Hello friends! I’m Jessica, a worker bee by day and DIY project queen by night at Decor Adventures. My blog is a place for you to find decorating resources, creative ideas and to read about my project fun and mis-adventures in my 113-year old house. Today I have the chance to share with you an easy holiday craft project using supplies from The Ribbon Retreat. Are you ready to get your craft on?
This season is perfect for getting a little creative at home and today you’re going to learn how to make not one, but three simple projects for yourself or for some of those gifts you have to give in just a few days! I created festive winter trees for decking the halls, or mantels, or shelves, or maybe even your holiday table. The best thing about these trees, is that you can make them with all types of supplies and they can stay up in your house all winter. How is that for simple?
Since I couldn’t decide on just one type of tree to make, I made three. There is a ribbon tree, a feather boa tree, and a washi tape tree. Here is how you can make some of your own.
Supplies
- Cone Trees – For all the trees, I used paper mache cones from the craft store or poster board cones I made myself. To do this you just roll the poster board into a cone shape and secure with staples or heavy tape.
- Ribbon, feather boa and washi tape – For these trees I used:
- Marabou in white
- White glitter ribbon in white 1 1/2 inch
- Velvet ribbon in grey 1 1/2 inch
- Washi Tape in Candy Stripe-Gold 10 mm
Feather Boa Tree
Making a feather boa tree is super simple. All you need is a paper mache cone {or one you made out of poster board} and a feather boa. For this I used the marabou feathers in white. They are so soft and light and come in all kinds of colors.
1. First, I stuffed the end of the boa into the top of my poster board cone since it was open just a little and hot glued it. If you use a paper mache cone, just glue the end of the boa to the tree.
2. Wrap the boa around the cone, covering it as much as you’d like, gluing it every few inches. It helps if you use a cone that is the same color as your boa. If needed, simply paint the cone with craft paint.
Since I didn’t know if the two boas I used were going to cover the entire cone, I started at the top so if I ran out I could cut off the end of my cone tree, which is exactly what happened. You can cut off the bottom of a tree cone, but not the top, so if you do this kind of tree, make sure to start at the top or have numerous boas to cover the tree!
Ribbon Tree
I had the idea to make a ribbon layered tree by placing the looped ribbons around the tree in an overlapping pattern. I’d never made one like this before, but knew the velvet ribbon would be perfect for this project.
1. First, cut the ribbon into 3 inch lengths. This makes a nice “loop” size, depending on the size of your cone, adjust loops to look proportional. I used two each of the 1 1/2 inch velvet ribbon in grey and glitter ribbon in white for this project. It’s actually a lot of ribbon so make sure you order enough. This finished tree is about 15 inches high, for reference.
2. Fold each piece of ribbon in half with the good side facing out and glue it to the bottom of the tree. Make sure it sits just above the surface when you put it on a table. You don’t want to place it too low and have the ribbon bunch up because it doesn’t hang well.
3. To glue the ribbon onto the tree put a line of hot glue along the back of the loop, which is technically on the good side of the ribbon. Place it on the tree, then place a line of hot glue on the inside of the loop and press the other edge onto it. This will give you the loop shape.
4. Here is the bottom of the tree with four layers of ribbon on it. I staggered the loops so they overlapped the one below it by half the width of the ribbon (like a brick pattern). I actually ended up making one row of grey velvet ribbon and one layer of white glitter ribbon, because I liked the way it looked better {unlike what’s pictured here}.
Here is the close up of the finished looped ribbon tree. Isn’t it just beautiful? So wintery and festive!
Washi Tape Tree
The last tree I made is with washi tape. Yes you can make a holiday tree out of it! Again, this is so easy and fast.
1. Take strips of washi tape and line the cone with it.
2. Continue to add strips of tape to cover the cone. It doesn’t even matter what color the cone is since it will get covered by the tape {if it’s not transparent}.
The ribbon tree took the longest of course, with all the gluing, but the other two take less than 10 minutes! This is a fast and easy way to add some winter festivity to your holiday decorating, don’t you think?
I even made a small all-grey one with some left over ribbon. Making these in different sizes will give you an interesting collection of trees. I could see them in any color or pattern of ribbon. What color would you make?
Thanks so much to The Ribbon Retreat for allowing me to share this craft idea with you! You can see these trees and all of my holiday home tour on my blog, Decor Adventures. Please come visit and let me know which kinds of trees you made!
Thank you so much Jessica and welcome to our amazing Contributor team! We are so excited to have you on board! These trees are so creative, festive, and a must have on my “decorations to make for next year” list. I love the different textures and color it adds to your gorgeous mantle. Thank you again for your creativity and for sharing your talent with us! For more fun projects by Jessica, don’t forget to stop by and say hi at Decor Adventures.
These trees are SO pretty! I love them! You could use so many different, fun products to create these trees and personalize them to your own decor taste and style. They are wonderful decorations to keep up through the whole Christmas holiday and winter season. For more FABulous winter and Christmas projects, to keep up all season long, visit our Christmas tutorials and our creative and cute, cute, cute Christmas bows.
What is your favorite holiday decoration?
Happy Creating & Happy Winter Trees!
2 Comments
This post is beautiful- GREAT projects!! I saw the picture of the brick fireplace in your ribbon stockings post (the one you linked up to the Found & Foraged party…isn’t it fun how we so easily fall down these online rabbit holes!!!?!?!) and anyway had to click and peek immediately! I love all these trees and I know the feather boa one would thrill my daughter. (Also, gotta love a project that uses duck tape!) I’d love for you to share this one on Saturday at Found & Foraged- this weekend at 8 PM. I will definitely head over to check out Decor Adventures next! xo, Laura
Hi Laura! thank you so very much! These trees are so much fun! I am so glad you love them too! Have a wonderful day and thank you for stopping by! Michelle 🙂