I've been blogging for almost twelve years now. Blogging became my creative endeavor, my hobby, my job, and took up a majority of my time. It is still all of those things to me. And as I change and grow as a person, the blog changes with me because it is an extension of who I am. I also find that I have phases in my life or in a year where certain things take priority or fall to the back of the line. Such is the ebb and flow of life.
For many, many years, I spent all my time blogging and never had a chance to work on craft projects I thought of, bought supplies for, wanted to work on. I have a craft room of supplies upstairs as proof of that! During this past year and a half of quarantining, escaping my mind's overwhelming anxiety and depression, disassociating from all the overflowing emotion of living through a pandemic, I spent more time crafting than I have in a long, long while. The blog took a backseat to my struggles and mental health and creative blocks. And I picked up my paintbrush and started to paint again.
This resurgence of my creative side has been extremely helpful in trying to manage my mental health. It makes me happy and I enjoy seeing what I can create. As a result, there will be more DIY posts and other things mixed in with clothing and the like. Also, summer is way too hot for me so I am not getting dressed up or leaving the house most of the time; and I'm still being pretty choosy about leaving the house since there is still a pandemic going on and my town is only 50% vaccinated. Therefore, more DIY time for me!!
- I bought all the items in this post. All opinions presented are my own and without influence. This post contains affiliate links and I make a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.
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What You Need:
Most of these items can be easily found at your craft store of choice.
- Paper mache cones
- I used 14" cones I picked up at my local craft store
- Paint
- You can use whatever color you like. I went with a dark green to complement the garland and add depth.
- Paintbrush
- Garland of your choice
- I used eucalyptus garlands that were 6 feet in length. One per cone was a little short, but I made it work.
- Beaded garland of your choice
- Wood slices
- I used one per tree. I picked these up at my local craft store.
- Small wood stump
- Again, 1 per tree. I also picked these up at my local craft store.
- Glue gun & hot glue sticks
- A couple rubber bands or thread
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| I started by painting the paper mache cone to give the project some depth. You will also want to paint a couple inches of the inside, starting at the bottom, especially if you are putting this up on a shelf or mantle. It doesn't have to be a perfect paint job because mostly it won't be visible. |
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The garlands were a little short, so I didn't cut any length off. I started at the top to ensure the garland was secured to the top like I wanted. When you use the hot glue for this project, you need to hold the garland in place for a couple minutes as the glue dries. It just took longer for the glue to cool down with the amount of glue I needed to use to secure the garland.
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| Continue winding the garland around the cone and glue it into place. I chose a side that would be the "back" of the tree and did all of my gluing of the garland on that side. Make sure you wind the garland around the cone before you start gluing so you know your spacing. Be mindful of the leaves getting in the way and make sure you fluff them out as you go. |
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| I repeated the winding of the garland around the cone with the beaded garland, like you're decorating a Christmas tree. Initially, I only did one layer of the beaded garland, but I found I wanted more of the turquoise to show up. So I ended up with 3 layers of the beaded garland wrapped around the tree. |
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| To make the topper, decide on the height you want the topper to be and loop the garland however many times you see fit so that it creates the fullness you want. I think I did 6 or 7 loops. You want them all to be the same length roughly. |
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| About an inch and a half from the bottom of your topper, use a rubber band, ribbon, or thread to tie your loops together in a bunch. The shorter end will be going over the top tip of your cone. If you need to cover your ribbon/rubber band/thread, just wrap more beaded garland around to cover and glue into place. |
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| Next, cut all the loops on each end so they flare out. |
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| Apply glue to the inside of the short section of the festive topper, or to the tip of the cone itself. Secure the topper into place. The tip of the cone should go into the middle of the shorter end of the topper. |
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| For the base (because I only had thin tree stumps), glue a wood slice to the top of the wood stump. The slice lets me secure the base to the cone because the stump wasn't wide enough. |
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| Once the slice is secure, use hot glue all around the edge of the slice and quickly push it into the cone. Be mindful of your preferred "front" of the tree and stump when you place the wood. |
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| TA-DA!!! |
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| I placed my trees on little pedestals made of thrifted glasses and glass plates, glued together. I love the texture the trees add to the decor. |
Have you done any DIY projects recently? Do you have a favorite type of craft you enjoy?
What's your favorite project you've ever made?
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