Ribbon Tree Tutorial

We spent a wonderful day with our family yesterday - eating, laughing,  and just enjoying our time together.  I am recovering from turkey coma as I always have to the day after Thanksgiving.  So in keeping with just taking it easy today I thought  I would bring you a simple little craft that can easily done in about 30 minutes to an hour.  I love decorating with those cute little cone trees at Christmas (and actually all year round).  If you have been following me for long you know that I make them out of all sorts of mediums.  So today I thought I would show you how to make a very simple and quick one out of ribbons that is also quite budget friendly (maybe even free if you have these supplies on hand)

Aren't these cute.  I used some glitzy ribbon that I picked up at the Dollar Tree to make these.  The solid gold one is made with rope tinsel that was also bought at the Dollar store.  Love that Dollar store - always finding something fun to play with there.

Supplies you will need :

2" wide wired ribbon - 9 - 12 feet ( 1 roll usually comes in 9 - 18 feet so check yours)

9 feet makes a small tree

12 feet makes a large tree

scissors

poster board or cereal box

hot glue gun and sticks

tape

(some of my pictures are bit unclear as I was crafting these at night with poor lighting)  

To make the cone for the base of the tree please see the tutorial I wrote here.

After making your base you will add the ribbon to it like this.

Fold the 2" wired ribbon in half and glue it together along the edge. 

Then cut a slit in the folded side about every 1/2 - 3/4 inch to make the loops.

Now glue the wired edge along the bottom of the cone leaving a little hanging off the edge so no cardboard is showing cut it when it meets.

Glue the next row on leaving it overlapping the previous row by about 1/2 inch.  Keep doing this until you reach the top.

For the very top glue two pieces you cut from the ribbon measuring about 2" x 1/2" in an "x" form.  

 Glue the center of the "x" right on the tip of the tree.  Then you will have to glue the ends of each part of the "x" down so they do not stick out.  You can play with this until you get the look you want.  Trim any fraying of the ribbon that might be sticking out.

There you have it.  One very cute little ribbon cone tree.  So simple and quick you can make an entire forest in one afternoon if you like.

I love grouping them in little vignettes, mixing the different textures to make a more interesting grouping - like this ribbon tree sitting on old books with the gold rope tinsel tree.  Mixing different mediums  and textures brings more interest into your vignettes and gives the eye that unexpected little pop to land on. 

Or just letting one sit alone to make its own statement like this one sitting on a glittery gold wrapped box tied with twine and the book page snowflakes to add just  another layer of texture.  

So what are you doing today?  Recovering like me, creating something really special or Black Friday shopping.  Whatever it is share it with us in the comments below - we love to hear from you.  I answer all comments with email

Until next time - enjoy creating something you love. 

I will be linking up to the parties listed on the I Party At page.  Please go and visit some of them.  There is so much creativeness and inspiration found at each and every one of them.