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Oh, Christmas Tree!

It's the day before Christmas and I've been a little crafty making this one-of-a-kind Christmas Tree!


Supplies:
Wooden finial that looks like a tree
Small film canister
Tim Holtz gold ribbon from Metallic Trimmings
Tim Holtz gold tinsel garland from Metallic Trimmings
Tim Holtz Christmas word band
Tim Holtz brads
Tim Holtz Distress Crayon in Candied Apple
Tim Holtz Mirrored Stars (two smallest sizes and one of the largest)
String of LED lights
Glossy Accents

Tools:
Saw
Rotary tool with drill bit
Hammer and nail
Bracelet forming tool


I first spied the wooden finial in a bin at a funky antique shop and I thought "That looks like a tree" but kept walking. Before we left, I found a small, dingy film canister and wanted it but wasn't sure what to do with it. That's when I remembered the tree.

After a couple weeks of it sitting around, I finally tried to trim the base of the finial off, but didn't have the right tools. The hubby came to the rescue and made the cut. He also had the perfect size screw in his hoard of junk.

With the finial cut, I drilled a hole in the base and poked a hole in the canister lid with a nail, smashing down the jagged edges. I screwed it in place and got ready to decorate!


First, I used my bracelet forming tool to bend the metal word band. After each bend, I'd fit it against the canister to make sure the curve was right. Next, I rubbed the Distress Crayon into the writing on the word band to make it stand out. I used a dry paper towel to rub away any excess.

I measured out a length of ribbon to wrap around the lid of the canister and arranged it so the seam would be hidden by the word band. With it in place, I poked a brad through the ribbon to secure the word band in place. I added some Glossy Accents to hold it.

 I dry-fitted the ribbon to the canister and added my second brad. I bend the tines into a V-shape to maintain the curve of the canister and added Glossy Accents to keep them in place.

With the glue dry, I added Glossy Accents to the canister and secured the section of ribbon with the word band first. With that dry, I added more glue around the canister and fitted the ribbon in place.

After it was dry, it seemed plain so I used more Glossy Accents to add a length of the tinsel garland around the edge of the canister lid.

A tree isn't special without lights so I got a set of battery-powered mini LED lights and wrapped them around the finial. (it only took re-doing it about five times...) With the lights in place, I used Glossy Accents to stick the metallic stars to the tree.




This was a fun little project and I'm thinking a few Tim Holtz Christmas Alpha Dice would go perfectly on the canister lid...

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!

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