Monday, December 05, 2011

Paper Christmas Tree Tutorial

Paper is so versatile but without special cutting tools, I didn't think I could make anything. Then, I found this tutorial for these beautiful tree ornaments on a Russian blog and thought I had to make these this year. I'm showing you the steps I took and explaining them a bit more thoroughly than I saw on that site. 
What you'll need:
  1. scrapbooking paper
  2. scissors or a circular cutter
  3. paper folding bone/tool. I just used a credit card
  4. needle and string thicker than thread. I used thin cotton yarn
  5. glue gun and glue sticks

Cut 4 circles: 2 inch, 3 inch, 4 inch, and 5 inch.
 Fold each in half with the design side on the outside.
 Then fold each one in half 90 degrees from the last fold with the design side on the outside.
 Turn the circles over and fold each one in half 45 degrees from the other folds. the design side should be on the inside now.
 Flip the circles so the design sides are on the outside and the fold you just made folds inward. Easy so far, right?
Now your circles all look like this.
 Take the smallest circle, thread your needle but don't cut the yarn. String the needle up from the non-design side of the circle through to the design side. Make a loop desired size and string back from the design side to the non-design side. Cut the yarn with enough length to make a little knot. cut off extra yarn.
 Turn it back so the design side is on the outside.
 You are going to start the glueing now. The circles will fit inside each other as above. Don't push them all the way in but leave the sections so that the edge of the circles flare out a bit. See finished pictures.
Place the glue dot just on one side at a time; front and then back. Add the next section and repeat until complete. That's it. You're done!







11 comments:

Nicole said...

Awesome! This is a craft I can actually do and I love paper so much.

Laura said...

What a neat idea. Thanks for sharing!

Kristin said...

Those are soo cool!! I have a big circle cutter I've been wanting to use so this would be perfect for that

Rory Mullen said...

loved it, and pinned it! ;-)

Yazmin said...

Love these ornaments! Might have to make some for next year's tree!

Anonymous said...

those are super cool! I may have to try them myself!

Shari said...

Thanks for the comments. It's such an easy project and you can string them, use them as ornaments, don't put the string in and put them on cards. Ideas are endless.

Wendy said...

I love these! But seriously, it might be too much geometry from this math dummy!

abelian said...

I didn't have any scrapbook paper, so I fused two layers of fabric together with a light fusible. Worked just fine! Thank you.

Dot

Shari said...

Wow Dot! Now your will last indefinitely. Great idea!

Shari said...
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