Making Christmas tree decorations makes your Christmas tree even more special because making handmade ornaments personalises the tree. Hama beads can be used to make special Christmas tree decorations, which can be used year after year.

To make Hama bead Christmas tree hanging you will need...

A selection of Hama beads - Look out for glitter Hama beads for a more festive look.

A large Hama bead peg board.

Grease proof paper.

Ribbon for hanging loops.

Small metal rings - you will find these in the Jewellery making section of your local craft shop.

And an iron.

The peg board as the name suggests is a board that is covered in pegs. The Hama beads can be placed onto each of the pegs. By adding beads onto the board an image can be created.

There are some rules to abide by.

Each bead needs to be directly next to another bead either horizontally or vertically. Beads which are on the diagonal will not join up to other beads its finished state.

If you need to join bead diagonally, connect the bead horizontally or vertically with a clear Hama bead.

You don't need to cover the entire pegboard. The items you create can have a 'cut out' appearance - in fact, they can look nicer that way.

If you are short of ideas you can buy a Christmas Hama bead set. These contain shaped Hama bead pegboard that you cover completely as well as plain square pegboards. The kits also contain the actual Hama beads and designs of images that you could create.

If it is just designs you are looking for to copy, Google 'Christmas Hama bead designs' and you will find an array of designs.

Once you have dropped the Hama beads onto the pegboard and you have a pleasing design, cover the Hama beads with greaseproof paper and run a warm iron over it. Keeps the iron moving at all times.

After about 20 seconds remove the iron and allow the beads to cool a little before carefully peeling the beads from the pegboard. If all the beads are not stuck together properly, replace the beads on the board, cover with greaseproof paper and iron again.

When the image comes off the pegboard in one piece, turn the work over, cover with greaseproof paper and iron the other side.

Leave the piece somewhere flat to cool completely. If it looks curled, place a heavy book on top to flatten it out.

Once cooled thread a metal ring through the top most bead, and through the ring thread a loop of ribbon so that you can hang the decoration from the Christmas Tree.

Trimming up Lampshades

Make your Hama bead Christmas decoration from transparent Hama beads and hang them from the lampshade where the light can shine though them.