With so many DIY Christmas crafts available, it can be hard to choose which ones you’ll dive into this year. Of particular interest and popularity are the many varieties of DIY Christmas trees. I mean, how can you not love those?

Paper trees, fabric trees, felt trees, candy trees, pasta trees, cookie trees, cupcake trees— you’ve seen ‘em. We’re about to outline another awesome Christmas tree project for you, but it won’t be food related. Sorry. But we promise— it’s still super glam!

Guaranteed to really spruce up your décor are these pine cone Christmas trees. These are nothing like the ones we used to make in preschool, either. DIYer and vlogger Tresha shows us how to take ordinary, dried-out pine cones and transform them into shimmery, festive decorations. Let’s go!

Pine Cone Christmas Trees

Materials

• Pine cones (approximately 2 to 3 per decoration)
• Metallic spray paint
• Hot glue gun
• Glitter glue
• Glass candle holders (longer stemmed ones work well)
• Styrofoam cone
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Bake the Cones

   Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Put the pine cones into an oven heated to 275 degrees Fahrenheit, and let them dry in the oven for an hour and a half.

2. Spray the Paint

   While the pine cones are in the oven, you can spray paint the candle holders and Styrofoam in a well-ventilated area. Once the pine cones are done, paint them too. Allow items to dry.

3. Hot Glue It

   Add hot glue to the rim of the candle holder and carefully attach the bottom of the Styrofoam cone to it.

4. Clip the Scales

   Tresha noted that drying the pine cones out make it easier to descale them. Clip the scales off at their bottoms with scissors.

5. Glue the Scales

   Begin gluing the scales to the Styrofoam, starting at the bottom of the cone and going around in a row. The curls on the scales should be facing outwards. Continue gluing until you get to the top.

6. Make Your Tree Top

   Once at the top, glue the scales at an angle so that they start to cover the top of the cone. Tresha states that when forming the top tip of the tree, you want to flip the scales around so that the curls point upward. Glue them into the shape of a tree top.

7. Touch it Up

   If you prefer to have no brown color showing, touch up the tree with more spray paint. Allow to dry.

8. Add Glitter

   Use glitter glue to add some extra bling on the edges of the scales.

 

This is such a cool idea for your mantel or as a holiday centerpiece! Though Tresha used a pretty silver color for this project, who says you can’t use a beautiful metallic green or purple? Gold would absolutely look elegant too! By using candle holders of different heights, they’ll contrast with one another and make a beautiful display.

We’re sure that if you try this project, you’d add your own imaginative and creative touches. This would also be a fun project to do with kids for the holiday, and it can easily be scaled down into smaller versions. What do you think of these chic DIY Christmas trees? Are you ready to gather some pine cones? Tell us in the comments!