Christmas in my house has become a little bland over the last few years. It has become bland for a number of reasons but I vow this year will be the last year. I have recruited my family into making some crafts (or attempted to recruit them) and so far the only one I have been successful with is Madison. But since she is my little buddy, she will do anything that involves spending time with me.
This project turned out pretty cute considering how cheap and easy it was. Most of the stuff I already had for my scrapbooking kit but I did have to make a couple cheap purchases. I do not have a picture of everything because I ended up making one change at the very, very end.
Here is what you will need:
Styrofoam cones – Since I was making Christmas trees, I bought the green ones but you can get white and paint them if you desire. I bought these from Michael’s and they were 50% off. Almost everything is half off right now so head there and stock up while everything is cheap!!
Sewing pins with the pearl heads – I used bright multi-colored ones from Wal-Mart. Michael’s has them but they only had very large packs of plain yellow. Boring. So I expensed a little extra and bought brightly colored pins.
Glitter spray – This is for fabrics but when it dries on the foam, it leaves a nice light sparkle. I applied 2 thicker coats.
Glitter Poms - For the tree topper (Madison used them on her tree but it is not displayed here)
Wooden dowels – I used the dowels to hold the trees up while the spray glitter was drying and proved to be very helpful while spinning to put the pins in. You can also cut this shorter and paint brown for the tree trunk.
Styrofoam block – This was left over from a school project for Madison so I used it to prop the trees up.
Cotton balls or fake snow
Hot glue gun or super glue always works, too
Thread – Color of your choice to be used as garland
Okay, there seems to be a lot of stuff needed here but there really isn’t and this is a very easy project.
First, trim the top of the cone with a razor knife and use sandpaper to shape it to resemble a tree top, then take the cone and push a wooden dowel into the bottom for the trunk or to use as a prop. Spray with the glitter spray. I used 2 thick coats but you can use as many as you would like. Don’t worry, the tree won’t look like it dripping with glue for long. It will dry with a nice sparkle but make sure you let it dry before applying another coat. Oh! And another bit of advice: SPRAY OVER A PLASTIC TABLECLOTH OR BOARD! The glitter gets e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e!! Please take it from me, you do not get a feeling of vertigo when the glitter is rolling around your eyeball, so please be careful!
This is when I rounded out my tree tops but I recommend doing it before glittering. It’s okay if you forget because the glitter does not rub off on your hands if you have to shave it down afterwards. Just remember to spray some more glitter on it if you do it after.
Next you push all your pins into the cone for the ornaments or lights on the tree. I did not follow a specific pattern or even have one in mind. I just tried to keep one color away from another. You most certainly could use one color and string it around like lights and then use the other colors for ornaments if you would like. After I pushed all my pins in, I stretched some cotton balls out and glued them to the bottom for snow. When I was finished and was looking at it, it seemed to be missing something so I took a piece of thread that matched the color scheme and strung it around like garland.
This was easy to do and Madison sure had a lot of fun doing it. It’s quick, easy, cheap, and a GREAT way to spend time with your loved ones.
Whatever you do this Holiday season, make sure you tell your friends and family just how much they mean to you, and remember, even the smallest of gestures (such as letting your kids decorate the tree no matter how clustered the decorations are) goes a long way.
