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Home » christmas » Guest Project — DIY Lighted Christmas Trees!! *plus a giveaway*

christmas, diy, guest tutorials, holiday · December 10, 2010

Guest Project — DIY Lighted Christmas Trees!! *plus a giveaway*

Tatertots & Jello is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Hello Tatertots & Jello readers! I’m Vivienne from The V-Spot, and I’m super excited to be over here today. Jen is one of my Very Favorite people out in BlogLand and I’m so grateful she let me come over to share a tutorial with you.
We had several old tomato cages laying around in our side yard. (Me? Creative? Absolutely. Green thumb? Not so much.) 
I had extra strings of icicle lights laying around too.
I thought I’d make a few lighted Christmas trees.

You will need:
  • a tomato cage
  • a string of lights (I used icicle)
  • quilt batting or “Buffalo Snow”
  • glue gun
  • duct tape
  • fresh fir tree clippings and small garden shears
  • spray snow flocking
  • glitter, ribbon, etc (optional)
Here’s how I did it.
Turn the tomato cage upside down and bring the spikes to a point. Wrap and secure with duct tape.
Starting at the point at the top, begin taping the lights to the sides of the cage. Make sure that you have the “female” end of the string of lights when you start. The “male” end that gets plugged into the socket will need to hang out of the bottom of the tree.
Make sure the “icicles” are hanging towards the middle of the cage.
When the lights are secured, fire up your glue gun.
This is the part where the photo-journalist in me took a coffee break. I don’t have lots of photos for this part of the process. (Why? Because I have great intentions to show you how I do it and then forget to… oh! shiny!) Where was I? Oh yes! The glue gun! But no worries, you can do it.
Lay your cage on top of batting or pre-made/buffalo snow material. Run a little line of hot glue on the bottom ring (formerly the top) of the cone. Press the edge of the material into the glue, kind of rolling the cage as you go. Basically, you’re securing the material to the bottom ring.
(Just so you know, a ratty looking well-worn glue gun is the sign of a Serious Crafter. Use it with pride.)
(Just so you know, ratty looking well-worn nail polish is a no-no. Get thee to a manicurist!)
Back to the tree. Much like my nail polish, it will be lumpy in places and thin in others when you’re done. That. Is. OK.
As I look at this, I’m already thinking this process would make for a cute ghost next Halloween…
Anyway, it doesn’t matter that it isn’t even, because you’re going to add greenery. Take tree clippings (your local tree lot will give them to you for free if you ask nicely…) and, starting at the bottom, you will run a bead of hot glue along the back if the branch and attach it to the batting.
You will continue adding greenery as you go up, making sure that the next layer slightly overlaps the layer underneath it. Your clippings should get smaller as you go up.
(Please note the plug hanging out of the bottom of the tree…)
When you’re finished gluing on the clippings, take that sucker outside and carefully shoot it with flocking snow. (You can get this stuff at any craft store this time of year.)
You don’t want to over-do it… just enough to make it look frosty and maybe camouflage some of the, um, less than perfect areas.
You can also wrap ribbon around it, or add any other embellishments to them. I left with just fir and frost.
You can set then directly on the ground, or wedge them into pots to raise them up a bit.
I like them. Shiny! Pretty! Cheap! (And I solved the “what’s the deal with those rusty tomato cages!?” question.)
Thanks Jen!
Thanks Vivienne!!!
I LOVE that idea!! 
Those trees would be so cute on a front porch or going up a walkway!! 
I can’t tell you how much I love Vivienne!! 
She is so sweet, sincere, funny and super talented!!!
You might remember her awesome subway art:
[P2261019.JPG]
And I love this Outdoor Chandelier she changes up for the seasons:

And she’s a master entertainer!
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1Tx7wAOK2D4/TO9V9v51WmI/AAAAAAAAC7k/ilmWTDD0rAw/s1600/DSCN1267.JPG
And she’s so pretty too — even as a vampire!
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1Tx7wAOK2D4/TM7qk3p4xoI/AAAAAAAACzk/8ucVGBVGOKw/s1600/DSCN1011.JPG
I just found out that Vivienne has opened an etsy shop — Crafty Girl Friday! 
 So fun!!!
She’s selling her gorgeous, hand painted and distressed artwork.
Hand Painted Distressed Chair Silhouette
And guess what?!!! 
Today you can win a CUSTOM Silhouette, made by my friend Vivienne!!! I’m so excited for you!

Just go over to The V Spot to find out how to win!!!!
xoxo

Posted By: Jen · In: christmas, diy, guest tutorials, holiday

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Comments

  1. Amanda says

    December 22, 2010 at 3:38 AM

    Just dropping by to let you know that I linked to this post in a round up today from the Home & Garden channel at Craft Gossip. 🙂 This will appear in the main Craft Gossip RSS feed, on the main home page and can be found directly here
    http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/25-christmas-tree-crafts/

    If you would like a "featured by" button, you can grab one here!
    http://homeandgarden.craftgossip.com/grab-a-craft-gossip-button/

  2. M.O.T.B says

    December 14, 2010 at 7:56 PM

    I am a new follower of her blog! Love her and the fact that she married her high school sweetheart 15 years later…me too!

  3. Jen says

    December 13, 2010 at 5:59 PM

    I'm wondering now if those rusty tomato cages are still out in the shed, or if we got rid of them! Hmmm….especially since we have a TON of icicle lights we don't use anymore! What a great project! Vivienne is too crafty 🙂 Off to her shop!

  4. Lorajean says

    December 10, 2010 at 9:45 PM

    This is such a great idea! I love it!! I want to make these!!

  5. MiMi says

    December 10, 2010 at 8:55 PM

    Also. Get thee to a manicurist??? LOL
    And any project that involves duct tape is awesome.

  6. MiMi says

    December 10, 2010 at 8:52 PM

    She's AMAZING, right?! Have you seen her etsy shop?! Adorable.

  7. Vivienne says

    December 10, 2010 at 3:07 PM

    Jen!! Thanks for having me over and thanks for the kind words. 🙂
    xoxo

  8. JC's Loft says

    December 10, 2010 at 1:18 PM

    WOW! Never would have guessed that tree started out as a tomato cage!!

    Paula

  9. jennykate77 says

    December 10, 2010 at 12:50 PM

    I love Vivienne! She is so crafty and resourceful! I'm amazed at the things she comes up with sometimes. Plus, she's a hostess…w/ the mostess…and I love that!

  10. The Blonde Duck says

    December 10, 2010 at 12:11 PM

    How cool!

  11. Elz says

    December 10, 2010 at 4:05 AM

    Yea! Two of my favorite bloggers together AND with a fun project.

  12. Em says

    December 10, 2010 at 2:08 AM

    Super-cute! Love the idea and thank you for sharing!

  13. E says

    December 10, 2010 at 1:54 AM

    I LOVE it!!! I am hitting up freecycle now to find some tomato cages!!!

Hi! I'm Jen Hadfield. I'm a mom of 5 restoring an 1891 home in the heart of Salt Lake City. I love being creative and sharing simple ideas to make your life easier and more beautiful!

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