happy wednesday! I have been dying to make these adorable ruffle Christmas trees for over a month now. These little cuties turned out so pretty! I love the texture they offer my Christmas Decor.
Ruffle Christmas Trees
I made a set of 3 ruffle trees in fabrics that coordinate with my Christmas decor. {don’t ya just love those big red berry twigs! i’ve had them for years and they still make me happy}
How To Make a Ruffle Tree
1. supplies: paper mache cones {i used 10.5″, 17″ & 23″ cones}, 1/3 yard of fabric for each cone, scissors, rotary {optional}, ruffler foot {optional} and hot glue gun
2. cut fabric into 1″x45″ strips. for the small cone- i used 4 strips, for the medium cone- i used 7 strips, and for the large cone- i used 10 strips of fabric.
3. sew the ends of the strips together to create one long strip of 1″ wide fabric.
4. use a ruffler foot to sew down the center of the fabric strip and create pleats or ruffles. i set my ruffler foot to create a pleat every 6 stitches.
{NOTE: you do NOT need a ruffler foot! it does make this craft a lot quicker, but you can easily sew a gathering stitch and gather the fabric by hand. to sew a gathering stitch, set your stitch length to the longest setting and then do not back stitch when you sew your seam. when you are done, pull one thread and gather your fabric to create ruffles}
5. pretty picture of the long strip of ruffled fabric :)
6. starting at the base of you cone, hot glue your ruffles around the cone, overlapping slightly to cover the top edge of the fabric.
7. when you get to the tip of the cone, snip off the excess fabric.
8. and now you have a cute little ruffle tree to decorate with!
2 of my cones had “stumps” at the bottom. i simply hot glued a strip of brown fabric around it.
While making my ruffle trees, I gave the new OLFA 5-inch Precision Appliqué Scissors a test run. I use Olfa brand rotary cutting products all the time, so I knew this pair of scissors would be high quality. and they are! They offer a nice crisp cut and the pointy ends are tapered to make it easy to snip tiny threads with precision. The extra large handle holes can fit up to 3 fingers for added control. And I like that the handle is symmetrical so that these scissors can used for both lefty and righty crafters. I am right handed, but my friend, Cara, who I craft with all the time, is a lefty. So its nice to have a pair of scissors both of us can use.
more christmas crafts!white burlap christmas wreathgift tag idea
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Love this! It’s a great take on the Christmas tree idea. The ruffles are perfect!
Oh, I absolutely love these! Might just have to see if I can find some material I like. I have an extra styrofoam cone I was going to return today since I didn’t have enough ornaments to make 2 ornament trees but maybe I will keep it after all and make one of these…decision, decisions!
thanks, Heather! in my biased opinion, YES you should keep the extra cone and make a ruffle tree! ;) would love to see it if you do make one.
happy crafting,
linda
The trees are so adorable!! Love them!
Hugs
SueAnn
What a wonderfully easy craft for a “Newbie” like me.
I made a countdown flip-page calendar
Really love these trees and they are so easy to create. Thanks, Linda!
I love these- so beautiful~ I’ve got to say, I probably would not make these without a ruffler foot. I’m too lazy. :)
Preciosos esos árboles. Esta tarde voy a ver si consigo el pie de máquina para coser vuelos. Quiero hacer unos árboles para mi casa. Cariños.
Oh my goodness! I love these! I just discovered the ruffler foot that came with my sewing machine and haven’t decided what to make with it yet. I think this is now on the top of my to-do list!!
THEY’RE GREAT…Love them! You can cut down time and buy pre-ruffled ribbon to use as well!
Linda, they are so pretty! I love the fabric you used. They look great with your nativity scene:)
Those turned out awesome!
thank you, Lindsey!! i’m so glad you stopped by!
happy crafting,
linda
WOW these are amazing trees!
I love them! I love how the stitch looks on the fabric, well done! :)
thank you, Jessica! i’m glad you stopped by!
happy crafting,
linda
These are gorgeous Linda!!
These are just wonderful! Yet another crafty reason why I need a sewing machine for Christmas! Happy scrapping!
I love this idea…I love the shimmery colors and fabrics..so i can just imagine these trees for a wedding or area that loves to be Be-jeweled….
I just did a tutorial earlier today for Ruffled Christmas Trees – Great minds think alike! Your fabric is darling and they turned out so cute!
Where do you find paper mache cones? Are they cheaper than the styrofoam cones? I have made 2 sets of trees so far (one glitter, the other santa’s) and find that the styrofoam cones are very expensive!
Hi Danielle,
I found them at Hobby Lobby and Joanns {each store had different sizes} And yes, they are tons cheaper than styrofoam!! the largest cone was $6, the smallest was a $1. thanks for stopping by!
happy crafting,
linda
love this! great work friend!!
kisses
heather
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These ruffle trees are adorable, and I love the colors you selected! I featured them on my blog and linked back to you. Thanks for creating and sharing! ~Dee
thank you for the feature, Dee! i appreciate it!
happy crafting,
linda
Linda,
I have the same Nativity set. Aren’t these the best?
Maureen
Okay, so I made a version of these (http://justlikegoober.wordpress.com/2011/12/16/ruffled-christmas-tree-slipcover/), but I’d love your input on how to make this a successful slipcover if you have any ideas. Please let me know if you have thoughts. Also, any suggestion on reducing the fraying on the edges would be awesome!
Hi Mary,
You could try using fabric glue to glue your ruffles to your slip cover? Just a thought. And for the fraying edges, you could use fray check.
Hope that helps!
happy crafting,
linda
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How do I sign up for your site? Thanks
Hi Mary Ellen,
I entered your email address for email updates, you’ll need to confirm the subscription. Does that help?
thanks for following along!
happy crafting,
linda
These are so cute! I found you on Pinterest and immediately repined! Love them! I think I’m going to have a go at them this next week while the kids are out of school! Thanks for sharing!
I save my empty thread cones for these or you could make cones out of cardboard.also. I live too far from the craft store.
Great idea!