Storytime Christmas Tree

I needed a little something extra on my mantel this year and 

this little tree was just the thing.

It comes together pretty quickly, so you can make several 

during naptime or in one evening.

Here's what you will need:

An old book (I got mine at a Thrift store - 50 cents for as many as I could fit in a bag.)

double-sided tape

needle and thread

glitter

glue

pipe cleaner

ribbon

Step1:  Begin by tearing out 7 pages from the book - for some reason this is hard for me to do, even though I rescued this book from a sad life at a thrift store or the trash - but just take a deep breath and rip!

Step 2:  For the bottom layer, you will use 3 sheets of paper. Accordion-fold them and then, using double-sided tape, tape them together like this:

when they are all taped it will look like this:

Step 3:  Be sure that the smooth edge of your paper is sitting on the table.  Thread your needle and begin to gather the paper folds onto the needle like this:

Pull the thread through and continue all the way around - I went around twice. 

Pull it tight as you go.  When you are finished, it will look like this:

Step 4:  For the next layer, tear the page, length-wise to make it less wide.  I tore off about 1 1/2" on the second layer and just tore the page in half on the top layer.

Repeat the folding, taping, and gathering process to make the middle and top layers of the tree, making sure the smooth edge of the page is the bottom of your layer everytime.

Step 5: Glitter.  There may be a better way to do this, such as dipping the edge of the page in glue, then dipping it in glitter - but all I had on hand was a glue pen so I drew around the edge of the page and then sprinkled the glitter on.

Step 6:  You will need some kind of decoration for the top of the tree.  I used a piece of pipe cleaner wrapped around some ribbon like this:

Insert the long part of the pipe cleaner into the top layer of your tree.  Just stack the layers and place in a prominent location.  If you are nervous about it falling over, you could always add a drop or two of hot glue to secure them.

Perhaps you could make it as an entry for the Bridget & Lucy giveaway?  Don't forget to upload your projects to the Flickr Pool to be entered to win!  Enjoy- and have a great weekend,

jessica