Yarn Christmas Tree w/Mini Bunting

I adore yarn wreaths since they're so cute and versatile, so I thought, "Why not make a yarn tree for Christmas?" So I did. But yarn alone wasn't enough - I wanted to figure out a way to incorporate another of my favorite decorating trends: bunting. With some yarn, embroidery thread and scrapbook paper, I made a darling little tabletop Christmas tree with mini bunting draped on it like garland!

What you'll need ~

Styrofoam cone (3-7/8" by 8-7/8")
Green yarn (Red Heart Medium Acrylic Yarn in Dark Leaf) for the tree
Fuzzy white yarn (Lion Brand Homespun Acrylic/Polyester Yarn in Hepplewhite) for snow
Scrapbook paper (K&Company Yuletide Designer Mat Pad)

Red 6-strand embroidery floss (DMC)
Gold sequins & small dressmaking/crafting pins
Glue gun or craft glue (plus a glue stick for the scrapbook paper)
Scissors
Star topper

How to make it ~

Start by wrapping the cone with the green yarn. I started at the top and worked my way down. Secure the end of the yarn with a dot of glue and wrap the yarn around the circumference of the cone fairly tightly so there are no gaps.

When you reach the base of the cone, you're done wrapping. Secure the other end of the yarn with glue. Next, take your "snow" yarn and wrap it around the base so that it's about an inch high. Glue both ends of the yarn, as well.

Now we're going to make the mini bunting. I drew a little diamond template on cardstock so I could trace the shape onto the scrapbooking paper: my diamond measured 2" from point to point and 1" wide in the middle.

Choose the scrapbook papers you like, trace your diamonds and cut them out with scissors. I wound up with 10 diamonds on different papers.

This next part might vary depending on your preferences for the bunting, but I'll start with what I did.

I chose to just "swag" the bunting back and forth (from left to right and vice versa) across the front of my tree - so the back is actually bare except for the yarn.

You could choose to wrap the bunting all around the tree if you don't want it to have a "front and back." If you decide to wrap it around, you'll need more than the 10 diamonds I used.

So, for the "swag" method: Lay your embroidery floss out in front of you. Choose two diamonds, fold them in half in the middle, apply glue with your glue stick to one side of the interior of the diamond, and glue it together over the embroidery floss. I left between 1/4" and 1/2" in between each little flag.

If you're still following my "swag" method, you'll want to snip the embroidery floss after 2 or 3 flags. If you're doing the wrapping method, leave the floss in one piece and continue adding your flags.

For my tree, I have just two flags for the first "swag" near the top of the tree - they hang from left to right. I glued each end of the floss in place, then started another row of flags (3 for this next one) and draped them back in the other direction (from right to left). To cover up the ends of the embroidery floss where they meet, I glued a gold sequin on top.

Continuing down, my third row had 3 flags (left to right) and the bottom row just 2 flags again (right to left).

Next, I glued a gold star I purchased on top, but I still felt the tree needed a little something extra. So, I decided to use a little more of my scrapbook paper to make star "ornaments." I cut out three large stars and three small stars (a mixture of patterned and solid paper), and pinned them to the tree in the gaps in between the rows of bunting. I stacked the smaller stars on top of the larger stars for dimension.

That's all there is to it! I'm thinking of making some more of the mini bunting to hang elsewhere in the house for the holidays ~ it's so cute!

--- This project was created by Erika Pitera, the managing editor and art director here at ZEST