DIY: Bell Tree

Are you sick of my all my foam tree DIYs?
Too bad- here's another one
I'm pretty sure it's going to be my last but no promises
This tree is pretty much the same as the ornament tree except there is no lip to press into the cone so you will be using a whole lot more hot glue this time



Here's what you need:
A foam cone
Hot glue gun with plenty of glue sticks
Gold spray paint or match whatever color your bells are
Lots of small bells I used a little over 100 on a 13" cone




The first thing you are going to do is spray paint your cone so that any visible gaps will match your bells.
Than you cut the strings off of your bells if they have them.
The quickest way is too line them up on your scissor's blade and snip



Now- the fun part
You are going to completely cover your cone in bells with hot glue
I started at the top of my cone and worked my way down going in circles
I found this to be the easiest way without having a ton of gaps
Once you are done remove any hot glue strings that may have formed

That's it- another super simple yet gorgeous holiday decoration

DIY: Ornament Tree

In our house we have two big closets in our foyer that are not only great for storage but they have ledges on top that are great for putting holiday decorations on. For Christmas we usually put a bunch of poinsettias up there but this year we are changing it up.

When I was at Home Goods a few weeks ago I found some good deals on cone style Christmas trees. I snagged about 8 of them but my price tag was getting a little high so I stopped there. When I got home I had the genius idea that I could make a few of my own using foam cones from the craft store.

For the first one I decided to attempt an ornament tree. These types of trees can be pretty pricey when they are bought already made. They can actually be pretty pricey to make too if you don't hit good sales or use old ornaments that you already have in the house. I fortunately hit up Joann's when they were having a 60% off sale so I was able to get boxes of 27 ornaments for a little under $2.50.


Alright~ enough back story. Here is what you will need:

Lots of small glass ball ornaments. I used 3 boxes of red, 3 boxes of green and 3 1/2 boxes of gold. I used roughly around 250 ornaments. You may need more or less depending on how large your cone is.


A foam cone from a craft store such as Joann Fabrics, Michael's or A.C. Moore.
Mine was 15" x 4"


A glue gun



This is what you are going to do to create that fabulous tree!

First remove the top piece that holds the hanging hooks from your ornaments.
If you remove all of them before hand the process of covering the cone will go a lot smoother.


Now comes the fun part. Starting from the the base of the cone you are going to push the lip of the ornament into the foam. If the ornament feels firmly planted in the foam then there is no need to hot glue it. If it feels a little loose or if you'd just like the reassurance you can remove the ornament from the foam, add a bit of hot glue and put back into the same stop you had it in before. I up ended hot glueing my whole first row because it was the part that I held onto the most and some of the ornements became loose after so much handling.


Continue doing this row by row. There are going to be small gaps here and there but once it is completely covered they will be unnoticeable. This is pretty much all you do. It is a little tedious but as it gets smaller towards the top the process speeds up.


One you have the cone completely covered check to see if there are any loose ornaments. You can to this by light feeling around with the palm of your hand to see if any of them move. Glue any ornaments that feel wobbly. After you glue your last few in place, wait a few minutes and then remove any hot glue strings that may have formed.

That's it- simple and beautiful!


Pin It


I have three other cones that I am in the process of decorating also.
If they all turn out as good as this one I will definitely be sharing.

Pumpkin Painting Fail

My friend Kristen and I thought it would be fun to have our kids paint pumpkins
We thought wrong
They are 15 and 19 months
Clearly not the age interested in painting pumpkins
Aubs did a little bit of drive by action
But Kingston was more entranced by lizards
Oh well, we will try again next year




"Hmmm this might be fun"


"Nope. nevermind. I'm with Kingston. A playset that is too small for us is way better than pumpkins"




Kristen and I tried our hardest but they still weren't having it
This is just Aubs on another on of her drive bys




Finished products- mostly by Mamas

Linking up with my usual lovely wordless Wednesday ladies
The Paper Mama, Baby Baby Lemon, and the, she {snapped} and Project Alicia


Remember to enter the Giveaway if your interested!