This year I fell in love with Christmas cone trees. Like this one at
JCPenney. The problem is that I do not want to spend $40 on one 20 inch tree. I wanted a few of them, so I decided to make my own.
I'm going to let you in on a secret... that little 20 inch tree really is worth $40. Man do these things take time to make. Hopefully you are also more skilled with a glue gun than I am and will burn yourself less. Don't let that dissuade you though. I am really happy with my trees and glad I spent the time putting them together.
JCPenney's version looks like they use some kind of leaf or flower petal. I decided to use pine cones because I had already collected a big bag full in the woods at my parent's house. You can buy bags is the store this time of year, but picking your own can be part of the fun.
You will also need various size Styrofoam cones that you can find at any craft store. I bought a small, medium and large.
Once you have all your materials, start pulling apart your pine cones. This is the messy part. They are sticky and get grit everywhere. After much trial and error I realized that if you twist the pine cone around the middle until it break into two halves it is much easier to pluck the little pieces off. Separate them into piles according to size (large ones will go toward the base of the cone and smaller ones at the top).
Start assembling the tree by gluing the pieces in rows around the cone. Just a dab will do.
Go natural or spray paint it. I went for silver. I'm still thinking about adding some glitter.
Voila!
