Yarn wrapped trees

Here is a very simple Christmas decor idea for ya.
Have you walked through Target's Christmas decor section lately? There are so many different kinds of super cute mini trees that are not cheap.  But there are lots of ideas on pinterest on how to make your own using materials at home.

I really wanted to make these twine trees:

but it takes a special kind of glue that is not available in a 30min radius of me, so I will wait and make those next year. For now, I resorted to yarn wrapped trees. This version I made is not the sturdiest, but it works for me.

I started with a paper plate base. This idea I found at Ashley Kaitlin here is the link to show you how to make them. I made a white one and a twine wrapped one.

 

I decided that poster board would make a sturdier base and make for a taller tree. I had black posterboard in the office, leftover from one of Emma's school projects. I rolled up a corner and used hot glue to hold it in the cone shape.

It just takes a little cutting and trimming to get the bottom flat, here is a look from the bottom (sorry for the horrible picture quality):

Then wrapped it in soft white yarn, starting from the bottom and working my way up:

Here it is finished:

I did happen to have a styrofoam cone base that I wrapped in red yarn. I honestly think the paper plate and posterboard ones worked just as well as the styrofoam cone one.

Then once I had them sitting together, something was missing. They just didn't look right. They definitely needed something to sit on, which I guess is why all the diy trees you see on pinterest are sitting on different candlesticks in varying heights.

See the difference?

 Final setting:

What do you think? Do they need some sort of topper?

If you really like this idea of making your own decorative trees, I highly suggest you check out The Creativity Exchange blog. There are tons of ideas and even patterns and tutorials you can purchase for making your own fabric covered trees! Really really pretty stuff! I think I might go a little fancier next year now that I've tried a few!