Christmas Craft-- DIY Felt Trees.

I am dying for some new Christmas decor. But I just can't justify buying any this year because there are so many more important (and way more BORING) things we must spend our money on... the story of adulthood, right?

There are lots of leftover crafting supplies in my craft closet, so I decided to challenge myself and see what I could come up with using only what I had... 

newspaper 

plastic grocery bags

cardboard

hot glue 

white felt

candlestick(s)

Start by forming a cone out of newspaper (1) then stuffing it with either more newspaper or plastic grocery bags (2). Stuff them tight so the cone is really firm. (Important to NOTE: It would be a lot easier to use a styrofoam cone from the craft store, but remember, I was using only what I had.)  Trim the bottom of the cone so it will sit flat. Then trace the base of the cone onto cardboard. Cut the cardboard out, then trace the cardboard onto felt so you have two of the same size circles and glue them together (3). (You could totally skip this step if you use a styrofoam form.)

Cut out leaves from felt. I made my leaves about two inches long (4). You will need about 50 leaves for a 10-in tree. 

After cutting all the leaves out, use glue gun to run a thin line of glue down the middle of each leaf. Fold leaf in half over the glue to create a vein in the leaf (5). It doesn't take as long as it sounds like it would, I promise. 

Then, starting at the bottom of your cone, glue leaves on, overlapping, taking care to hide the newspaper (6). if you really wanted to, you could paint the newspaper white to help your cause.

After leaves are glued on attach the base of the tree to the candlestick using hot glue. 

If you don't want to dedicate a perfectly good candlestick, you can just set it on top then return it to the china cabinet when you're done with it.

And voila! A cute little tree. 

A forest of them all different sizes and heights would be adorable. 

Happy crafting and Merry Merry!

St. Lucia Update: 
So, even with the white dress and red sash all laid out and ready to go... we slept in instead.
The little Lucia woke up WAY TOO early and the little bean in my tummy had me tossing and turning all night. I'm not going to give up though.. we'll just pretend Dec 13th hasn't come yet!