Fall Cone Trees

It feels a bit odd preparing for Fall while our temps have been in the triple digits, but I'm excited about all the natural elements and warm earthy décor that come with Fall decorating. 

This weekend I gathered the cone trees that I've made to display throughout our home and wanted to share with you a few options for making them.

From left to right above, the trees are made using tea stained book pages, soft yellow twine, drop cloth strips, and natural jute string.  I can't take credit for the large grapevine cone tree - it was purchased at Hobby Lobby.

To make the string and twine trees, use a cardboard cone and starting at the tip of each cone and, using a hot glue gun, wrap the string or twine around the cone, leaving no gaps between the rows.  When shopping for string and twine, check all store departments - other than the crafting and home improvement sections, they can also be found in gardening and sporting goods.  And, if you don't find them in a color you need, as with most elements, they can be spray painted, brush painted, and even stained.

For the drop cloth tree, cut 1" x 3-1/2" strips from the drop cloth, form them into loops and, starting at the bottom of the Styrofoam cone, pin them to the cone using straight pins.   I wrapped the tip of the cone with string and topped it with a wood finial.

To make the book page tree, cut 1" x 1-1/2" strips from book pages and attach them to the cardboard cone in rows using double-stick tape.  I used tea stained book pages for my strips and if you missed the tutorial on tea staining, you can find it HERE.  If you like, you can also curl the ends by rolling each book page strip on a pencil or pen, unrolling and attaching to the cone.

Another option is to cover a cone with burlap strips.  For this one, I attached burlap strips to a Styrofoam cone using a low temperature hot glue gun, then spray painted the burlap with gold spray paint.



If you don't have access to cardboard or Styrofoam cones, you can easily make them from posterboard or cardstock.   There are many templates online - just do a quick search for "cone shape template." 

The possibilities are also endless when it comes to decorating cones - you can use beads, beans, pine cone scales, design paper, fabric, glitter, ribbon, moss, raffia, etc. 

A good starting point is to set a color scheme and then search for items in those colors.   

Especially for Fall, leaves from a shrub or tree work really well and if they're not quite the color you're looking for, they can be spray painted.  Just drop them in a cardboard box, using one hand to apply the spray paint and the other to shake the box while spraying so the leaves are evenly coated. 

One last tip - when using Styrofoam cones and a glue gun, always use the low temperature setting - high temperature glue can melt the cone.  Don't ask me how I know this!   :)

Are you ready for Fall?  We're looking so forward to consistently cooler weather ... and much needed rain!

Thank you  to Craftaholics Anonymous, A Delightsome Life,  Work it Wednesday,  Imparting Grace, The Interior Frugalista and Cozy Little House for graciously featuring this post!

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