Paper Tree

So this year, being the first year that I'm not in retail, I have decided to go all out on the Christmas decorating because well, I don't have to go crazy, now it's all about want to.  (Yes, I know I ended that sentence with a preposition, deal.)

So one morning and afternoon while waiting for the ATT guy to show up, I decided that the work desk needed a little Christmas spirit. Now if you look at any kind of crafting magazine you know that these little trees have been around for years, but this is my first attempt so excuse the amateur end result.  Okay?  (And no that was not an attempt to garner compliments.)

So here's what you need:

That's the 12 inch size foam cone:

Various styles of Scrapbook paper.  Some are Christmas Themed, some aren't. Some are double sided, some aren't.  Thing is, it's about what you like so go crazy.

This one is Arthur's favorite.

I was partial to the musical one because I think I spent the ages five through thirteen learning every Christmas Carol know to man for the yearly Christmas Pageant at School.  That's the beauty of Parochial education, you get to double down on the Christmas Carols and I think I'm the only person who knows every verse to Joy to the World.

Cut the paper into strips of one inch by two inches and strips of one-half inch  by two inches. 

Take the Strips of cut paper and darken the edges with the ink of your choice.  I like StazOn, it's dark and covers completely.

Next the strips and wrap them around the end of a foam brush or a pencil.  I only wrapped it half way up the brush so the paper was more flippy than curly.  

Then with a glue gun start at the bottom of the tree and working in around the cone slightly overlapping the strips of paper.

As you work your way up the tree, use your best judgement on the next row.  The closer the rows the denser the tree will appear, the farther apart the more "Charlie Brown Tree" will appear.

I also alternated one inch and one-half inch strips to give the tree a little more texture until the top three rows where I went all half inch strips to make the curve easier to manage.

So when you are finished it should look something like this:

Don't worry if there are empty areas, the beauty is you can go in and tuck a strip in where necessary and it will still look fine.  Trust me, I speak from experience here. Now the more daring, might add a bauble or doodad, a little glitter, but I controlled myself for the first attempt.  Next time though...