Christmas Trees for Mantel & Tablescape Home Decor

I love crafting, especially for the holidays. I try to give as many handmade gifts as possible. I believe handmade imparts to the recipient the thought, care and love.  Or in other words, I love them very much and want to give something from my heart and hands.

This year I am working on items for craft shows as well.

Until I can purchase a new digital camera we will have to deal with my unsteady hands and camera phone. 

Yesterday I made Christmas trees and wall art.  Today I will cover the corded trees. 
The primary hazard of this project is burned fingers, usually my left thumb. :)

For several years I have made the following type of décor.

 

This is an easy project.

 

You need:

• Hot Glue Gun
• Cording
• Styrofoam Cone
• Optional:
• Christmas ornaments, stars other misc. décor



 

 

        

 

Above are examples of Styrofoam cones and cording. The picture on the right is incomplete. 

 

 

Aside from hot glue burning your fingers the two most difficult parts of this project are adding additional cord and finishing the top of the tree.

 

Steps and Tips.

1. Start making the tree at the bottom. I use the hot glue gun to melt a cord size place on the bottom of the tree.  Do not make the melted space vertical but at an angle, this will make wrapping cord easier. Then put a daub of glue in the melted part of the cone and place the end of cord.  Hold until secure.
2. Run a bead of hot glue right along the bottom edge. If right handed, use left thumb to hold cord at start of wrap along the bottom. Try to make the first wrap right along the bottom edge.
3. When you reach the start of wrap you will slightly slope cord. Continue gluing and wrapping cord around the Styrofoam.
4. When you reach the end of a spool use the hot glue gun to make a depression in Styrofoam and embed the cord end with glue.  When you start a new spool, be sure the cord has a very small piece of tape on the cord so it does not unravel.  Glue the start of new spool over the embedded end.
5. When you reach the top of the cone you have two options depending on your choice of finish.  No matter the choice you make, you once again must identify where the cord will end. Wrap with a small piece of tape and cut the cord. Make another depression using the hot glue gun on the very top of the cone, which is flat. If you use an ornament make the depression larger. You can do this by gently moving the hot tip in a circle to widen for an ornament. Add hot glue and either tuck the cord end in the top or fill with glue and push the ornament in the top.

 

In this picture you can see I hadn't decided if I was going to use an ornament or not. Here are some pictures of different sizes with and without ornaments.

 

 

The green and gold tree in the back is a different project and I will cover in another post.