LITTLE CHRISTMAS TREE

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During the New Year celebrations, I would like to supplement my congratulations with small souvenirs that cannot be bought in any store. Small gifts are also valuable because they do not require serious investments, except for the perseverance and warmth of the soul of the master. See how easy it is to make a Christmas tree with your own hands.

Such small Christmas trees can be safely presented not only to relatives, but also to colleagues - a souvenir will take pride of place on their work or New Year's table.

We prepare materials for the manufacture of table Christmas trees

For a little fluffy beauty, we need a small set of source materials.
Search your craft store and personal supplies:
1. foam cone for the base of our Christmas tree;
2. Paint and brush to tone the foundation:
3. a set of flexible wires wrapped in tinsel or soft fleecy material (the first option is sold at a very reasonable price in the "FixPrise" network, and the second is found in needlework stores or from sellers on Ali Express);
4. hot glue sticks and a gun for its use;
5. decor details to your taste: ribbons, stars, beads, crystals, sequins:
6. skewer or something else that mimics the barrel;
7. floristic sponge;
8. jute twine;
9. loose cardboard.

The last three components are not required, as they go to the base for our craft. And it can be from other materials; Suitable, for example, a circle of polystyrene, a cap from toilet water or glue - a pencil.

Christmas tree creation

Let's start by painting the base cone. This is an important stage, because if the turns of the wire do not lie very neatly, then the foam from under them will not be striking. In addition, our Christmas tree stands on a leg, and the white base of the cone will not look aesthetically pleasing.

After the workpiece has dried, you need to take one of the wires and twist the eyelet-tail. It will become the top of the tree, on which you can later hoist a star or bead.

Before you begin to wrap the wire around the cone, it is recommended to first grow it with several twigs. To do this, the ends of the two wires need to be slightly superimposed on each other (by 1.5 - 2 cm) and twisted together.

Tip: for your convenience, you should increase the rods gradually, for example, for 2 pcs., Otherwise a long wire will simply interfere. On a small Christmas tree, as in the photo it took 7 bars 20 cm long.
Now the loop must be carefully attached to the top of the tree (if it is pointed) or gently stick into the cone (if it is truncated) and make a couple of tight turns around it.
Tip: The wire lays well and holds firmly, but for the sake of fidelity you can drop a little hot glue, and when it hardens with the loop, continue to work.

Now it remains to wind the wire with tinsel further, lubricating the cone with glue as necessary.
Tip: Using a glue gun at this stage is not necessary if the souvenir is intended for adults. But the kids will be curious to look at the green beauty from all angles, so the glue will guarantee that the gift will at least survive New Year's Eve.
The tail of the wire is easily stuck in the foam, firmly fixed there. Here is what should result:

While our tree is stable, we proceed to decorate. An asterisk on the top can be purchased (from an old Christmas-tree decoration) or made from salt dough. Using hot melt glue, we plant a star or a bead on top.
If you wish, you can hang garlands made of beads on the Christmas tree. In this embodiment, on the branches are "balls" of rhinestones (they can be replaced with small half beads). To work with rhinestones it was more convenient, take tweezers, it is easy for them to pick up small details.
Tip: Hot melt adhesive can be replaced with Moment glue. Squeezing the composition out of the tube a little, dip the rhinestone in it and “plant” it on the Christmas tree.
Such a Christmas tree is good and in a minimalist style - decorated only with a star.
Now we take our trunk, which, if you want, can be painted brown, and stick it in the center of the base of the cone. In this state, our miracle tree will wait until a worthy pedestal is prepared for it.

As a stand, you can use a foam circle of small diameter. The barrel-toothpick is simply stuck in the center, and the space around is decorated with cotton wool, planted on PVA glue. It will turn out a wonderful snowy meadow, and under such a Christmas tree you can put a small gift, for example, a keychain with a symbol of the coming year.
Another equally effective option is to "plant" our Christmas tree in a bucket or a tub. You can make it from:

deodorant cap;
a small jar of medicine;
glue cap;
paper or loose cardboard;

Tip: a square basket will work if you cut the cardboard packaging for toothpaste or medicine. It can be pasted over with white paper, and then painted, simulating the weaving of willow branches or draw boards. You will get a wonderful box in which small presentations or candy can fit.
Consider the option when the stand is glued from cardboard and decorated with twine. We will need:
1. loose cardboard;
2. scissors;
3. PVA glue;
4. cotton wool
5. jute twine,
6. floristic sponge or any other filler so that the Christmas tree holds well.

The blanks for the bucket will look something like this:

And this is the result after the "assembly":

After pasting with twine:

Tip: jute holds well not only in PVA; glue - pencil also well fixes the twine on a cardboard basis.
Here's how to fill the stand with a floral sponge:
1. A sponge should be cut with a knife into small blocks of a slightly larger size than a cardboard "bucket".

2. Carefully trim the workpiece by rounding the corners.

3. Now you can easily insert a bar from the sponge into the stand, the excess material will crumble and squeeze out of the "bucket".

The result should be this:

Now it's time to add a little winter surroundings - on the PVA glue on the edge of the makeshift bucket we paste pieces of cotton wool, covering the floral sponge.

Tip: if there is a hair spray with sparkles, then you can sprinkle it with our "snowdrifts." Sparkling snow looks even more magical, and varnish will additionally hold together cotton wool.
The final stage: we put a Christmas tree in a bucket and prepare hearty congratulations for presenting a gift!