Twine Christmas Cone Trees

Last Christmas I was going crazy over those cool cone-shaped trees that they sell a variety of at Target, but couldn’t bring myself to spend $40 for one. So I decided not to, I'd just make them! I went a little Christmas Cone Crazy making a bunch of different varieties, as you'll soon come to see.

I started off with the materials shown below. I initially mixed glue with water and used this to harden the twine, but it wasn’t quite strong enough to keep the shape that I was looking for.

So I got some of this stuff to use instead, (I know, I know), and it works MUCH 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. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you want to make sure that your cone is structurally sound, you'll need to do lots of crisscrossing. This ensures that each piece of twine has another piece to help support it.

You'll also want to make sure that your bottom strands are straight all the way around the base, or your Christmas trees may end up with a little gangsta' lean going on.

Once I was finished with the twine, 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 was dry (I usually left it overnight), I used a knife to separate the parchment paper from the cone, peeled the paper away from the twine and here is the end result!

The best part about making 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 with glitter, and then hot 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.

I even made one for some Valentines Day decor.

What do you think? Not to shabby, right? I love these. I made tons of them all December long and then gave almost all of them away as gifts. Which means I get to try out some new options this year. :)

If you love these but don't feel like the hassle, I also have short and tall versions available in my etsy shop here.

As always, I'll be linking to these lovely parties. Have a great week!!