Christmas-y Cones

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I have always wanted some of those cool cone-shaped trees that they sell a variety of at Target this time of year, but couldn’t bring myself to spend $40 for one. I’d been thinking that I’d make my own this year, and ever since I made the twine centerpiece balls (read about here), I’ve been planning these.

I showed these off just a little last week in my post about my wall art, which you can see here if interested. (Sorry for the shameless bragging, just still a little too excited about them :)

Anyway, I started off with the materials shown below. I initially mixed glue with some water and used this to harden the twine, but once it was dry it wasn’t quite strong enough to keep it’s shape.

So I got some of this stuff to use instead, (I know, I know) and it works tons better.

I wrapped the cones in parchment paper and secured it with pins, and then wrapped the soaked twine around the cone in a crisscrossing pattern, wringing it out a little at a time as I went. (Edited to add: Make sure that your bottom strands are straight all the way around the base, or you may end up with something that belongs on the Isle of Misfit Trees.)

Once that was finished, I put green raffia in the stiffener and wrapped it around the cones as well, just for a little color and a different texture.

Once all is dry (I usually left it overnight), I used a knife to separate the twine from the parchment paper and here is the end result!

The best part about making the trees this way is that you can make several trees using only one foam cone as the mold. I wanted to try out a few different things, so this let me experiment on the trees without “using up” one of the foam cones, since they are kind of expensive. I have a plain pair, and this pair that has just a few tiny berries hot glued on in various spots.

Another set I spray painted white, sprayed it with some glitter, and then glued on these larger berries.

This one I actually used the little cone for (I had two, so I was willing to lose one of them). I spray painted the cone and the twine separately, hot glued the twine onto the cone, and capped it with (of course) little berries.

This has been a good little project, but now I have these trees everywhere. Time to start giving some away!