PaperCraft Christmas Tree

by threecheersfornick

115K17335

Intro: PaperCraft Christmas Tree

How to make a simple paper Christmas tree.

Requires paper and scissors. Rocks optional.

STEP 1: Square

If your paper isn't already in a square, make it into one.

STEP 2: Fold

Fold your tree-to-be triangularly three times, as in the first picture. Without unfolding, fold it again as in the second picture. When you unfold, your square should be divided by 8 (16) radial creases.

STEP 3: Corners

Fold in the corners. Fold them in just far enough that the beginning and end of the new crease begins and ends on two other creases, as in the picture.

STEP 4: ZigZag

Fold along all of your radial creases, alternating between folding in and folding out.

STEP 5: Slice & Fold

Make a few cuts on each vertical triangle of the tree. Fold down from the top of each cut so that the fold makes a triangle.

Once you've cut and folded each vertical triangle, you're done! Wrapping yarn around the tree makes great garlands, for that extra touch.

33 Comments

Codingpro 8 years ago

i did the stuff and itt worked!!!!!

Codingpro 8 years ago

cool i love this decoration!

imajem 12 years ago

My tree came out great the first try and the base is perfectt!!! Thanks for this.....

star_above_the_clouds 12 years ago

Um..... I like this, but I feel it was not thoroughly described. Could you please be a little more descriptive? (:

AngleKeys101 12 years ago

Their is a another version that is imilar to this one at: http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-pine-tree.html it is pretty much the same thing except it has better pictures and the folding is a little bit different.

voyage guy 13 years ago

Great job, here is what I have done.

jmiksanek 14 years ago

It'd be great if someone made a video of how to do Step 2 or provided a lot of pictures.  I just played with folding it different ways until it looked like the picture in Step 3.  Now I can make a Christmas tree for my apartment next year:)  I also think it could be made into a pop-up greeting card.

kmc512 14 years ago

what's the bit about "rocks optional"? did i miss a step?

kmc512 14 years ago

well, i feel silly. :)

h274820 14 years ago

This is so hard..I have tried and tried to do this. Can you please have better instructions... The second step is sooo confusing and your note here doesnt help. Just even more confusing!

islander_circe 14 years ago

Hi, I showed this to a group of people a few days ago & came up with a suggestion that seemed to help some who were having problems with step 2.

The purpose of all the folding is to create folds that radiate out from the centre point of the paper square - the photos for steps 3 & 4 show this clearly. That centre point is going to be the peak of the tree. The trick is, when folding, to always keep track of which point of the triangle is the centre of the paper. Use that point  as a guide when folding. Or, put a bit differently, always keep that point as the apex of your triangles when folding.

Hope that helps a little...though it may be as clear as mud ...oh well, if you are really interested there are videos on YouTube for similar types of folded trees - not quite the same as this one.

islander_circe 14 years ago

Thanks for this - it's mostly pretty clear though I have some questions about step 5.

It looks like the cuts are parallel to the base but how long do you make them and, depending on the size of the paper, how many cuts would you make? Would you keep the same number of cuts (branches) just spaced out more or would it be better to increase the number of cuts?

My quickly made tree splays out a lot at the base. How did you keep yours compact - was it glued?

Last year I saw a tutorial for a Kirigami tree which I couldn't get to work at all. Yours is very similar but actually makes sense and is easy to construct. Thankyou.

threecheersfornick 14 years ago

>> It looks like the cuts are parallel to the base but how long do you make them and, depending on the size of the paper, how many cuts would you make? Would you keep the same number of cuts (branches) just spaced out more or would it be better to increase the number of cuts?

This is completely up to you.

>> My quickly made tree splays out a lot at the base. How did you keep yours compact - was it glued?

As I recall, mine splayed out too. That said, I think that if you makes your cuts deep, and fold the branches over with good creases, those folds should force your tree to come together a bit in the middle.

>> Last year I saw a tutorial for a Kirigami tree which I couldn't get to work at all. Yours is very similar but actually makes sense and is easy to construct. Thankyou.

I'm glad you like it! Thank you very much for your feedback. It always makes me happy when I get a nice, understandable comment, even though I've pretty much given up using Instructables.

islander_circe 14 years ago

I shared this with about a dozen people at my craft group on Monday and everyone really enjoyed it, so you've brought pleasure and learning to a lot of people. I love the pristine look of white but many did their trees in some 12x12in scrapbooking paper I took along and they all looked great.

I've started looking at more folded shapes and dug out a Christmas Origami book  that's been in my library for over 20 years. I think I'll be doing a lot more of this. So...thanks again & good work.

cubeberg 14 years ago

I made two of these for my 5-year-old daughter this weekend - she thought it was the greatest thing ever!  Thanks a ton.  Green construction paper looked much better than the white - and the folded over pieces were perfect for colored ornaments.
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