A mum spent eight hours painstakingly hand-making 350 decorations for her Christmas tree - and says she saved herself $2,250. <br /><br />Sophie Brown, 36, has spent three weeks over four years making her own ornaments - including wire word baubles, upcycled Terrazzo baubles and ornate folded stars - to adorn her 10ft Christmas tree. <br /><br />She has crafted various custom designs - including mercury glass baubles, ornate folder stars, mosaic trees and personalised name tags.<br /><br />Some of Sophie's ornaments take her just minutes to make - such as the marble baubles made with nail polish and the wooden stars from repurposed clothing pegs - and others like the 'mosaic tiles' take about half a day. <br /><br />She has also made commemorative decorations - including a crown in memory of Queen Elizabeth II and a cricket ball for Australian cricketer Shane Warne.<br /><br />Sophie claims all of her decorations are cheaper than buying them from the shop and in some cases is able to make four baubles for the price of one shop-bought - she estimates she's spent just $750.<br /><br />As well as her tree, Sophie has also just begun her '12 DIY's of Christmas' which sees her make handmade gifts, table settings and decor for her house - with Day 1 being a set of monogram pyjamas for her kids.<br /><br />Mum-of-two Sophie, a professional crafter content creator, from Melbourne, Australia, said: "If the average ornament is $10 then for 300 of them it would be $3000, so - given that most DIY ones cost a quarter of that - I've probably saved 75% of that.<br /><br />I make six new types every year and then make between five and eight of that type - so around 30 to 50 ornaments each year.<br /><br />"I try to make stuff that can be customised so I do neutral things but you can make them colourful and to your taste. <br /><br />"It can be cheaper as well - mercury glass baubles usually cost $30 per bauble but I can make four for that price, so it's allowing you to save money but also make it a bit more unique and beautiful.<br /><br />"I have so many different ornaments for a fraction of the price. <br /><br />"The common thing is being strategic on the materials you use. <br /><br />"The clay ornaments, I can make 26 of them from a $15 piece of clay. <br /><br />"The wooden beads - I can get eight stars out of two boxes of beads for $20, which is a lot cheaper than the shop, but the investment is the time.<br /><br />"All of the ornaments are cheaper than store-bought ones - some significantly. <br /><br />"Some are upcycled too and they can be made nicer and more expensive. Money is a lot tighter at this time of year so it's an important thing to think about."<br /><br />Sophie's DIY Christmas began back in 2019, when she decided to offset the price of her Christmas tree with cheaper decorations.<br /><br />She said: "I bought an artificial tree from this company years ago and because they are expensive I decided to do DIY ornaments. <br /><br />"Since then I've been doing that every year and showing ways you can get creative and save money with new ideas.
