Ribbon and Paper Christmas Tree Tutorial

I was so flattered when Principal Renken asked me to lead a workshop for the teacher's during their "In-Service" day.  My kids have attended St. Timothy's for the past 6 years and I am so grateful for their contribution in molding my little people into the wonderful humans they are today.  It was such a pleasure to get crafty with them.

This is the project I taught to the teachers.  Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I just *LOVED* how each person added their own flare to their project.

I purchased the cones from Michael's.  I found them in the wood/ paper mache' section (meaning the unfinished craft paper shapes and boxes).  They had several sizes but the largest was on clearance for $1.29, so I bought them all.

I had both ribbon and paper for the teachers to use to decorate their trees.  I bought some of the ribbon at the Dollar Tree and some at Michael's when it was on sale for 60% off.  Most of the paper was Martha Stewart's double sided holiday collection, but I also offered Recollections Christmas paper (single sided) for those who did not mind having white on the interior of the "paper loop."

To make these trees you need the following:

• styrofoam or paper mache' cone
• strips of ribbon or paper cut into .75 or 1 x 6 inch strips
• glue gun
• green pain and sponge paint brush

The process is quite simple but a little time consuming if you cover all of the cone.

1. Start by dry brushing your cone.  Make sure you spread the paint all over the cone so that it is more like a stain versus a coat of paint.  Use a paper towel to rub over the tree after your 1st coat to remove any extra paint.  This will help your tree dry rapidly so you can apply a 2nd coat in a little while.
2. While you wait for the paint to dry, cut your ribbon and paper into the .75 or 1" x 6" strips.  I prefer the thinner strips but it is just a matter of preference.
3. Go back over your cone again with another thin coat of paint (optional).  Try using a different shade of green to spice things up.
4. Fold your strips of paper or ribbon in half so that the 2 ends meet but DO NOT CREASE AT THE BEND!  Let the fold retain its curl at in the middle.
5. Use your glue gun (or glue dots) to adhere the 2 pieces together NOTE: you can use wet glue, glue dots, double sided tape or a tape runner to adhere the edges together, but we found the absolute best way to ensure the hold was to use the glue gun.  All other forms of glue had at least one or two problems (some a great deal more) adhering together.
6. Once your tree is dry, adhere (again, glue gun is best) the loops to the cone starting at THE BOTTOM. The spacing between loops both horizontally and vertically is entirely up to you.
7. Add extra touches like ribbon wrapped around the cone horizontally and a bow or a star at the top.
8. To make the star, I used m Sizzix to cut out 2 stars which I glued together at 3 points, leaving a hole for the tree top to slip in to.  I hot glued it onto the top of the cone so it would stay in place.

And there you have it.  More fun stuff to come. Jingle, jingle