Button Baubles, Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree and Dani's Castle Blue Peter

We have got a wicked Blue Peter show for you today. I put the star on top

of the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree. And I got to rub shoulders

with rigid whisker and got a surprise behind the scenes at Annie

's Castle. And we reveal the short list for Young Sports Personality of

the Year. That is all coming up today on live Blue Peter.

Hello! We have such a good show coming your way today. It is

Thursday, it is 5.30, it is live, and that means we want you to get in

touch! We are feeling Christmassy on Blue Peter today. I have a

question. If you could have a Christmas wish for the holiday, what

would it be and why? We are not talking smartphones or tablets or a

bike. We are talking magical Christmas wishes, so get in touch

and let us know. Mine would be going to space in a rocket and then

looking down on Earth and all the Christmas lights. My one would be a

magical arsenal football shirt where I could play for Arsenal with the

speed of the Walker. You know what to do. Get online and tell us your

Christmas wish and why. Lindsey, check this out. We have been

counting down to Christmas on CBBC, and you have as well. Look at some

of the post, with pictures of the cards we made last week. Amy made

the CBBC Blue Peter Christmas card. -- Jamie. This one is from Ben, who

also made the Christmas card. He seems to think you beat me in a

snowball fight. I agree! And this one is from Lucy. She has made an

Advent kind are all by herself. And under number 14, Blue Peter

presenters. You have not just been sending in e-mails, look at the big

badge wall. It is cake this week! We have pictures of animals, the Blue

Peter ship, a Christmas theme. I am loving it. I also love this from

Essie from Berkhamsted. She made a beautiful star as a Christmas tree

decoration. And on my left, this is from Josie. She made this wonderful

decoration from felt. This is from Mairead and Michael from Surrey,

brother and sister. They made this Blue Peter logo out of blue tiles.

It took two days. It is going up in our office. Thank you for getting

involved. That is commitment! If you have been watching CBBC recently,

you will probably have seen Danny 's Castle. Not only does it start

people like Shannon Flynn and Richard Risca, but the cast and crew

have a surprise for me when I went behind the scenes on this really

cool CBBC drama. Take one blink acyl, a troublesome

cos in and a pair of ghastly ghosts, and what have you got? Top

CBBC series Dani's Castle, and I have got the keys to the castle door

for one day only. The first series of Dani's Castle saw Dani inherit

the ancient castle, Jimmy, a cousin she did not know she had, as well as

the groundskeeper's children and the castle's 250-year-old resident

ghosts. That was series one. This is an exclusive behind the scenes look

at series two. To find out more about the madcap happenings at the

castle, I am catching up with one of the stars of the show, Shannon

Flynn. Hello, Shannon. You play Kate. What is she like? Rich and

always coming up with -- Richard is always coming up with ways to us

they've -- save the castle, and she says it is never going to work.

Sometimes things happen for a reason. Two of the newest additions

to the castle in this series are the castle's mutts, Roxy and Diego --

mice. This is the chill out zone for the nice. It is where they hang

out, relax, maybe sleep or eat. Don't go! We have huge fairy lights

hanging there, which looked huge compared to the size of my head.

Last but not least are some cotton buds, which looked like they have

been used. The castle founder is played by Friday Download regular

rigid whisker. What is it like playing him? He is really cool, fun,

upbeat, loads of charisma. I need banners, flyers, T-shirts. I want

everybody to know what is going on. We are standing in the radio

station. He is starting his own radio station. Richard tells

everybody what to do. He believes in his music. So he is in charge of the

station. They may waive letters in our faces, but they will never take

away our radio. But it turns out that the cast had a bit of a

surprise for me. You do any acting before? Want to be part of the show?

You have got 24 hours to learn your lines. But luck. You will also be

doing some dancing. We have a choreographer coming in, so the

pressure is on full I am excited. Two steps forward. But there is no

time for nerves. I am straight into dance rehearsals. In this episode, I

play myself, which should be easy. But I have to teach that to a load

of actors. How that is going to go, I don't know. But so far, so good.

Next, I'm off to get a few tips, watching the actors at work. These

guys are total pros and the more I watch them, more nervous I get. Des

is going to be helping me. She will do great. Onto hair, make-up and

costume. Before I know it, rehearsals are underway. Hope I

don't floss my lines. Wing walking in Wyoming. We have just rehearsed

the first scene, which went OK. I was a bit ropey online is at first,

but I think I have got them now, and now we do it for real. Lights,

camera, action. I can't believe I'm actually appearing in an episode of

Dani's Castle, but what does the director think? And that is a wrap.

It was great having Lindsey is part of the cast of Dani's Castle. She

was fun to work with. Thank you for having me. That is a wrap for me. It

was so much fun being part of the cast of Dani's Castle, and this is

how it ended up looking like. Prepare to have your mind... Is that

Lindsey Russell from Blue Peter? Yeah. Aaagh! Are those? Ghosts.

Aaagh! Sorry, not cool. I'm sure you can tell from my phenomenal acting

that I have a drama degree from University. But if you want to see

that episode of Dani's Castle, it will be on next Wednesday at 5.30 on

CBBC. If you have missed any episodes, you can find them on

iPlayer. Lindsey Russell, a quiz question for you. Which award do

these sporting superstars have in common? Tom Daley, with this

exquisite dive at the 2012 Olympics, Andy Murray, winning

Wimbledon, and Ellie Simmonds, 2008 apparent pics? I am going to go for

Young Sports Personality of the Year. Yes, but before winning, those

guys were competing at the junior ranks, and it is sports stars like

that who have been nominated for this year's Young Sports Personality

of the Year 2013. I was honoured to be part of the panel that determined

the top three. We started with 50 nominees, Whittle them down to ten,

and then had the unenviable job of choosing just three. Now,

exclusively on Blue Peter, you will see it for the first time before

anybody else, we are going to show you the three finalists.

I'm 16 and I compete in Olympic shooting. I'm currently ranked

number one in GB and fifth in the world. I won gold at the Acapulco

World Cup. I have tried so many sports throughout my life, and I

could not imagine my life without sport, because it gives you

something to focus on and gives you determination. It is a great thing.

My dreams for the future are definitely to get to compete in Rio

2016 Olympics. I went to London 2012 Olympics last year, and it has

definitely pushed me to train harder and hopefully reach my goals in the

future. It would mean so much to me to win the BBC's Young Sports

Personality of the Year out of so many amazing athletes who equally

deserve this award. But it is nice to be recognised not just in

shooting, but across all sports. I'm Charlie, I'm 17 and I am a

golfer. My main accompaniments this year where that I took part in the

women's World Cup team against America. I am the youngest ever to

compete in it. Sport means to me that great feeling when you have a

good victory, that awesome feeling inside you. It is addictive, so you

always want to do well. For me, being out in the fresh air or the

time and travelling to countries and playing in front of big crowds is

the best thing. How has sports changed my life? I travel to

different places all the time, but it is good to be back home because I

love being in England. To be in the top three is an honour. I have

watched this every year, BBC sports personality. It would be great if I

could win it, but it is an honour to be in the top three. My dreams for

the future, I definitely want to be world number one and see how many

tournaments I can win. I'm 18 and I do athletics. This

year, I won gold in the 200 metres and the four x 100 meters in the

European Junior Championships. I was part of the winning team at the

London Anniversary Games. That team also got bronze in Moscow in the

World Championships. Sport means a lot to me. Not only do I spend a

significant amount of my life running around a track, but it has

also enabled me to be focused and determined on things out I'd sport,

like school or just something I want to achieve . Sport has given me the

confidence and determination to be like, yeah, I want to do that to a

high standard. It is so difficult to stay at the top of your game. I

think it is harder to be ranked highly in the country than to be

ranked further down. If I won the Young Sports Personality of the

Year, I don't know what I would do. It would mean so much that not only

you thought I was the most worthy winner with such amazing

competition, but it would also spur me on and make me more determined to

do well in the future. Wow! What an inspiring bunch.

Congratulations to all three of those people here. We have here, the

Young Sports Personality of the Year award, and if you want to find out

who wins it, make sure you are watching BBC One this Sunday at

7.30pm. If you want to get involved in sport over the Christmas

holidays, head to the website: Bbc.co.uk/bluepeter. There are loads

of great ideas on how to do that. The studio is looking Christmas

today, especially in Radzi's Christmas Corner! You caught me

decorating the corner! Now, Christmas is about 294 hours away.

Exciting times. Getting close.

No-one is more excited than me but last week when I was told to wake up

at the crack of dawn to decorate the Christmas tree, I thought, can't

they do it later but then they told me it was the Trafalgar Square

Christmas tree. Now, Radzi, given the history of

this tree, were you careful with the star? I know what you are talking

about. Take a look. Putting the star on top would have

been the easy part, or at least it should have been... Oh, my goodness!

I have just dropped the star! So, no pressure on me when it was my turn!

It is early in the morning, here in London. We are all awaiting the

arifle of something very important. This year's Trafalgar Square-and I

have been given a special job to do, to put the star on the top of the

tree. Before long, the Christmas tree arrives at Trafalgar Square. It

has travelled over 1,000 miles to gel here from Norway. A few days

ago, I went to meet the tree as it arrived on the docks. It is 4.00am.

It is cold it is windy, but that does not matter as the roll

on-roll-off vessel is coming. At the end of the journey, the goods are

rolled on, at the end, they are rolled off.

Top to bottom, this beauty of a tree is the same length as two

double-decker buses placed end-to-end it is massive. When I get

the tree up, I'll be putting the star there. Now it is going on to a

special lorry to be transported to London. The straps are on. The tree

is ready to be lifted. Local children take part in a special

Christmas tradition to have their artwork placed on the tree. This

year, the winners are... Stefan. Brandon. Harvey. Like, this -- this

looks great, what have you drawn? There is a Santa going up the tree.

I have drawn a candy cane with lots of presents.

Stefan, what about you? This is a snowman. This is the glitter, those

are his gloves. It is simple but it works so well!

When the tree is ready to go, we hand the pictures over to Laura, the

driver, who takes them to Trafalgar Square. Back in London, the work is

under way. Not many people know this but there is a permanent Christmas

tree stand right here in Trafalgar Square.

The guys behind me are o now removing the slabs, and there is

where the Christmas tree is put into position. Take a look. Yep, putting

up the travel raffle travel -- Trafalgar Square tree, is like

putting up your own one at home. Although this one is 15 times

higher! We are in! That's the tree in place. So now the massive task of

decorating the tree begins. I start with displaying the artwork.

Well, Brandon, Stefan and Harvey's pictures are displayed and ready to

go under the tree. Now the all-important lights. 900 bulbs

require unravelling and checking! Now to check the section of the

lights, yes, please, sir. Wow! Now to top it off, for the starring

role... The time has finally rooifed. I get to put the star on

the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree! But I will need a very long ladder!

Luckily for me, with the help of this machinery, I'll be able to get

to the top-all 21 metres high of it! So, what to we do first, Steve?

Let's take the bolts out. All of a sudden, I find myself a

little short of breath! Here we go. The moment of truth. The star goes

on the Trafalgar Square tree! Steve, can I let go? Yeah! We're in! Yes!

If ever you happen to walk past Trafalgar Square, when you look up,

I punt there! A day later, it is time for the grand switch-on of the

lights. And following a Norwegian tradition, they are all white.

Beautiful. Yeah! You didn't drop it? No, I

didn't. We are proud of you. Now with

Christmas around the corner, what better way to show you how to make

not just one but two declarations. We are showing you how to make a

Christmas tree button bauble. And I will help you make a

personalised paper bauble. Here with me I have Lara and Izzi.

And what do you have, Radzi? Saskia and Thomas.

High fives. This is easy. All you need is an assortment of buttons and

wire from an art craft or even perhaps your garage. All of the

details are online, but it is straightforward. Famous last words!

So, let's kick off. So, there are two parts. The wire and I will take

this length of wire and then I will cut that and then fold it.

That is where the buttons are going to go through. Then we come to the

buttons. Thank you, mate. If you look at my tree, there, we have a

small button on the bottom. They make the trunk. The rest of the

buttons make the tree. Starting large, getting smaller. It is easy

to lay them out. You have started with the trunk buttons, going from

large to small. We start then with threading them through. You guys are

cracking. I will get going as well. We have asked the viewers what the

Christmas wish at home is, what is yours? So it can be Christmas

whenever you want it to be. I think the same.

Jump on board, my friend. Lindsey it is time to see how you are getting

on. So, the personalised baubles, you

need a glass, mug, pen, glue, ribbon, sis ors and ruler --

scissors and ruler. I have gone for gold Christmas card. To keep it

sparkly. I will turn it over to draw around the outside of the glass. Be

careful. It must be as neat as possible. You can fit about nine

circles on to one piece of card. That is just enough for the bauble.

Next. I grab the scissors and start cutting around the circle. Once I

have done that, do it carefully, they must be exactly the same size.

Once I have gone around the circles, you should have lots of lovely

sparkly ones like so. Then it is time for the fun bit. We start to

fold them. Remember the side you want showing, ie the gold side, I

fold inside in on itself like so. So, we have been asking Christmas

wishes, what is yours Izzi? Liverpool.

Lara, what about you? I want a gold Blue Peter badge.

I that I that is everyone's life wish, really.

Now, once you have folded all of the pieces of circle, you have to stick

them together. So get the blew. Don't hold back. That is no fun and

a top tip is to grab the ruler and press them along the creases like

so. Now once you have glued the sides,

stick them together. Make sure that the edges line up. That is really

neat. Once you have gone all the way around the bauble, you are just

about to finish, before you dot the last two sides, get the ribbon. This

is how you hang it on the tree. I have mine here. It is glued

together. I will put another bit of glue on the end of it like so.

You will make a bit of a mess. Lara is making a huge mess with the

dwliter and -- glitter and glue but that is what it is all about! Then

simply stick the ribbon in the middle. There is lots to do to make

it personal, I have gone for the gold colour, you can use recycled

Christmas cards or photos. I have some here of me and Radzi. Maybe

photos of your family if you don't like me and Radzi on there. Back to

you, Radzi. Good job, Lindsey. Now, we have, can

I use your tree, Saskia. That is how to make the loop and then you can

tie it and place it on to the Christmas tree branch. I am just

looping it over and under the other wire. When you have done that it is

complete! Now you can make it more pretty by adding a ribbon. We have

one with a ribbon there and even a wreath. So lots of different

options, but a great job. High five, Thomas... Saskia. The details are

online. While online, check out our new

games. A lot of you know Mash Up Mayhem, but this is the special

Christmas version. There are lots of stickers and galleries. On the

gallery there are lots of new faces or upload your own face and you can

start doing the Mash Up Mayhem then. I did one earlier, look at that. I

have stuck a hat and bauble. I will go over to these guys, they have

lots of their own Mash Up Mayhem. Yes we do. Look at these, this is

cool. We like them a lot. At the start of the show, we asked you what

would your Christmas wish be? We heard from the guys here, but now

from you at home. Lemon smiling potato says: I would love a theme

park in the garden and that would be so fun! Rose: I would love to fly

around the world enjoying Christmas traditions around the country and it

would be great to fly. This one: I would like to travel

back in time to find out what life was like in Victorian times.

And Byzantium Puppy says: I would like to have a longer Christmas

holiday. I feel sad when I have to go back to

school after Christmas. And this one says: I would like cake

every day. Chocolate and chips is my favourite.

Now, time to you what is comingings up on next week's show it is a

belter it is the Blue Peter Christmas Special! We have a sing

song and a brilliant Christmas Bake. A Christmas extravaganza and hold on

to your Who vian hats, next week it is time to announce the winner of

the Doctor Who competition. And on top of that, Barney is back. Very

excited. Goodbye!