What you need...

• POSCA pens: PC-3M Sparkly eight-piece set;PC-1M, red, black, white, green
  
• Artiste acrylic paint, assorted soft metallic shades
  
• Plain gift boxes
  
• Baubles, Papermania’s Create Christmas: Heart, Round

instructions

1. POSCA PENS - KEEP IT PERSONAL
   These makes look impressive but are surprisingly easy to recreate using simple drawing techniques; when you break it down, these motifs are simply composed of dots, curves and lines. Once you master them, you can create a completely co-ordinated Christmas look.
   
   NIFTY TOOLS
   POSCA pens work brilliantly on seasonal makes and provide a bright new look across so many projects. We’ve used traditional colours and sparkly variations to whip up a collection of decorations and gifts. Whether you plump for twinkly or classic, these shades really ‘pop’ on both dark and light backgrounds, giving you more style options.
   
   ENDLESS OPTIONS
   What’s more, POSCA pens are perfect for upcycling, personalising clothes, creating decorations or designing a greeting. The multi-purpose, multi-surface ability of the markers gives one pack a variety of uses.

2. PEACE BAUBLE - Use a PC-1M white POSCA pen to write ‘Peace’ in simple capital letters in the centre of a heart bauble. Around the text, draw curved lines with sparkly green. Make little strokes along one edge of the central line, decreasing in size as it goes up, then repeat along the other side. Once dry, use white and other coloured pens to add in details such as berries or lights onto the motif.

3. XMAS BAUBLE - Write ‘Merry Xmas’ in the centre of a round bauble with a PC-1M white POSCA pen. Use a red PC-1M pen to draw a simple flower at the top-left and bottom-right of the text as follows; draw a vertical petal shape, then two connecting diagonal shapes at the bottom. Add two petals either side as shown, then colour in with red. Once dry, fill in the centre with white and black. Use a green PC-1M pen to create a fir sprig design around the text as before.

4. NOEL BAUBLE - Use a red PC-1M POSCA pen to write ‘Noel’ onto a round bauble, allow to dry, then add highlights with white PC-1M pen as shown. Make curved lines around the writing with green PC-1M pen, then use it to draw upside-down tear-shapes and colour them in. Draw in clusters of three little berries and single dots along the stems with white PC-1M pen, and use it to add highlights to the leaves.

5. FESTIVE BOXES - 1 Use variations on the sprig motif from the baubles to decorate blank gift boxes. The rectangular box design is drawn in sparkly green POSCA pen, then embellished with sparkly purple.
   
   2 Mark a simple circle in pencil on the lid of the round box and make a series of interconnected lines around it with a black PC-1M POSCA pen. Continue making fir sprigs and write ‘joy’ in the centre, adding highlights with white PC-1M pen.
   
   3 Paint a heart-shaped box with pink metallic acrylic paint. Use a green PC-1M POSCA pen to create the fir sprig design and add little heart shapes around this with red PC-1M pen.