Birchill Studio

LIFESTYLE // CRAFTS // DIY Nordic living in Lisbon. Lifestyle blog with emphasis on crafts and sustainability. | Copyright © 2025 Birchill Studio | All rights reserved |

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Marbled mint chocolate bark

One of my favourite and easy treat around Christmas! Marbled chocolate bark, with mint flavour.

Line a flat plate in chosen shape for the bark with either foil or parchment paper.

Melt 200g dark chocolate (I usually use 70% cocoa or more) in a bowl in a bain marie, and 100g white chocolate in a separate bowl. Add natural mint flavour to the dark chocolate and stir well.

Pour dark chocolate on to the lined plate. Follow with pouring the white chocolate on top in a grid pattern across the full area. Then use a chopstick or toothpick to create a flow pattern across the grid created by the white chocolate. Alternate lengthwise and across until desired marble effect has been achieved.

Sprinkle crushed mints, nuts or any other decor you wish to add and let the chocolate set and cool down in the fridge. Once cold, you are ready to cut or break into pieces. Makes a wonderful gift served in a box or wrapped with a bow and tag!

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Painted paper decorations

Now here is an easy craft for the holidays! You can use any paper available, but even better if you have some hand-painted pieces that you can use. I had painted A4 size papers with simple stripe patterns a while ago, without any particular use in mind, and was very excited to see they came to good use in this project!

To make these, simple divide the A4 sheets length wise and fold with accordion style pleats. Try to end both ends of the paper folded the same direction for best result.

Once pleated, tie the middle with a thread or cord and leave enough cord to create a loop. Bring together the edges on both sides and staple together at the back. If needed, press down any folds to sharpen the shape.

And, so they are ready! These can be varied in many ways, for example cutting shapes on the outer edges.

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Saving all the flowers for upcoming projects, either by drying or pressing. New batch here, still TBC what they will be used for!

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Nail-polish marbling

This fun little craft is very impactful but slightly messy! It is also very important to keep the space very well-ventilated which I learned only too late, after getting carried away with the marbling.

Prepare small pieces of paper or card. Use a container which you are happy to use with nail polish, as it will get marked. Fill the container with just enough water so that you can dip the papers. This is to avoid contaminating more water than needed for this craft. Start adding drops of nail polish and let it float on the surface of the water. Use a wooden stick to carefully move the colours across the water surface to create a desired effect.

Notes: You may find that different nail polishes behave differently so do test on a couple of papers. And hurry, the nail-polish dries into a stiff layer very quickly so make sure to dip your paper quickly.

Happy marbling!

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Saffron and white chocolate ‘Kladdkaka’

Oh, kladdkaka...This Swedish cake is one of my favourites! So easy to make and always delicious. Normally made with cocoa, this is an adaption of a white chocolate version of the same cake and just to give it that Christmas flavour, I added in a little bit of saffron.

I found this brilliant recipe for a white chocolate ‘kladdkaka’. For the saffron version, I omitted the grated lemon zest and reduced the sugar by half. For the added saffron, combine 0.5 grams of saffron with a tablespoon of sugar in a pestle and mortar and grind until the saffron is blended in to the sugar. Add this in to the butter and white chocolate melt. Once baked and cooled, dust with some powdered sugar and serve with lingonberries or red currants.

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Natural Christmas mood

Simple Christmas table setting details; unbleached linen, evergreens, natural twine and beeswax candles. 

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Felt baubles

Looking for simple decoration ideas for the holidays? These felt baubles may not look so simple but they truly are, and the best thing is that they can be made pretty much in any shape!

You can find hobby felt in most craft stores, or use left over felt fabric from other projects. Cut your preferred shapes out, I chose chunkier teardrop shapes and simplified Christmas tree shapes. You will need 3-5 layers for each decoration.

After the shapes are cut, fold each shape right in the middle length ways and assemble them side by side, so that the folded ‘spines’ face towards the middle of the decoration. Start by stitching the top together, making sure to catch a few millimeters of each shape. Repeat the same at the bottom of the decoration. Choose a point along the edge, catch an opposite half of the shape and tack two parts together right at the edge of the shape. Repeat this at the same height all around, until all halves have been connected. If you wish, you can now choose a second, third or even fourth point to connect, alternating the halves connected in order create the honeycomb effect. Add a loop at the top for hanging and voila, your felt decorations are ready!

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Christmas wreaths and bows

With the leftover materials from the dried flower wreath, I decided to craft a few more decorations. All you need to create these are some pine branches, dried flowers, jute string and metal wire. The circular wreath frame and decorative ribbon is optional, depending on the look you want to go for.

Perfect for decorating windows, doors and mirrors!

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Handmade gift tags

After finishing the wreath, I had quite a lot of flowers left which I wanted to make something out of. After checking through my supplies, I also found some previously made papers that had a rustic feel to them and so the idea was born! Handmade gift tags, with a couple of small twigs attached with stamped seal wax. These were very easy to make and why not add the recipients favourite flower for an even more personalised gift!

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Dried flower wreath

It’s almost December and decorating the house has been my happy task for this weekend. I picked up some dried flowers and evergreens from one of the lovely flower stands by Mercado da Ribeira together with a ready made pine wreath (I know, its a little cheat, but not to worry, I will be making things from scratch as well!)

Most of the dried flowers I picked up were in earthy tones so added a bright red variant for a bit of pop. The wreath will become a centre piece with a glass jar and candle in the middle. I cut all the pieces that I wanted to add to the wreath to approx 10cm long pieces and stuck them down following the direction of the pine branches.

It turned out to be a simple way to add a bit of holiday vibes!

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Velvety air-dry clay stars

I initially planned to have a very minimal tree with just a few lights, but after careful thinking decided I would do just the opposite this year. I want the tree to be cozy and full, with different little objects to cheer us up. After browsing through some inspiration I decided I will make some decorations to match my newly decided colour scheme of soft and warm tones.

Using air-dry clay, I rolled out a 4-5mm thick layer and using a star shaped cookie cutter, stamped out 10 stars. I punched through a hole at the top of each star for the string and let the dry. Once dry, I coated them with a first layer of dark brown acrylic paint. After drying, I mixed warm pink with a little bit of copper paint (all acrylic) and used a sponge to dab it on, leaving some uneven patches. Once dry, I cut long enough pieces out of matching velvet ribbon to make the bows, and glued them on. Lastly, I attached the string and ta-da! This years first tree decorations are ready!