POLOKWANE – A self-taught florist Rorisang Mojapelo (32) from Flora Park has been in the floral industry for almost six years now and shares tips on how to decorate Christmas trees with DIY ornaments.

“I would spot Christmas decorations in malls and people’s houses that were decked in lights, garlands and ornaments and one day I thought ‘I can actually do this myself for profit’,” Rorisang said.

She added that though most people prefer buying ornaments, it’s actually a fun activity to get the whole family involved in making or creating your own as a bonding activity.

What you need:

• Salt dough to make holiday-themed shapes like a holly tree, a gingerbread man or a reindeer. Pierce a hole on top to put a string throught to hang on the tree.
• Get green, red or any coloured paper you prefer. Cut the paper into a tree, heart, star or any shape and pierce a hole on top to put a string throught to hang on the tree.
• Cut them into thin strips and combine into a ball, making the ends touch at the bottom and top to make a paper-ball-ornament (round shape). Again, you can get coloured paper or paint them papers.
• Make an angel out of paper. Cut a paper into a thick half a circle shape (which you will cut-out a half a circle in the middle) as the wings of the angel, cut another small round shape which will be the head and halo, then cut a triangle shape paper which you will use as the body of the angel.
• Make small gift boxes with paper. Get coloured paper and cut them into small square shapes enough to make a box, fill the paper with sponges or cotton to make it look like there’s a gift inside, get small string to tie the little gift box with a string to make bows.

“Remember you can make as many ornaments and deco as you like to fill up your tree depending on how big it is. You can even come up with or create new and unique ideas and you’ll be surprised how talented and skilled you are without realising it.”