RTW: Ornament Tree TUTORIAL

Courtney is here to show us how to make a gor*geous Ornament Tree with helpful tips along the way.

Hello everyone! I am Courtney, the redheaded crafter over at Red Heads Craft More Fun. I am thrilled to be here on Craftaholics Anonymous. I am definitely in need of an intervention (at least that is what my hubby would say), so here goes...

A few weeks ago when my husband told me it was too early to put up Christmas lights, I crept down into the basement storage room and found my holiday ornament tree. My ornament tree is so special to me (and delicate), that it has its very own shelf in the basement so that nothing happens to it. Every year I can't wait to pull it out! I figured if I slowly brought my Christmas decorations out, the hubby wouldn't realize I had already started to decorate. As I secretly displayed my ornament tree, I realized that I needed to make another one because, well, two are better than one, right? I started with a styrofoam cone that you can get at any craft store. You can choose the size to fit your needs. I also picked out a cute base that would fit the cone. Mine was a candle holder that I got half price at Hobby Lobby. You will also need lots of ornaments! I like to use glass ornaments because they don't tend to have any lines like plastic ones do. Some of my ornaments were vintage, others were bought at Target and Hobby Lobby. Don't forget to check thrift stores too! I used TONS of hot glue for this project. I think it is easier to have a hot glue gun AND a hot glue skillet. I started out by hot gluing the styrofoam cone to the candle holder.

I prefer to take the tops off of the ornaments before I work, so that I can see all the colors I have to work with.

Then it was time to work from the bottom to the top and put on TONS of glass ornaments. As I glued the ornaments on, I would gently push the top of them into the styrofoam, to secure them a little better. (The hot glue skillet makes things a whole lot easier because you can dip the ornaments instead of having to hold the glue gun each time.)

And just keep placing the ornaments... ...and placing the ornaments... ...and placing the ornaments! Don't worry about the styrofoam peeking through. I used tiny ornaments to fill in any gaps along the way. If you can't find tiny ornaments, try cutting up fake berries from the floral and seasonal departments at craft stores (you can usually find them in white or silver at this time of year). Things were going great up to this point, until I accidentally pushed one tiny ornament too hard and... OUCH! The glass ornament broke due to my colossal strength!

Despite my (very) bloody finger (I have the picture to prove it, I just thought I would spare you), the end product is gorgeous and you can obviously choose your colors to match your decor. Here is my finished product: Here is the tree I made last year: And here is the tree my fellow Redheaded mom made last year: Thanks Linda for letting me be a part of Reader's Tutorial Week! Please stop by and say hi over at Red Heads Craft More Fun. Happy Holidays!

Thanks Courtney! Glad to hear that I'm not the only crafter requiring an intervention :)   
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