Fringed Burlap Christmas Tree Tutorial

Burlap Projects, Christmas 2013, Christmas Crafts, Christmas Decor, Winter Crafts

Welcome to the first week of Christmas Tidings!

I’m teaming up again with 3 other bloggers to bring you four different takes on one Christmas-related theme. We’ve also got a fabulous giveaway that I think you will love. First up this week is a grain sack or burlap project.

I think these cone shape pieces of styrofoam are incredible. The sky is the limit as to what you can do with them. Last year I used scraps from my sewing room to make Grain Sack Christmas Trees. This year I’ve opted for burlap and used basically the same process. Just wrap those cones like a mummy! Here’s what what you need and the easy steps…

1. Supply List: tree form, burlap strips, straight pins, scissors, twine, embellishments. Cut your strips. I cut mine 2 inches wide and used the whole width of the fabric which was 48 inches. For this 13 in. tree I needed 3 strips. For the bigger, 19 in. tree I needed 6-7 strips. (I won’t go into how to straighten and cut burlap. If you aren’t sure here is a great tutorial.) So for the 2 trees you would be safe to buy 3/4 of a yard of burlap. That will allow a few extra inches to straighten it out.

2. Cut one of your strips into a few smaller pieces. Wrap one around the bottom of the tree and secure it with a pin. Layer 2 on the top of the tree and secure.

3. Fringe your strips. I pulled enough strings to equal about 1 inch of fringe.

4. Starting at the bottom of the tree, secure one of your fringed strips and start wrapping. It takes a little pulling and tugging to get it right but the burlap is very forgiving. At the end of each piece, secure with a pin.

5. As you are wrapping the burlap, try to cover any pins that are peeking through. There will be one pin at the top that you can’t hide so just make that the back side of your tree. At the top make sure to fold your burlap strip under so the raw edge doesn’t show.

6. I got tiny ornaments at Hobby Lobby and strung them on a piece of twine. I tied the twine at about 2 inch intervals so the ornaments would stay put. Make a knot on both ends of your garland. Secure the garland at the bottom of the tree with a pin through the knot and wrap it around. At the top, I used the same pin to secure the twine garland that I used for the last burlap strip.

You can use anything you want for the topper. I wanted stars but couldn’t find any…so I just used 2 little ornaments I already had. I took off the hangers, cut tiny holes in the tops of the trees and stuck on the ornaments. I did use a bit of hot glue to make sure they wouldn’t pop off.

To display them I used a silver tray then added boxwood and gold pine cones. I think the touches of gold sort of glitz up the natural elements of burlap and boxwood. Festive yet not over the top.

Now it’s time to tell you about our giveaway. We will be giving away two holiday signs to two lucky winners. These wooden signs are made by Holly from Well of Words. Her site is full of personalized wooden signs and vinyl lettering for the home. Enter via the Rafflecopter at the end of the post.

If you have time and need a little inspiration you can visit the other blogs and check out their projects.