While making a run to Hobby Lobby to buy a few foam wreaths (as wreaths are my current obsession), I saw those wonderful foam cones that make excellent miniature Christmas trees.   I bought 4 of them:  two were 6.25″ tall and two were 9.5″ tall. I’ve seen dozens of ideas on Pinterest and in blogs to turn foam cones into Christmas trees, but thought that these sequined trees at Sweet C’s Design were fun and would look cute in our family room.

I’m trying to make a bright cheery red the main accent color in our family room, so I’ve stuck with a light green, white and bright red for our Christmas colors.  I picked up several packages of sequins to go with my foam cones, as I wasn’t sure how many sequins the cones would take.  I also bought two different sizes of sequin pins.  I ended up with “Lime Green” and “Bright Red” circular sequins, and small, flower-shaped white iridescent sequins.  I also picked up larger white iridescent sequins that were shaped like snowflakes and large pins that had red and green pearl tops.

This is a project that takes a bit of time.  I am probably overestimating how long it took, as needing to feed LB can end up interrupting most lengthy activities in our house.  The larger tree with the larger green sequins took the length of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and the smaller tree with red sequins took less than an entire movie.  However, the larger tree with the small, white sequins took the entire length of Home Alone and Home Alone 2.

I learned a few things along the way.  First, the green foam cones hold the pins better than the white foam cones, particularly if you are using smaller, shorter sequin pins.  It appears to be easier to start at the top of the cone, and use smaller sequin pins to secure those sequins.  I also needed to stick some of the pins in at an angle to make sure that the pins went in smoothly at the top of the cone.  Larger, thicker sequin pins hold the bottom row of sequins in more securely, and subsequently all of the sequins above.  I used both sizes of sequin pins for the middle part of the cones.  Also, I was able to do the red cone and the green cone with one bag of 800 sequins in each color.  I used one bag of 1000 white sequins for the white tree.  After I covered each tree in their primary color, I accented them.  For the red tree, I used the green sequins.  For the green tree, I used the red sequins, and for the white tree, I used red and green sequins with their contrasting pearl-topped pins.   I love the way they turned out, and it was a great activity to do while enjoying a good Christmas movie!

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that Frog really wanted to do his own “project,” and decided that he wanted to complete his own tree.  He did one with gold and silver square-shaped sequins.  Rather than randomly covering the tree in sequins, he did a row of silver, then gold, then silver and so on.  I think his tree turned out pretty well too!

I’m linking up to the following sites:

• A Bowl Full of Lemons: One Project at a Time
• Clean and Scentsible: The Creative Spark
• Craft-O-Maniac: Craft-O-Maniac Monday
• Design, Dining and Diapers: Happy Hour Party
• Ginger Snaps Crafts: Wow Me Wednesday
• Handy Man, Crafty Woman: Wicked Awesome Wednesday
• Home Stories A to Z: Tutorials and Tips Link Party
• Lady Behind the Curtain: Cast Party Wednesday
• Lines Across: Cure for the Common Monday
• Miss Information: I Freakin’ Did It Friday
• Mom on Time Out: Your Creative Timeout
• My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia: Tuesday Treasures
• Not Just a Housewife: Show Me What Ya Got
• Semi Homemade Mom:
• Six Sisters’ Stuff: Strut Your Stuff Saturday
• Someday Crafts: Whatever Goes Wednesday
• Southern Lovely:
• Sugar Bee Crafts: Take a Look Tuesday
• The Winthrop Chronicles:
• TidyMom: I’m Lovin’ It Linky Party
• Under the Table and Dreaming: Sunday Showcase