So you've got your kit and you can't wait to get started on decorating your animals!

I'm Sarah, owner of and designer for Shark Alley, and on this page I've put together some ideas to help inspire you to create some gorgeous tree ornaments or fridge magnets.

There is also an FAQ section at the bottom of the page to help you out too.

(Pssst - I also make Design Your Own Brooch kits - click here to have a look)

There are so many ways that you can decorate your animals and they don't need to be overly intricate or complicated to look amazing.

Here are some suggestions to get you started.

For more information on the best paints to use, scroll down to the FAQ section at the bottom of the page.

Find out how I created some of these designs below.

For realistic designs, I use a medium-size brush with a pointed tip to put on larger areas of background colour and small brushes with fine tips for the details.

To create these all-over holly leaf patterns, I painted the base with emulsion paint, then loosely brushed on a paler shade over the top, so parts of the background colour were still visible.

When this was dry, I dipped a small brush with quite splayed bristles into green paint, then pressed it down in groups of three or four to create the leaves, starting near the head and working outwards, letting the pattern run over the edges in places. I used a smaller, neater brush to dot on the red holly berries and the spotty patterns in between the groups of leaves.

This technique also works well for feathers, as shown on the turtle dove and baby penguin below.

After lots of experimentation with blocks of colour that just didn't look right, I found that using a wash of colour was the best way to get the orangey-yellow patches on this emperor penguin to look more realistic.

I drew on the outlines of the penguin's plumage lightly with a pencil, then painted in the white sections.

When these were dry, I painted over a thickish line of orange, next to where the black sections would go. Rinsing the brush immediately, I used the clean, wet brush to catch the edge of the orange paint, diluting it and washing it down into the white area until the orange paint tailed off to nothing.

The black sections were painted in last.

You can also get creative by applying paint with other things.

To create the pattern on this deer fridge magnet, I used the end of a cork dipped in paint for the grey circles and the edge of a small, thin piece of card to make the yellow lines.  

You could also experiment with potato cuts, finger prints, or small things with texture that you can dip into a palette or saucer of paint and press on, like feathers or leaves.

Applying paint with stencils, either shop bought or homemade could also look amazing.

Spattering the paint on gives interesting random effects and is really easy to do.

Spattering gets messy, so make sure your work surface and nearby areas are well protected (including your clothes!). I've found that conducting the whole process inside a small cardboard box on the table helps to contain some of the flying paint.

Load your brush with some fairly runny paint, hold it about 10cm above your animal and start gently tapping to release the paint. A more vigorous tapping helps to create lines of spatter.

To make the galaxy deer ornament below, I painted the base a dark purply blue, then spattered over some lighter blue paint, then some white, letting each coat dry thoroughly before starting the next. Finally I added a few star stickers to complete the starry night effect.

You can use left-over pieces of pretty gift wrap, other patterned papers or pages from magazines to decorate your tree ornaments.

This works best on the smoother, simpler shapes that don't have lots of small body details clustered closely together, like feet and antlers, as it makes trimming them a bit fiddly.

Lay your chosen paper on your work surface so that the patterned side is face down, then place your animal on it, with the side that you want to cover face down on the back of the paper.

TIP: If you want to be sure to get a really specific part of the patterned paper over your base, hold the paper and the base up against a bright light, with the patterned side of the paper facing you.  Move the base around behind it until you can see you have the perfect placement, then carefully lay it all back down on the table as described above.

Carefully draw around the animal with a very sharp pencil then use a pair of small, sharp scissors to cut out the shape, just inside the lines. This will make for a neater fit over your wooden shape. 

Apply a thin layer of PVA glue (or similar) onto the wood, then carefully smooth over the paper. This is often easier to do in two stages, as it helps to get a more accurate placement. When the paper is in place and you are happy with it, use a cocktail stick to gently pierce through the eye hole and string hole from the front while the glue is still a little tacky. This means the excess paper will tuck in and stick neatly on the inside of the holes.

Wait until the glue is dry, then use the scissors to trim off any excess paper from the edges of the shape if necessary. Repeat on the other side or simply paint it in a matching or contrasting colour.

Paper collage is another easy way to create a pattern on your animal.

Choose a paper with a design featuring small motifs, like flowers, stars, hearts or whatever takes your fancy, and carefully cut them out.  Arrange them over your base and glue them down when you're happy with the design.

TIP: Give the wooden base a coat of paint before you start collaging.

For the hare decoration below, I used a combination of paint and cut-out motifs from a piece of vintage wallpaper in honour of this enamelled ceramic cat by Art Nouveau artist Emile Galle from the Brighton Museum, which I absolutely love. 

For the Swedish Dala horse ornament below, I carefully cut out some abstract pattern motifs from a gorgeous piece of patterned paper, then collaged them over a painted base to create the traditional Dala-style floral saddle-and-bridle decoration. I actually found this a lot easier than painting them on!

The Dala reindeer was painted with gold acrylic paint, and collaged with hearts cut out freehand.

TIP: If you're using felt tip pens on a painted base, acrylic paint would make a much better base to work on than emulsion paint, as it won't clog up the pen nibs.

If you are using emulsion, give it a light coat of varnish before you start drawing.

For the dove ornament, I used a base of cream emulsion paint and drew the olive branch design on with coloured pencils, then varnished it. The varnish picked up some little dusty fragments of pencil, which slightly tinted it and gave it a bit of a vintage finish, which was an unexpected touch.

Start off by painting the base and then apply your chosen stickers or stick-on jewels over the top.  You can choose a plain coloured base, or go for a simple design.

A simple coat of nail varnish can create a very pretty effect on your animal shape.

You could use this as a base for stickers or for designs created with other nail varnish colours (or nail varnish pens if you have them). Dotting, pressing or brushing on other colours are all good ways to create patterns.  Cocktail sticks are perfect for making finer, more delicate marks as well as dragging two colours to blend them, as in the penguin design below. Do this when both colours are freshly applied and still wet, then drag the cocktail stick through them one way and then the other.

Use nail varnish in a very well ventilated room. This technique is not recommended for young children.

The tree ornament kits come with jute strings to tie on and hang them with. These were chosen to be neutral and to go with pretty much everything, but if you want something more decorative, there are things you can change and add to give your ornament a little something extra.

You could replace the string with any of the following:

• Very fine ribbon

• Butchers string

• Embroidery thread

• Thin wool

• Leather beading cord

You could thread one large bead over the string for an extra bit of decoration, or thread smaller ones over the strings before knotting them.

Please share your designs with me!

I can't tell you how much pleasure I get from seeing what people have done with their kits - you're all such a creative bunch and I'm always blown away by all the amazing different ways you decorate your animals.

Send some pics of your creations to:

sarah@sharkalley.co.uk (or click here)

or tag @sharkalley on Instagram.

The kits contain the following:

FOUR ANIMALS cut from FSC certified birch plywood.

FOUR LENGTHS OF PRE-CUT JUTE STRING (TREE ORNAMENTS KIT). Tie through the hole in the animal and knot the ends.

FOUR SMALL MAGNETS WITH SELF-ADHESIVE PATCHES (FRIDGE MAGNETS KIT). Remove the paper from one side of the adhesive patch and stick it carefully over the magnet (the edges will overlap a bit). Remove the remaining piece of paper and stick the magnet onto your animal, in a roughly central position, or slightly higher.

A SHEET OF DESIGN INSPIRATION TEMPLATES to either copy or trace onto your bases

One side of the base (the smoothest one) has been pre-sanded by me, ready for you to start decorating.  Sanding the wood makes a better surface to work on, especially for fine details. You can sand the other side if you want - I use a piece of fine sandpaper wrapped around a wooden block or a sponge sanding block like this -  available from most DIY shops.

If you mess up a painted design and want to start again, you can just sand the surface smooth again.

For fridge magnets, I would avoid paints that run or smudge easily when they get wet (like watercolour, gouache or poster paints) but this won't be such an issue for tree ornaments.

EMULSION PAINT

I like to use household emulsion paint tester pots for most of my animals, as they're relatively cheap and hard-wearing. Depending on how thick they are, you might need to mix them with a bit of water to make a creamier texture that goes on better.  If the coverage isn't as opaque as you would like, two or three thinner coats give a nicer finish than one thick gloopy one.

ACRYLIC PAINT & PAINT MARKERS

Acrylic paints go on smoothly and are great to use if you have them, as are water-based paint markers, like Posca pens Pens are really useful if you want a bit more control, especially for finer details. They're also cleaner and easier to use than brushes. 

You don't have to varnish your finished painted or collaged animal, but it does give a satisfyingly shiny finish, as well as making it more hard-wearing. It's also a really good option for fridge magnets, so they can be safely wiped clean if necessary.

For these and for my brooches, I use satin finish Polyvine Decorator's Varnish, which comes in three finishes, dead flat, satin and gloss, and in several different-sized bottles. You can also use other acrylic varnishes, or even clear nail varnish at a pinch but if you have any doubts, especially over paper, test them on a spare piece first and leave for a few hours.

Yes! I know that kids as young as four have had loads of fun decorating their animals.

The decoration part is perfect for kids, but they might need help with the finishing part, especially if scissors are needed.

The fridge magnets kits come with small parts (magnets) which could be a choking hazard, so care must be taken by parents here. These magnets are also very powerful, so children might need help with handling and separating them.