Paper Tree Inspired By Anthro

Recently I popped into Anthropologie to check out their Christmas lovelies. My monthly lovelies budget was pretty tapped, so I didn't go home with anything. But, while there I spotted a 13" Christmas tree made from printed paper. So, cute, but at $48? No way that lovely was going home with me. 

Instead, I decided to make my own version.

I started with an old book, my pinking shears, cardboard scraps (cut from a big diaper box) and a wooden skewer.  Initially I was going to use a wooden knob for the topper, but I changed my mind and used a sparkly ornament. 

I then removed a stack of pages and cut them into varying sized squares. No need to measure, just wing it. Start with large squares and get progressively smaller.

I decided that I wanted the base of my tree to be a canning jar because...that would be seriously cute, right? So, I hot-glued a cardboard square to the rim of the lid and added a small hole to the center to poke my skewer through.

I then started layering a few paper squares at a time, followed by a small (1x1 inch) square of cardboard and then more paper.

Make sense?

The small cardboard pieces just separate the layers a bit. Sometimes I layered two in a row and sometimes just a single piece.

I'm a very relaxed crafter.

If you haven't figured that out by now. 

Keep layering until you fill the skewer. 

 When I had my tree stacked, I glued the bottom of the tree to my cardboard/lid base.

And, that's pretty much it! You're ready to fill your jar with whatever you fancy and screw on the lidded tree. I added a small, sparkly ornament to the top with a bit of hot glue.

Note: If your tree is wobbly, add a chunk of styrofoam to your jar and then fill around that. The skewer will poke into the styrofoam and stabilize the tree. I filled my jar with aqua yarn and that wasn't sturdy enough to hold my tree steady.

Of course, mine has already floated around my house a bit. My decor is constantly wandering from room to room.

I'm so fickle.

Speaking of fickle? I've already changed my Christmas theme this year. I just didn't have enough stuff to really work Mod Lodge so I decided to take away the green deer paper we discussed last week and added black/white and aqua.

I know, I know. Fickle! But, I think I'm set with this new theme now. It shall be called:

I'm dreaming of a green red aqua gold silver brown black cream white Christmas. 


Rolls right off the tongue.

Well, hello little forest of paper trees. Welcome to my crazy Christmas tree collection.