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Rustic Christmas Tree Tutorial

November 19, 2014 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

Disclosure: This post has affiliate links.

DIY_simple_christmas_treeIt’s almost the most wonderful time of year. I like to think everyday we get is a gift and can be the most wonderful time of year, but Christmas is special.

I love the lights, color, spirit, meaning and joy that it brings.

As we wait for a house, I have been busily getting back into crafting. I started with Christmas projects of course!

Today, I am excited to share with you my rustic trees. I started with getting some basic supplies together. You might have some of these things already on hand.

rustic_christmas_tree_craft

  • white poster board
  • hot glue gun
  • jute string
  • scissors
  • small wood circle (I bought mine for $0.97 at Wal-mart), but you can also find it here
  • burlap
  • any decorative fringe (I used embroidery floss and pom-poms)

Start by wrapping your poster board into a mega phone shape. Depending on how tight you wrap your poster board will depict how tall your tree will be. You can see from my picture, I wrapped them differently, so I would get two different height trees. I then used a little hot glue to hold my mega phone shape intact.

how_to_make_a_christmas_tree

DIY_mega_phone_formI then dropped my wood circle inside the mega phone to where it got snug and it stopped going down. This is where the base of the tree should be. I cut all the poster board off that was higher than the wood circle.

craft_christmas_tree

craft_christmas_tree_baseNext, I hot glued the wood circle in place. This created an inexpensively made tree form. From here, you can use your imagination and decorate that tree any way you want! I will show you a wrapping idea that I used.

I started by hot gluing some jute string to the base of my tree. This also made the seem from poster board to the wood circle pretty and clean. I then simply added a little glue, pressed my string into it and started wrapping and continued to add glue and string as I went up and around my tree form.

jute_christmas_tree_tutorial

jute_christmas_tree

DIY_jute_christmas_treeTo be completely honest, the jute string took a while. It was mindless. No thinking was required, but it got a little tedious. That is why on my second tree form I did the same technique but wrapped and twisted burlap. It was so much quicker. Ultimately, I am glad I did the jute string on one of my tree forms. I love the look of the string tree with the burlap tree. They are both rustic materials, but different mediums that created its own look.

To help the jute string not look quite like a cat scratch-er, I strung some pom poms on embroidery floss and wrapped it around my tree. I love how this added a pop of color, but the tree still holds a simple look.

burlap_christmas_tree_tutorial

DIY_burlap_christmas_treeWhat do you think!? Do you like the rustic look too and want to incorporate it for Christmas? You can use your imagination once you have your tree base and embellish your tree form any way you like!! I think glitter would be beautiful or gluing pom poms or feathers all over would be stunning as well! There are lots of possibilities!

This idea is an inexpensive way to get some heightened decorative trees. These would be cute by a fireplace or on an end table.

Where would you use them?

DIY_rustic_christmas_tree

simple_christmas_tree_craftI don’t usually share Christmas before Thanksgiving, but with moving I think Christmas will come and go so quickly and I don’t want to miss it. If you like this tree idea, you might also like my burlap wreath. It’s another simple craft!

Turn on a fun movie, get some hot chocolate, coffee, or tea and create!

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DIY {easy} Burlap Wreath

January 2, 2014 By Erica Deuel 16 Comments

DIY_burlap_wreathToday it is cold and rainy. The perfect day to craft and push-off cleaning, doing laundry, and packing those last odds and end Christmas items away. Come make an EASY burlap wreath with me. This thing is so easy. It will surprise you. There is no sewing. No glue. If you want, it can be as simple as only three supplies. Have I got your attention?

Let’s get started. Grab some burlap, a pair of scissors, and a metal ring. I have no clue what this ring is really supposed to be used for. I found it while browsing a craft store and got this idea. I have found some rings here though for $2.49.

Burlap_wreath_suppliesThe first step is to cut your burlap into strips. I used strips that were about 10″ by 1.5″. Depending on the size of your ring and how you want your wreath to look, you may want longer or fatter strips. One easy way to cut burlap straight is to pull out a thread and cut down the open space as you see below.

cutting_burlapNext, you fold one of your burlap strips in half and place it behind the metal ring.

simple_burlap_wreathYou then wrap the ends of your burlap around the ring and pull them through the looped part of your burlap strip.

folding_burlapSimply pull the ends tight and flip them out of the circle to create the first part of your wreath.

simple_burlap_wreath_steps

Loop_wreathThat is the basic step. You just repeat that all the way around your wreath with additional burlap strips. Depending on the size of your ring, it will depend on how many burlap strips you use. I wanted a really full wreath. The fuller the wreath is, the easier your wreath will have pieces that stick straight out and up at the end. Rather than them flopping over or forward as the wreath is hung up.

Ring_wreath

burlap_sunflowerOnce you have stuffed as many burlap strips on as you can, your wreath is done! I think the simplicity looks really beautiful. It could be left alone like that. Which gives it a multi purpose function. It would be cute as a table’s centerpiece with flowers or something in the middle too. I see a pumpkin in the center in the fall!

I wanted my wreath to actually be used as a wreath. So, I made a quick lace bow and slipped some wire through it to attach it to my burlap wreath. That way I can easily untie the bow, if I want to switch it out or use my wreath for something else.

easy_burlap_wreath_tutorial

burlap_centerpiece

craft_roomI hung my wreath in my office for now. I’m sure I will move it at some point, but for now I really love the rustic natural look with all the color I have going on in there.

I hope you are settling into a new routine with the holidays behind us, and the new year here! Happy new year! I hope it is a beautiful year for you and are able to live out using your gifts and passions for good.

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DIY Wood Christmas Tree Stand

December 6, 2013 By Erica Deuel 2 Comments

outdoor_christmas_tree_standHave you ever loaded your family up (like on Christmas Vacation) and headed out to cut down a Christmas tree? Matt and I were a little excited our first year of marriage and took up that task. It was a good three-hour drive, where my youngest brother (who we took with us) kept asking why we didn’t just buy one from the lot in front of Cicis pizza.

Memories. Isn’t that something we love about Christmas?

Now that we have our own kids and they are old enough to appreciate the experience, we loaded up and headed north to the tree farms once again. Bonus: we live a lot closer to the farms now.

cutting_down_your_christmas_treeWhile shopping for trees, my J and I fell in love with all the little trees they had. We decided we needed one of those as well and cut one to take it home.

oh_christmas_treeI had visions of creating a wood box to hold the little tree on our front porch. I started out on my dream by getting a long 12″ piece of wood.

I used my Ryobi Compound Miter Saw to cut the board into 12″ square pieces. I then stained the five pieces I cut and handed my dream project off to my awesome husband.

He used wood glue and nails to create a wood box.

building_a_wood_boxOnce the box was created, he measured for the middle and drilled a huge hole into the center of the box. This hole was wider than the circumference of our tree trunk, which was perfect.

building_a_christmas_tree_standMatt is creative and took it even a step further than I had imagined. He screwed an old spaghetti jar lid to the inside of the box, so when the jar was twisted onto the lid, it could hold water for our tree. I was merely going to put a pitcher under our box to hold the water. Both ways work, so you could go whichever way you want, if you want to create this same tree stand.

Wood_christmas_tree_standI love the simplicity of the design. It’s simple, yet so pretty. The natural look with a few shiny lights at night is so pretty.

front_porch_christmas_treeThis wood Christmas tree stand looks so good with my wreath from a chicken feeder. I am loving the more simple decor we are doing around our house this year. I hope you too are able to enjoy the simple things this Christmas like the joy of finding your tree.

Natural_christmas_decor

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DIY Christmas Wreath

December 1, 2013 By Erica Deuel 1 Comment

DIY_christmas_trimming_wreathDecember is here! I am so excited for all the crafts, food, lights, and decorations that come with this month. It is truly a beautiful time of year. We have decked our halls and are ready for the season.

In all our preparation, I am aiming to keep the “stuff” simpler this year. It is easy to get stressed and overwhelmed, and I don’t want that to take over the joy and peace that should come with Christmas. I didn’t put out half of our decor, and the stuff is simpler and sweet. In this quest to stay rooted in being about less this year, I made a simple Christmas wreath for our front door.

One of my sisters lives in Arkansas and has horses, chickens, goats, and cows. It’s the real deal country living. She gave me a few old chicken feeders (when they were cleaning out their barn), and I have been waiting for a way to use them.

Old_chicken_feederI used a chicken feeder as the base of my wreath. I love the rustic, recycled simplicity that this wreath helped create. I bet you could use this same idea with a wire wreath frame.

christmas_trimmings_wreathI took a bunch of Christmas tree trimmings that I gathered when we cut down our tree, and broke off branches so there were smaller, thinner pieces ready to be easily bended in my chicken feeder.

I simply weaved the branches in and out of my frame. When one branch ended, I pushed that branch down towards the base of the chicken feeder and weaved another one on top. I didn’t use any twist-ties, glue, or pins to hold the branches in place. They simply stayed by tucking them behind the metal or previous branches.

weaving_branches_for_wreath

christmas_trimming_wreathOnce I had branches all the way to the top of my feeder, I checked to see if there were any bare spots that I needed to tuck in some smaller branches. I then used my clippers to trim my wreath to have a more uniform shape by cutting off some longer pieces.

christmas_trimming_wreath_tutorialI didn’t want my wreath to scratch up my front door from the rough metal prongs hitting the door, so I used duck tape to cover the ends on the back. My wreath was then done, and I hung it up!

DIY_christmas_wreathI love the simplicity of this wreath, but you could easily add some red twig berries or a bow to spice it up and add a bit of color.

DIY_easy_christmas_wreathI hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving (if you live in the states) with your family and friends!

We had a great “Thanksmas” with my family and I am excited to share with you more about it tomorrow.

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