Pretty Pearl Mini Christmas Trees

I love when a project comes out a million times prettier than you first imagined. These trees were gorgeous as they grew and came to life in my head but I finally got around to making them this weekend and I couldn't be happier with the final result.

I first bought the cones from Michael's on Veteran's Day, taking advantage of sales and coupons. I only bought three but wish I had picked up a few more. The largest cones are about 11 inches tall and the smaller cone is about 5 inches tall. They are hollow but sturdy cardboard. At $1.99 and $1.49, they're so affordable compared to the Styrofoam cones I usually craft with. I'm going to stick with these cones from now on unless I absolutely need to use Styrofoam.

All of the pearls used on the trees in this project came in a 7oz tub from Michael's. There are three different sizes of beads and the tones are ivory and grey. I bought my first tub in 2011 to use inside my prohibition bottle centerpieces for my 1920s wedding. Since then, I've used them in a ton of crafts and finally finished up the tub on this Christmas tree craft. I checked at Michael's last night and they still carry them. A tub is $6.99 but never that much if you always use the smartphone coupons like this girl! I saw them in a large Christmas crafting aisle display that faces one of the long, main aisles. They're on a bottom shelf, so you might have squat down to find them.

I've had those little gold star beads for years and finally had a project that was perfect. I'm not usually this organized when crafting, but I had picked up that cute little stoneware cupcake cup for 34 cents on Veteran's Day (from Michael's) and that hexagon tray came from the dollar section at Target (I also grabbed another in a mustard shade).

This picture tells it all. The finished trees took no time at all! The pearl tree took a couple hours and maybe 6 or 7 hot glue sticks. I was watching tv while doing it and took a couple breaks-- highly recommended.

For the gold wallpaper tree I used a 12x12 piece of fibrous scrapbook paper that I had. The 12x12 size is perfect for completely covering the 11" cone-- 8.5x11 paper or felt left a triangular naked spot but could be patched and designated as the "back" of the tree. I also used 26 gauge floral wire that I had on hand. I checked Michael's and a spool is $1.49 and has lasted me over a year now. Use two pieces of wire for making the pearl garland. String a pearl on each piece of wire, then feed both wires through a single, third pearl and repeat this step until finished (see above detail shot).

For the little lace tree I measured, cut, then glued each lace tier as a separate piece. I experimented with just wrapping the lace around and it got too thick, bunchy, and messy. Plus, I like how the natural cardboard peeks though.

The all-pearl tree is pretty straightforward. I mostly just grabbed pearls without looking, and tried to keep my design mostly random. Since these pearls are for stringing, you can see the holes close-up. In the begining, I didn't think it would look good and tried to arrange the holes out of sight, but gave up and just went with it. Using the three sizes of beads on this project was such a happy accident. The smallest beads are great for filling in gaps. Start hot gluing your beads at the top and work your way down.

What holiday crafts and projects are you working on? If you make one of these trees, make sure to share it with me because I'd LOVE to see it :)

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