I saw these paper trees on the Better Homes and Gardens website a couple months ago.  This post comes too  late for Christmas, but I wanted to share nonetheless.  I am planning to make some cute non-Christmasy trees for decoration.



I made one as a gift for a friend.  I started with a paper mache cone and painted it with some acrylic paint.  



 I decided on bright, rainbow patterned paper that complimented each other.  I cut 1 inch by 2-1/2 inch and 3/4 inch by 2-1/2 inch strips from the paper.  Using scissors with decorative cutting designs, I cut one of the short edges of each strip.  Then I curled the strip around a pencil to give it some swoop.



You can use hot glue, but I knew I would burn my fingers too much if I did it that way.  I chose to use glue dots for adhering the strips to the cone.  You can find the glue dots at craft or scrapbooking stores (or the craft section of Wal-Mart or Target).   I tried to stagger the layering of the strips the best I could.



Before I finished, I cut glitter paper into a star shape (you need two stars) and glued them together with a piece of wire inside.  I stuck the wire through the top of the cone and taped the wire down inside.



To finish it off, I wrapped a small strip of paper around the top and secured with a glue dot.


 I added rhinestones with small glue dots to act as ornaments.





 It still needed something, so I added a small, gold star garland.  I secured it at top and bottom with hot glue.








 Glitter glue went around the star just to cover some of the paper backing that was showing.