I’ve been watching the trees and admiring their bare and beautiful branches…their ever-amazing and unpredictable forms have inspired me to create two more little somethings for the holiday season.   

This no-sew project is made from a favorite childhood material, the good-ole pipe cleaner.  Twisting twinkling pipe cleaners into a tiny tree…oh what fun! 

 To create this project you’ll need about 1 dozen pipe cleaners.  Begin making the tree by creating the center trunk (twist 2 pipe cleaners around eachother), then bend it in half and twist it together again, forming a 4 pipe cleaner thickness.  For the branches, bend 1 pipe cleaner in half and twist this together, forming a double-thickness.  Then attach this branch to the the trunk by wrapping the twisted pipe cleaner at the center, around the trunk at least twice to keep the branches secure (start attaching the branches from the bottom of the trunk.)  Once all the branches are filled in, use scissors to trim the ends of the pipe cleaners to form an evergreen tree shape.  To tone down the bright silver color of the pipe cleaners I chose to apply Staz-On ink pad (Timber Brown) with a stiff stencil brush to the tree trunk and branches.

Here’s a close-up view of the spool base.

To create the base, use a glue stick to adhere sheet music to the top of an old wooden spool.  Then wrap a few inches of tea-dyed ribbon around the spool, and use a staight pin to keep the end of the ribbon secure (first add a vintage bead and button to the pin before piercing through the ribbon.)  For an aged appearance, apply Distress Ink (Tea-dye) with a stiff stencil brush to the spool.  Lastly, use a generous amount of craft glue to adhere the tree trunk through the center of the spool. 

Below is another project that I created using a few spare parts including one of my favorite materials, a paper grocery bag.   Isn’t it fantastic that with just one bag you can create dozens of these little trees?  I think I might use these little trees as gift tags, which later could be used as a bookmark (after removing the beaded dangles so it fits between the pages,) or you could simply hang them up just about anywhere, including on a Christmas tree. 

 To make this tree, begin by cutting a tree shape from a recycled grocery bag (2 pieces – 1 front, 1 back.)  Then use a sewing machine to stitch the tree trunk and branches (I used two thread colors for some dimension) to the front piece.  Next use an embroidery needle and thread to attach beaded dangles to the bottom of the tree trunk.

Then layer some fabric scraps and machine sew together to form the base of the tree.  To attach this base to the tree, place the front (embellished) piece on top of the bottom piece and insert the base in between (about 1/3″ ) and machine sew the tree pieces together around the edges.  Then use pinking shears to randomly add interest to the tree edges, and lightly apply oil pastels (black, brown, silver) around the edges and rub in the colors with your finger tips.

 

 Lastly, use a hole punch to make a small hole at the top of the tree, and use this hole to attach a string for hanging purposes. 

Making tree inspired items is mostly out of my system for now, and I’m ready to move on to creating something else…possibly mini-stockings or mittens, or something having to do with birds…I miss my birds.

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