If there were umpteen million hours in the Christmas season, I’d spend the majority of them crafting decorations with Olivia. Any other time of year, I’m not usually in the bust-out-the-Mod-Podge-and-glitter kind of mood. (Gimme thrift store furniture and a paint brush any day.)
But Christmas? If you stand still long enough, I might come at you with a hot glue gun. (Oh wait. That might be painful.)
So the other day, I decided to whip up these pretty little Nordic sweater mini trees:
Supplies Used: (Affiliate links are provided below for convenience. For more info, see my full disclosure here.)
- Foam florist cone
- Nordic print ribbon (or whatever wide ribbon you’d like to suit your style)
- Hot glue gun and glue sticks
- Fabric scissors
- Small piece of cardboard
- Star cookie cutter
- Pen or pencil
- Toothpick
I found this cute Nordic sweater print ribbon at Hobby Lobby and bought it with no idea what to do with it. But when I saw some tabletop ribbon trees while out shopping, I knew I could make them for way cheaper than their price tag.
- I cut about a 5 inch length of my ribbon with fabric scissors first.
2. And then cut that length of ribbon into thirds.
3. Then, I took one of the thirds and folded it over with the red side facing out.
4. And made a loop.
5. To attach it to foam cone, I started at the base an inch or two from the bottom, applied a little hot glue to the top of the ribbon loop, and pressed in place. I used a little glue between the two ends at the top of the loop too.
6. From there, I just repeated the whole process working my way around the base of the cone.
7. And then I worked my way up to the next layer on the cone until it was completely covered.
8. For the star, I used a cookie cutter I already had to trace on a small piece of cardboard.
9. Then just cut it out, jabbed a toothpick into the bottom, and stuck it into the top of the foam cone.
Aren’t they cuuuute?! These little guys can work just about anywhere that needs a little something festive.
If you want more thrifty, budget-y, crafty Christmas decor ideas, you can see more over in the gallery.
Do you have any fun Christmas craft plans you’re working on? Or seen any decor in stores and thought, “I can totally make that for way cheaper”?
Junette says
November 25, 2016 at 7:51 amI actually just finished making mini Christamas trees myself! For free – I had everything I needed on hand already! If I baught them in store it would have cost me R300 (about $20 at the current exchange rate). I love free decor! Will maybe email a fiew pictures – your ribbon trees look great, might try it myself.
Junette
(South Africa)
Lauren says
December 7, 2016 at 2:00 pmYay! I’d love to see them! Hope they turn out well, Junette!
Nancy says
November 25, 2016 at 9:40 amThat is the cutest thing! I may have to try that or better yet get my artistic 18 yr. old granddaughter to try it. Thanks for the instructions.
Lauren says
December 7, 2016 at 1:59 pmThanks, Nancy! Happy crafting!
Melanie says
November 25, 2016 at 12:14 pmVery clever! This is one of those “why didn’t I think of that” moments. I am going to Hobby Lobby today. Thanks for sharing!
Lauren says
December 7, 2016 at 1:59 pmThanks, Melanie! Have fun!
Robin says
November 25, 2016 at 1:27 pmI am sooooo doing this!!!! I’m thinking burlap would look nice too!!!
I love your thrifty ideas. I am the thrifty queen around here myself.
I got some melted down candles from Craigslist for free. My idea was to melt and discard the wax and use the jars to make my own essential oil candles…eventually. While melting down the wax I decided that since most people I know still use regular candles I would use the melted wax to make new candles for THEM! (Ok, so the fragrance was starting to bother me….headache and sore throat…nothing my painting respirator couldn’t fix!)
I had small glass jars (baby food jars work well. Good thing I will have a supply of those soon…my friends have a new baby!) already so I melted the wax and used coupons to buy the metal pieces that hold the wicks. String is always good for wicks.
Now I have a bunch of gifts! I will wrap them in tulle and tie with a ribbon. My only problem occurred when I dumped the cranberry candle on the linoleum. My floor has a pink tint now. LOL My daughter said it looked like a fresh murder scene. The Cranberry Murders. ha! At least the dog was not under my feet when it happened (He was gazing out the sliding glass door in the dining room). Nobody wants to de-wax a very hairy Schnoodle! (Not to mention he could have been burned!) My hairdryer was VERY helpful (after I scraped a while and was getting fed up).
Keep up all the great thrifty tips for us!!!! We LOVE them!!!
Lauren says
December 7, 2016 at 1:58 pmOhhhh my goodness, Robin. Your comment made me laugh out loud. You are a hoot! Keep on crafting, girl! And sorry about your pink floor. It’s “character”, right? 😉
pat says
December 10, 2016 at 12:41 pmHi Lauren, love these little Christmas tress, just this year, I made ribbon Christmas trees on a larger scale, my sister had a bunch of old tomato cages she wanted to get rid of, so I readily took them off her hands and used mesh ribbon I had left from over the years. After that, I decorated them with well taken care of decorations that I no longer use anymore!! My sister couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw these, turns out nobody else could either, yep you used guessed it I have none left!!!! It was sooo much fun making these. It was a great way to purge old christmas decor and also make use of these old tomato cages my sister did not want, which by the way she got one back but in a little better shape! lolo!! Now I’m thinking I have some sweaters I’d like to purge hmmmmm!!!!!!! thanks for the idea Lauren!!!!!
Lauren says
December 13, 2016 at 11:55 amI’ve seen trees like that before! Always wanted to try it. Hope your sweater ones next turn out just as great. 🙂