Christmas Tree Trio and Tutorial

I've been so inspired by all the beautiful Christmas papers and embellishments. I saw this paper by Imaginisce and immediately knew that I needed to make a trio of Christmas trees.  If only I had an i-rock, I could have adhered some serious bling. Hint, hint to anyone looking for gift ideas. ;)

Pint this Image & Tutorial to Pinterest: 

Ready to make your own set of trees?

Here's the supplies you'll need:
3 styrofoam cones (various sizes)
3 pieces of green felt (8.5x11)
1 piece brown felt (8.5x11) - I found some with texture that looks very cute in person
4 sheets green cardstock
2 sheets of Imaginisce Christmas Cottage Peppermint Stick (stripes/holly) paper or another paper of your chosing.
1 sheet Imaginisce Christmas Cottage All That Glitters (ornaments) paper or another paper of your chosing.1 sheet Imaginisce Christmas Cottage Winter Woods (trees) paper or another paper of your chosing.


1 sheet yellow paper for the stars
2" circle punch
Clear or colored embossing powder (& versamark) - optional. I used Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder (mustard)Christmasy stamp set (if you decide to emboss the stars). I used a Close to My Heart star stamp set
Glue Gun
Lots of glue sticks
Ribbon - amounts depends on your styrofoam size.  I used about a yard
Beads or small ornaments - I used a string of beads from Hobby Lobby

How to put it together in 10 easy steps:

Step 1: Turn glue stick on. HA - a nice simple first step to get things going. No picture for this. :)

Step 2: Take a piece of styrofoam and roll the green felt around it.  Cut green felt to cover the styrofoam. This is so that you won't see the styrofoam in case you have any spots that don't get completely covered by the paper you will be adhering to it. Make sure to cut a circle for the top. You will also cut the brown strip to cover the bottom to make a tree trunk. Hot glue all this to the styrofoam.

Step 3: Mist and/or emboss the yellow cardstock and cut out stars.  I free hand cut mine but if you have a star punch, then you are smarter than me.  I made 6 large stars and numerous small stars.  I used a tutorial from Scrapbook & Cards Today for the folding of these stars. Set the little stars aside and then glue the largers stars together (back to back) in sets of 2 so that you have 3 sets of stars now. Glue the stars to the top of the tree. No pic for this because I placed mine AFTER I adhered all the leaves and trust me, you want to put it before you add the leaves.

Step 4: Punch all 4 sheets of green cardstock and the 2 sheets of striped paper. Get as many as you can out of it. I believe I got 16 from each sheet. Ink the edges to give it some dimension.

Step 5: Fold the circle in half WITHOUT creasing the fold. Now fold it again and hot glue the inside corner. It's okay if that corner creases. I actually pinched it together after the glue was applied.  That will not show on the tree. It should end up looking like a fortune cookie.

Step 6: Start gluing the leaves you just made to the tree. I just adhered them randomly but you could place them in one direction if you like things more uniform.  Make sure to sprinkle the striped paper appropriately. Picture coming later tonight.

This is where it gets fun and easy so I did not snap photos of the rest of the process...

Step 7: Once you have all the leaves placed on the trees it's time to start decorating it. Adhere your ribbon to the bottom.  I looped mine to give it more dimension.

Step 8: Glue some of the real ornaments or beads (whatever you chose) sporadically around the tree.  I placed some of mine on ledges, in the crevases and even hung some from leaves.  This is also when I added the small stars to the tree.

Step 9: Cut out some paper ornaments from the All That Glitters paper and start hanging them from the leaves. Cute out some trees from the Winter Woods paper and place them on the base of the tree.

Step 10: Place it somewhere where everyone can see them and listen for all the oohs and aahs!

And there you have it - your own set of Christmas trees!!! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

Pin this Photo and Tutorial to Pinterest:  

 Thanks for stopping by today!