06 January 2011

diy fabric trees


so I know this post is a little late for Christmas, but I figured I'd share some projects I didn't get a chance to post during the crazy busy holiday season!

You could totally customize these as decor for a party, using the colors of your party theme, or make some for each season of the year, customizing the colors- pastels for spring, muted earth tones for autumn, etc.

I had some extra fabric scraps left over from making our family ornaments this year {photos to come!} and I didn't want to throw them out. I had bought a few styrafoam trees so I figured this would be a perfect use for those scraps!!


.: materials :.
fabric "ribbon" scraps
styrafoam tree
ribbon {for bow}
straight pins

.: steps :.
1) cut fabric "ribbons" 1 inch thick and length... about 1.5-2 times the circumference of the tree your using. This will give you enough extra fabric to make the ruffles.
2) use two pins to attach your first ribbon to the tree, starting at the bottom. I used one pin at each corner {one towards the top of the tree and one towards the bottom}. This will end up being the back of the tree since the bottom pin heads of each row will be exposed once you're done.
3) every 1-1.5" crimp the fabric and use a straight pin to hold in place. I only used a pin at the top of the fabric {the edge closest to the top of the tree} because I'd found that using a pin at the top and bottom didn't look right or give a nice ruffle look.
4) continue crimping until you reach back to the beginning of your fabric and secure with a pin or two
5) repeat for each row moving towards the top of the tree, overlapping each row about 1/4-1/2"
6) before I did the last row at the top, I cut two short "ribbons" of fabric and crossed them over the top of the tree. then I finished the top row with the crimping.
7) I cut a few pieces of ribbon and draped them over the top of the tree, securing them with a pin.
8) then to top it off, I made a bow and secured it to the top with a pin

I hope that made sense- if not, shoot me an email and I'll try to give a more detailed description and take a few more photos!

.: linking up at :.
Strut Your Stuff Thursday @ somewhat simple
Crafty Soiree @ yesterday on tuesday
Whatever Goes Wednesday @ someday crafts
All Things Inspired @ all things heart and home

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