Stacey Solomon’s Crafty Christmas is sickly sweet ...Middle East

I cannot resist Stacey Solomon, her beaming face and her seemingly perma-pregnancy. I love it when she tidies up kindly, as in her BBC series Sort Your Life Out. I love her Estuary accent and her excellent hair.

This year’s instalment of Stacey Solomon’s Crafty Christmas, in which she teaches us how to make decorations and gifts at home, hits levels of wholesome as yet unmapped by man. “You don’t need loads of money to make Christmas special,” she pronounces sweetly during the first few minutes. Normally, I would recoil from such earnestness, but since it’s Solomon at the helm, I’m willing to give myself over to her festive spirit.

Gearing up to a Christmas party at her grandmother Gwen’s care home and aided by her fleet of angelic children and Cheeky-Chappy-in-Chief husband Joe Swash, Solomon shows us how to make everything from baubles to body butter. But no matter what she’s crafting, the message is clear – Christmas is about people, not things. Hard to argue with, even if it does sound like something out of a cheesy Hallmark card.

There’s no question that Crafty Christmas walks its “people-over-presents” walk rather than just paying sugar-sweet lip service to it. Rather than just going to the shops, Solomon fixes beloved old things – like her grandmother’s broken vase with gold kintsugi glue – as well as giving new ones, and flies distant family members in to celebrate.

Stacey Solomon is the relatable domestic goddess of the authenticity generation

In their first project, Swash and Solomon make angels for the top of their Christmas tree, with water bottles for bodies and ping-pong balls for heads. For the angelic robes, Solomon takes a swatch of the petticoat from the dress their daughter wore at their wedding. “Look, anyone can go into a shop and buy a fairy,” says Swash. “But no one will have a fairy like we’ve got,” agrees Solomon.

Luckily, the sickly sweetness is offset by the angel’s wonky facial expression: “It will always remind us: don’t drink too much at Christmas,” Solomon quips. Phew.

It’s then off to the care home to upcycle some baubles with temporary tattoos. Nifty! We’re introduced to widower Tony, who has taken to visiting the home since a brief stay embedded him in the community. “You do get lonely, but it helps to come here, and see everybody,” he says, pulling himself together after a moment of weepiness – and placing himself firmly on Solomon’s list of recipients for thoughtful, homemade gifts.

To that end, Dilly Carter – Sort Your Life Out’s organiser extraordinaire – drops by to make a batch of body butter for the care home staff, while Solomon’s sister Gemma helps with a pair of no-sew pillows for twin residents Margaret and Annie. Both projects looked doable, even for a crafting novice like me.

For her most tear-jerking present, Solomon folds the pages of Tony’s wife’s favourite book into an origami Christmas tree. “I wanted to make Tony a gift that would remind of his wife but hopefully make him feel happy as well,” she says. Again, the show’s sincerity is blessedly infused with a bit of sass: “I’m going to tell Joe that my favourite book is War and Peace, and I want the whole thing done – every last page.”

If you’re looking to Solomon purely for crafting ideas, you’ll find plenty of cheap, impactful and achievable options. But hanging the suggestions around one event gives Crafty Christmas structure, allowing it to say more about the festive season than just a simple list of tips. With the care home’s party in full swing, Solomon belting out Tony’s favourite song from Les Mis – I won’t blame you for joining him in a little cry.

Practical and charming, with a crucial dash of irreverence, only Solomon can slip Crafty Christmas past my cynical filter – but honestly, I’m glad she did. Bah humbug.

‘Stacey Solomon’s Crafty Christmas’ is streaming on BBC iPlayer

Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Stacey Solomon’s Crafty Christmas is sickly sweet )

Also on site :

• Final Palisades fire evacuation order lifted
• A hillside of white crosses fuels a misleading story about South Africa’s farm killings
• Crash in Rosemont area leaves woman dead, 2 others injured