25 Days of Hand Crafted Gifts and Ornaments - Vintage Ephemera Christmas Tree

I am so excited about the project for today...it combines several of my favorite things...

Vintage Paper/Ephemera, Adirondack Color Wash, Perfect Pearls and Stickles Glitter Glue!

I originally saw this tree last year but it didn't quite fit in with my 25 days of Ornaments so I decided since we were doing Gifts & Ornaments this year I had to use it.  I don't recall the web-site I saw it at but I did find something similar on Zueeuz blog made out of wool.  Now I know this takes quite a bit more supplies than some of the other projects I have shared but I promise this is so worth it!  Most items are things that can be found easily and are pretty inexpensive...it does take a bit more time but again, it's well worth it.

Supplies:

Vintage Ephemera (music, book pages, maps, etc.)
Coffee Filters
Circle Template or Dies
Chipboard
Fiskars Anywhere Hole Punch
Skewer or Chop Stick
Wine Cork
Candle Stick
Glue
Adirondack Acrylic Dabber - Espresso & Gold - Ranger Industries
Adirondack Color Wash - Meadow - Ranger Industries
Perfect Pearl Spray - Forever Green - Ranger Industries
Stickles Glitter Glue - Crystal - Ranger Industries
Ribbon
Vintage Jingle Bells
Crinkle Wire (German Bouillon) 
Wire

Instructions:

1. Cut several sized circles from the vintage paper and coffee filters.  I used my nesties to cut scallop circles from the music sheets and plain circle nesties to cut the coffee filters.  Depending on how tightly you pack the papers you will need 6-12 of each size.

2. Fold each circle in half creasing in the center, fold in half in the opposite direction and again crease in the center.  This will help you to find the center.  Punch a hole in the center of each circle.  I am using a nifty little Fiskars "anywhere" hole punch that has a spring you pull & let go.  The impact punches the hole!  It's quick and easy and you can cut multiple (like 4-6 sheets) at a time.  I Love it!

Set all of the circles aside.

3. Paint a wine cork with brown and gold paint.

4. After the cork has dried, push it down into the candle holder as far as it will go. 

TIP: Did you know that wine corks fit perfectly into standard candle sticks? They do...wine corks are perfect for all sorts of crafts!

5. Push a wood skewer or chop stick into the center of the cork ~ don't worry about sizing...we'll deal with that at the end.

6. Apply a ring of glue on the top of the cork. Next create the paper/chipboard "sandwich" foundation by sliding on the paper/chipboard following the chart below: 

Paper Circle

Glue

Chipboard Circle

Glue

Paper Circle

Press all of these layers together to create a sturdy foundation for your paper tree.

7. Crumble the coffee filters...this will give you height between the paper layers.

8. Begin layering the various sizes of paper and coffee filter circles.  I go one for one but if you want more height between the layers you can go one paper, two filters.  Totally up to you.

When you get near the top final layers you can twist the upper most circles like this to give you the classic christmas tree top...

Your tree will look something like this....

9. Place the tree in a box.  Spray the entire tree with a layer of Meadow Color Wash.  Next spray a layer of Forever Green Perfect Pearls.  Let the tree dry completely.  If you'd like to speed drying you can use a heat tool to do so.

NOTE: It's o.k. if some of the white is showing through...I think it adds to the finished design.

10. Apply Crystal Stickles Glitter Glue to the very edges of the tree.  I like to use a paint brush for this step for a more even coverage but you could apply it directly from the bottle if desired.

TIP: I like to save my "almost empty" bottles of Stickles for projects like this.  I cut the bottle open to scoop out the last remains of the glitter glue with the paint brush.  You never end up with any waste this way.

11. Cut off all but 1/4" of the excess skewer/chop stick.

12. Create a topper for your tree...  I strung several vintage jingle bells on a piece of wire; added a few strands of the German Crinkle Wire and a couple wired "berries" that I saved from some other project.  I affixed it to the top of the skewer with a dab of glue.

And here is the finished Vintage Ephemera Christmas

Tree....