DIY: Christmas Tree

Question: I have a small place and can't put up a Christmas tree this year, but I still want to have a festive spirit in the house. Any suggestions?

Answer: Dear Anonymous, Who say's a Christmas tree has to be large? Here are two samples of a mini-tree I created last year to solve just this problem. Enjoy!

 

These two trees are both created from the same base material: a styrofoam cone (not pictured) found at most craft stores. 

From there it's just a matter of deciding how you want to "decorate" 

 

Here is a breakdown of materials I used for the tree on the Right

1 Styofoam cone

Green sequin leaves 

Gold leaf sequins 

Small 8mm gold stars 

Small 8mm red sequins 

Gold short pins

*All package amounts will vary

This was my first tree so I didn't think to add the green felt like I did on the second tree. This is completely a style choice, however I will say I think I like to cleanness factor the green brings. It also allows for open space to be left on the tree (see tree on left)

The breakdown for the Gold sequins with red accents. 

Be sure when you put on the red sequin that you are putting it on so it bends outward.

Gold leaf finished.

And here is a sample of putting together the Green leaf

Breakdown and final result of the Green leaf with star accent. 

It helps to break the project down into parts. Specifically creating the sequin bunches and putting them into the tree. I recommend putting about 20 of these together before you start putting them into the tree, that way you can focus on placement without being distracted by building.

Here is a sample of where you would insert leaves. Note how each higher row is overlapping the lower. And also how each leaf sits on top of the leaf before it. 

I have included here a sample from where I removed the leaves so you can see how to build the project up. Be sure to build up from the bottom since each row overlaps the prior one. As you go across a row each leaf will overlap the prior so when you put in you last leaf be sure to tuck it under the first leaf so you have a continuous overlap. 

You can be as simple or as complex as you feel comfortable. For my second tree I created the majority of the body using three different sizes of green sequin (There are over 800 sequins on this particular tree). I then created the garland strands using beads and thin wire. The stars added accents and held the beads. Each garland strand got a series of bells (There was definitely math involved to decide how many beads on each strand and how many between the bells), and I finished the piece with Swarovski crystal accents. 

Not that on this particular tree I left some of the green felt exposed adding an extra element to the finished piece.