Christmas Tree Cones

How lovely are your branches....

I made these out of wrapping paper last year and they were perfect centre pieces to Christmas-up the table, but they are cute little decorations that you could put around the home:

[2011]

What You Need:
Paper / Fabric
Template
Scissors
Needle / Thread / Glue / Cellotape

[Right-click the above image and save to your computer to print]

I thought I would show a few ways you could create your tree cones, depending on the time you have, materials available and what you want to use them for.  Print out the template above and cut out:

Paper Trees:

The tree cones are so easy to make - using the template as your guide, trace and cut out on to the back of decorative paper, card or even wrapping paper - I used a snowflake design tissue paper:

Cut out and fold along the guided line.  Either coating in glue, or fixing in place with cellotape, join the edges of the cone and secure:

Stand up and mould into shape if required.

A few of these trees grouped together, a variety of similar papers or different heights would look really pretty and you can select patterns that fit in with your colour scheme or decor.

These are also perfect for children to decorate themselves and keep them busy!

Felt / Fabric Trees:

You could also create fabric versions of these trees - felt is sturdy enough to stand, so I used this as the base and also added a cotton layer:

I marked thirds on the template and after cutting the full template, created two other templates to create layers:

I used my zig-zag scissors to add  decoration

 I then added sequin and bead detail to the top layer and sequin details to the bottom:

 ...and then fixed the cones in place with a blanket stitch:

...creating a knot at the start of the stitch,

 ...then taking the needle from the bottom layer of fabric through to the top.  Before pulling the thread all the way through, leave a loop of thread:

 ...and then take your needle through the loop, pull to secure:

 ...continue the stitch all the way down the seam ad secure at the end with a knot, trimming to neaten:

 

 Layer the cones to create a patchwork tree, or separate to create different sizes of trees:

There are so many ways you can decorate the cones - if you are using anything that involves glue and sticking decorations, I would advise that you create and fix the cone first, as when you come to create your cone, any embellishments are very likely to ping off, unless secured with stitching.

As well as for decoration, you could use them to hide little presents, use as place names at the table, or as part of a centrepiece.  Really easy and so, so many different ways you could use the template - please do let me know if you try it, or want to show me your creations [I love seeing them!]
thethingsshemakes@yahoo.co.uk