Introduction: DIY Christmas Trees

About: I'm a senior in college majoring in Journalism with a minor in Graphic Design. I love art of all kinds and enjoy browsing--and making--projects here on Instructables.

These charming Christmas trees are easy to make and easy to customize. I made them in an hour and a half, and you can use any colors of ribbon or paper to make them match your decor! Whether you just want an easy decoration project or a stunning centerpiece at a dinner party, these Christmas trees will impress your friends and family.

Step 1: Gather Your Materials

The different materials to make these trees are easy to find and cheap to purchase. You will need:

-Mod-podge (Puzzle glue)

-Jute string

-Brown paper

-Burlap

-Glitter

-Ribbon

-Manila folders

-Clear tape

-paintbrush

Step 2: Make Your Molds

Take the manila folders and roll them into funnel shapes. I made my cones quite thin just because I liked the look, but you can make yours fatter if you like. I made three sizes: 17 inches, 12 inches, and 9 inches high. Use tape to hold the cones together. Look at the picture and see what I came up with.

Step 3: Smallest Christmas Tree

Cut the jute twine into 16-inch sections. Pour mod-podge into a palette or plastic container. Pass the twine through the mod-podge as shown in image 1 so that the string is covered with the glue. Wrap it around the smallest mold. Repeat the process, making sure that all of the strings are touching each other multiple times and that the mold is nearly covered. Try to press the ends of the strings behind other strings so that they are hidden or anchored. Refer to Image 2 for what it should look like and set aside to dry.

Step 4: Middle-sized Tree

This is the easiest tree to make. Cut the burlap into strips and remove strings from the edges. (Image 1) wet the strips with mod-podge and wrap them around the middle-sized mold. The wet mod-podge should stick to other strips well enough to hold the burlap in place. Continue until the entire mold is covered.

Use gold tulle and wrap a thin layer around the tree while the glue is still wet. This will create a lovely subtly sparkling mist around the rough burlap.

Step 5: Large Tree

Crunch the brown paper up to wrinkle it, and then rip it up into small pieces. (Image 1) Apply mod-podge with a paintbrush to the largest mold and stick the pieces to it as if you were doing paper-mache. Spreading mod-podge on the actual brown paper helps them stick better to the mold and to each other, as well. Make sure it is the nice ripped edges that are visible when you overlap the pieces.

Use the paintbrush and spread mod-podge on the entire brown-paper-covered mold. Sprinkle glitter over it as desired.

Step 6: Finish the Small Tree

Take your smallest tree and wrap scraps of ribbon around it as shown in Image 1. Glue the ends down.

Set all three trees aside to dry. This should take a few hours or overnight.

And you are done!

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