Christmas in July with Tis the Season

Ok guys...there are only six more months until Christmas...TIME TO GET CRAFTING!!! Ok ok. It might be a little early to start full force crafting for Christmas...but Cousin has a new line of Tis the Season products debuting and I believe that calls for a small celebration and just a little bit of Christmas crafting in July :) Today I want to share with you...

 

DIY Beaded Burlap Christmas Trees

 Here's a sneak peek at some of the goodies in the new line I was sent to craft with:

I love Cousin's Tis the Season line because it has so many fun components that you can use for many other projects besides soley jewelry making.  So if you have sworn off jewelry making completely, don't be afraid to wander down the bead aisle of AC Moore or Joann's to get inspired for another type of craft project!  Also, the new Tis the Season line is rolling out early this month BUT if you just can't justify crafting for Christmas yet, they do have Halloween themed components as well!

 

But for now for my mini Christmas in July celebration, let's see how I made my Christmas trees.

 

Since it is July I did not think I could find any styrofoam or cardboard Christmas tree forms out at any craft store, so I decided to just make my own from a cardboard cereal box.  My Own Road has a good printout template available. I traced mine slightly larger than how it printed to make a bigger tree.

Cut out two different size trees and then roll the cardboard up into a cone shape using hot glue to secure in place.  

 

Next step is to cut out a bunch of scalloped burlap trim! I used a light colored burlap that was laminated on one side which makes it a little sturdier, but traditional burlap will work fine as well.  I drew out a template freehand on a piece of cardboard and used it to cut out a bunch of burlap strips. 

Starting at the base of one of your Christmas trees, wrap the burlap trim around the cardboard cone and secure in place with hot glue.  Keep wrapping and glue the trim on going up the tree making sure to overlap each piece enough so no cardboard peeks through. 

 

When you reach the top of the tree, add a big glob of hot glue to the top of the cone and stick a Tis the Season snowflake charm in the hole.  

 

Repeat the same process for the smaller tree and glue another snowflake charm on top. Don't they look so pretty??  If you like to decorate with more neutrals, you could just stop here for a more elegant look.

If you like a little more bling though, it's time to deck the halls! For the sake of my Christmas trees I dissassembled this cute little jingle bell vial charm to get at the jingle bells inside!

I used the jingle bells and some glittery red stars from another strand of Tis the Season beads as ornaments.

 

Just a little dab of hot glue will work for attaching each charm

Attach all the charms and then voila! Deck the halls and fa la la, your Christmas trees are done :)

This is such a cute little project any one can do - no jewelry making skills needed!! It also comes together pretty quick, only a couple of episodes of Revenge on a Saturday afternoon and these were done!

They were fun to make too...now I really do have an itch for more Christmas crafting!!