Deck Your Halls With a Paper Tree!!

Hey there blog friends.  I have a really great home decor project tutorial for you!!!  It looks more complicated than it really is, and it's super fun to make!  A paper tree!  If you've been to Scrap-Friendzy's Countdown To The Holiday's Crop then you've seen my challenge posted there. Here on my blog, I'll show you some step-by-step photos and instructions.  Feel free to take this idea and run with it, you don't neccesarily have to replicate what I've created for you here.  If you complete this challenge of mine and post it in the gallery by the end of November you'll earn 40 FPZ!!!  So are you ready to get out your scissors and glue?!  Let's get started.......

To begin, you will need a styrofoam cone.  The one I used was a 4" diameter cone.

Next you will need to gather about 4- 12x12 sheets of coordinating patterned paper, depending on the size of your tree.  Cut your paper into 3"x12" strips and punch the edges with a decorative punch.  You are then going to cut evenly spaced slits along the punched edge and use a pencil or something of similar size to curl your edges.

After you have prepped your paper, it's time to start gluing.  Use a fast drying glue such as Zip Dry or as I have used, Beacon's 3 in 1 glue.  Depending on the size of your cone, you may need to cut down your strips of paper for easier gluing and alignment due to the curviture of the cone.

Build several layers and then if you so desire, cut out a strip of white cardstock either with decorative scissors or a die.  I used a border die by Sizzix.  To give your white border a nice snowy glow, do some inking and add a bit of glitz with some stickles.

 Seperate the change in patterned papers with one of your white borders and continue building the layers until you get to the top of your cone.

You will come to a point where you can no longer adhere your curled strips of paper and you will need something to cover the last two inches or so of styrofoam cone.  I chose to do some paper folding to try to create a snow capped tree look.  To do this, grab your circle punch or use your die cutting machine.  The punch I used created 1 1/2" circles.  Next, fold your circles in half.  Fold the top edges of your circle in towards the center. Turn it over and fold again toward the center.  Finish it off with some of the same inking and stickles that you used for your snowy white borders.

Every tree needs some kind of a topper, right! Well for mine I used my Cricut and the Winter Woodland cartridge to cut out this elegant reindeer tag.  I cut two alternate facing images out of whiteboard using my deep cut blade.  I then cut the same shaped tag out of vellum.  Take a regular 'ol straight pin from your sewing stash and using some wire cuters, remove the ball from the top.  Now you can sandwich the pin with your topper design and be able to stick it into the top of your styrofoam tree. 

To add a little extra oomph, I took a bit of pink tulle and mad a little nest for my reindeer topper.

If you'd like to add some extra embellishments to your tree, try adding some pom-pom trim, some organza ribbon, and some bling.  I also added to my tree some decorative stick pins.

I hope you've enjoyed my paper tree tutorial!!!  Have fun with it and be sure to show off what you create by posting your project to the Scrap-Friendzy gallery!!

Happy Crafting!!!