Red table gems were the colour of choice for our 'trial' Christmas table...

Poppers and crackers are fab extras and kids love them

Treats for Santa: plates, napkins, mince pies, check! Now where's the tipple...?

1.)    All that glistens
Kids love the idea of glistening treasure so why not give them different coloured cut table crystals to scatter across tables? The light will catch the glass and create an incredible effect in both the daytime and once you’ve lit your small flickering tea lights. They can even fill small organza bags with the gems so that the ‘guests’ have their own small bag of treasure to open – let them decide on which colour they’d like each Aunt, Uncle, Cousin or grandparent to have, they’re guaranteed to love it!

2.)    Name it
Give kids a very responsible task of carefully writing a name card for each of the guests – not only will they make an incredibly sweet and personal touch for the Christmas tables the cards give children the opportunity to get creative with crayons and draw Christmas trees, stars and Santa’s on. Make things easier by buying up some simple plain cards so you know that each one will be the same size.

3.)    Treats for Santa and his Reindeer
Remember how wonderful it was putting out treats for Santa and his reindeer on Christmas Eve as a child? Try giving children festive plates, Christmas themed confetti and tiny party picks to put in mince pies – Santa and Rudolf will have the best dressed treats in town!

Paper chain making (although we cheated slightly with these fab Rocking Rudolf ones!)

Throwing confetti - a very precise job as you can see...

Finally perfecting the glass decorations (and somehow adding a party popper in there too!)

4.)    Paperchains galore!
Making Paper Chains for Kids is one of the easiest paper craft projects you can do – and the results are beautiful!

What You’ll Need:
Assorted colours of construction paper
Blunt scissors
Ruler
Transparent tape or craft glue
Ornament with paper clip hook (optional)

Step 1: Cut several 1×5-inch strips of construction paper in any colour you want. The number of strips depends on how long you want the chain to be. Step 2: With one strip, bring the ends together to form a circle. Tape or glue the ends in place. Insert another strip through the paper circle. Bring the ends together, forming a linked circle. Tape or glue the ends in place. Repeat this to continue the chain, making sure you link the strips. Step 3: Use a red and green chain to decorate a Christmas tree or string across fireplaces!

No time? Try beautiful pre made paper chins such as this gorgeous festive Rocking Rudolf one – get the kids to drape it wherever they see fit!

5.)    Adding extras – table toppings…
The most fun part of setting any Christmas table – get kids to add the crackers, table trivia, bubbles and even carefully place small cards for glasses on each guests setting. I can guarantee that your table will be more fun and radiant than when you try to carefully set out your finishing touches. It’ll be the talking point of the evening and kids will glow with pride.

6.)    The Tree
Before children my tree was an achievement that any stylist from Ideal Home would have been proud of. The epitome of minimalism and cool – carefully colour co-ordinated decorations from Harvey Nic’s, simple white lights each year…it was a styling achievement I was proud of. I got away with this when they were little but now – as those of you with slightly older children will know – it’s about them fitting as much as possible into every square centimetre of space, adorning the beautiful pines in ribbons, baubles and lights and those school made decorations that no mother can ever throw away. How about making this Christmas even more special by waiting until the very end of the tree decorating before presenting you kids with a beautiful personalised bauble. Wait until you see their face as you lift them up so they can put it pride of place on the tree – amazing!

Rocking Rudolf Party Picks

Voila! The Rocking Rudolf Range

Rocking Rudolf Plates

We know you’ll love getting the kids involved this year and it’ll make Christmas even more special. We’d love to see pictures of you finished tables so please do email us on pr@thelastdetail.co.uk if you’ve got any piccies you’d like to share!

Merry Christmas, Kaley x