This idea has been in my head since September and last week I tried it out. I know it's way too early to get out holiday decorations. But it's not too early to make holiday decorations. These were inspired by the awesome woods trees that seem to be everywhere this year including West Elm.
They are more tedius to put together than I expected. Because the cone is round and the chips have square edges, it takes a bit of manuvering to cover the whole thing. Overall though, I thought they were worth the effort.
Gather supplies :
- a kraft cone
- foam brushes – one for glue, one for paint.
- a few colors of craft paint – I'm showing four, but I used two.
- glitter
- balsa wood chips – my orignal plan was to cut these out of large sheets, but then I found little bags of pre-cut ones
at Michael's. It took almost three bags for two trees. And they are cheaper at Michael's.
- adhesive – I used PVA glue
which is my go to for most projects. It dries fast and clear and is super strong.
Paint your balsa wood chips. I did two different shades of gold craft paint and then covered a few in gold glitter by dousing them first in PVA then shaking the glitter on top. Paint more than you think you'll need and then you'll still need more.
Smear PVA on the bottom of cone and begin applying wood chips. Work your way up the cone.
Keep going and going. Be sure your glue dries clear.
When you get near the top, it might help to add some unfinished balsa wood chips to make the cone less round and more squared off. Let them dry for a few seconds and then add painted chips on top.
And TA-DA! Trees! At the very end, I went back and added a few more painted wood chips with a hot glue gun to fill in gaps. That helped complete their "tree" shape, but these are perfect because of their imperfections.
enJOY it 
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