Merry & Bright Crepe Paper Christmas Tree Tutorial

Hi Everyone! Cindy here! I hope you are enjoying this round of Joli Paquet for the Holidays! Today I am going to show you how to make a Merry and Bright Crepe Paper Christmas Tree!

This is a fun project to do with the kids or let them make their own. It's also a project that consists of supplies you probably already have around the house. Keep in mind you can us any color crepe paper you want. You can use all one color or multiple colors.

Supplies Needed:

Paper or Cardboard Cone (I purchased mine at Michael's but you could also use a styrofoam cone or make your own cardboard cone out of recycled cereal boxes.)

Crepe Paper (any color)

Yarn (color to coordinate with your crepe paper)

Any kind of ribbon trim (I used white pom pom trim)

Double sided tape

Craft Glue (clear drying)

Glitter (any kind but I love mine from Little Pink Studio!)

Scissors

Old paintbrush, craft stick, or toothpick

Let's get started!

Step 1: Starting at the bottom of the cone and about an inch up apply double sided tape all the way around the cone. You just want the tape to be where the top of the crepe paper will be. This is where you will begin to make and stick the crepe pleats or ruffles.

Step 2: Start with the color of your choice and stick one end of the crepe paper onto the tape. Let the paper overhang at the bottom just a bit.

Step 3: Begin folding the crepe paper to make small pleats and stick down to the tape.

Step 4: Work your way all the way around the cone with the pleats. When you come back to where you started place a piece of double sided tape at the seam.

Step 5: Fold under the end and stick down at the seam.

Step 6: Now repeat steps 1-5 until you get all the way to the top of the cone. If you have chosen multiple colors, alternate the colors as you move up the cone. Be sure and overlap the bottom of the top row onto the row underneath to cover up the top of the pleats.

It should look something like this as you are working the next row.

As you work your way up it should look something like this.

Step 7: Making the Pom Pom top. Wrap yarn around a playing card or even your fingers. The thicker the wrap the thicker your pom pom will be.

Step 8: Slide the wrap off the card. Cut a length of yarn and tie it around the middle of the yarn wrap.

Step 9: Cut the loops on both sides.

Step 10: Fold the pom in half at the middle and give it a good trim.

Step 11: Glue the pom to the top of the tree. You can trim more if needed. Mine is kinda wild! LOL

Step 12: Add any type of trim at the top of the tree under the pom to cover up any gaps. I used mini pom trim but you can use ribbon, ric rac, etc.

Step 13: Using an old paint brush, craft stick, or tooth pick apply clear drying craft glue to the bottom of the edge of the first layer.

Step 14: Apply glitter to the glue.

Step 15: Repeat steps 13-14 until you have done all the layers of the tree. Let DRY. I also applied glitter to the pom pom top and pom pom trim.

And your cute bright festive tree is done!!!! I hope you had fun and I hope you will make an entire forest of trees! They are quick, easy, and inexpensive and they add a special touch to your Holiday decor! This is a great project to do over the Thanksgiving break. Get the entire family involved!

Be sure and post any trees you make in our Joli Paquet Flickr group (see the link the left). We would love to see your cute trees!!!

Happy Holiday Crafting,

Cindy

Painted Ladies ~

by Heidi Wallingford

Here's a very simple tutorial you can use for all your Spring gift giving

First gather your supplies:
vintage tags ~ for butterfly bodies
wooden clothes pins in different sizes
stamens
flocking

and assorted vintage wallpapers, and ruffled crepe trims (if you'd like)

You can find a template HERE for the wings and bodies

To make butterflies:
Fold wallpaper in half and cut along open edge, leaving folded edge uncut
Fold stamen in half and glue to top end of clothespin
Cut body from vintage tag or cardstock
Glue body to clothespin, paint a nice layer of craft glue or Modge Podge on body, sprinkle generously with flocking and gently tap off excess

Attach to your May Day baskets, or bottles

a sweet gift welcoming a new baby

...and of course Mother's Day

Enjoy ~

xo Heidi

Little Spring Bird Flower Picks

Hello Everyone! It's time for another little tutorial. Today I'll be showing you how to do quick and easy flower picks that can be added to Mother's Day gifts. This is really a quick, inexpensive, and easy little project that even your little ones can help out with. So let's get started.

Supplies Needed:

* Bird shaped wood pieces (or any other shape you would like) - I get these at Michael's

* Wood sticks - I get these at Michael's

* Scrap Paper - (vintage wallpaper, book pages, scrapbook paper, etc) - I used vintage wallpaper

* Craft Knife or scissors

* Glue - I used Aleene's fast drying tacky glue - I get this at Walmart or Michael's

Step 1:

Glue your bird shape to your scrap pieces of paper on one side. Make sure all paper is stuck down good and smoothed out to get any air bubbles out. Let dry. You will then cut out (see step 2) and repeat Step 1 and 2 on the other side. The photo above shows the second side being glued to the scrap vintage wallpaper.

Step 2:

Cut out the birds with a craft knife or pair of sharp scissors. Please be sure an adult does this step. This step is not for children. The photo above shows the second side being cut out. The first side has already been done.

Step 3:

You can then clean up the edges of the bird with your craft knife or scissors. The photo above shows both sides done on the birds.

Step 4:

Now apply a dab of glue to the top of the stick and then adhere to the center bottom of the bird. Let dry.

Step 5:

Insert your spring bird picks into your flower arrangement or plant. They add a touch of whimsy to an already wonderful gift!

Some other ideas for your spring birds:

* picks for flower arrangements (as above)

* picks for your garden pots (these would only work for indoor plants as the paper is not weather proof)

* gift hang tags (leave off the sticks and punch a hole in the top, insert a ribbon, and tie on a gift bag)

* art accents (great embellishments for cards, scrapbook pages, collage art, etc)

Please be sure and show us what you create! Add it to the Joli Flickr group that can be found in the left sidebar.

Happy Crafting!

Cindy

Holiday Gift Card/Treat Box

Hi - It's Jeanne here and welcome to the all new Holiday 2009 version of Joli Paquet! I'm so excited to be the first to share with you my tutorial for the festive Holiday Gift Card/Treat Box box shown above.

This project includes a template for making both a large and small size of the box. The larger one will hold a gift card or bracelet. The smaller box will hold a pair of earrings or candies. It's a tradition in our family to have a little treat by each place setting for Christmas dinner. The smaller box is the perfect size for this and it can do double-duty as a placecard as well.

~ Supply List ~

One - 8.5" x 11" sheet of cardstock - any color

One - 6" x 8" sheet of decorative paper - scrapbook paper, wallpaper, gift wrap

One - 1" x 6" strip of coordinating decorative paper

One 3" x 3" sheet of another coordinating decorative paper

12" strip of crepe paper in a complimentary color

2" diameter scallop edged circle punch

Large snowflake punch

Silver glitter

Medium sized Button

Thread

Embroidery Floss & Baker's Twine (optional)

Small tag

Heavy Duty Double-sided Tape

Glue Stick & White Craft Glue

Scissors

Pinking Shears (optional)

Embossing Stylus or Bone Folder

OK, now let's get started!

Step 1 - Double click on the template above to enlarge and then print out on plain paper.

Step 2 - Cut out the template for the size box you wish to make. (I am going to show you how to make the large size in this tutorial.) Using a pencil, trace the template onto plain cardstock.

Step 3 - Following the lines you traced, cut out the box from the cardstock. Using an embossing stylus (or bone folder), trace over all the dotted lines. Press down fairly hard to make folding and constructing the box easier.

Step 4 - Cover the entire back of the box with a glue stick and adhere in to the back of the 6"x8" piece of decorative paper. Cut off excess paper. (Gluing first and cutting second assures that you will have a perfect fit.)

Step 5 - Apply heavy duty double-sided tape to the right side of the entire tab. (I think this tape was originally called Wonder Tape. It is available at Michael's and various scrapbook stores.) Fold box on creases made with stylus. Peel off tape backing. Fold tab over and adhere to the inside of the other end of the box (see last picture in the photo above).

Step 6 - Fold end flaps on creases made with stylus. Attach the 1"x6" strip of decorative paper, as shown, and trim ends to fit box. (Both of these papers are from My Mind's Eye)

Step 7 - Punch a large snowflake from white cardstock. (I used Martha Stewart's Himalayan Snowflake punch available at Michael's.) Punch a 2" circle from coordinating paper. (I used a scallop edged circle punch.)

Step 8 - Glue the snowflake to the center of the scallop edged circle. Apply white craft glue to snowflake and sprinkle with silver glitter. (I used German glass glitter, but any glitter will do. You can even use Stickles Glitter Glue if you'd like.)

Step 9 - Gather one edge of approximately 12" of crepe paper (use the full width of crepe paper) by stitching a basting stitch with thread. As you pull the thread the crepe paper strip will form a rosette. Tack down center with thread to hold in place. Glue snowflake circle on top of crepe paper rosette.

Step 10 - Thread embroidery floss through button holes and secure with a knot on top of the button. Glue button to center of snowflake.

Step 11 - Decorate a small tag with your choice of paper. I added a vintage red label to write the recipient's name. Tie a bow through the hole with a length of baker's twine and attach to the front of the box with a little craft glue.

Now you're ready to fill your pillow box with a small gift, sweet treats, or a gift card. You can decorate these little boxes as simply or extravagantly as you desire. Either way, the recipient is sure to be delighted by their little gift! As the saying goes. . . . . Good things come is small packages!

Happy Holidays!!!

xxoo

Jeanne

Quick and Simple Valentine Card

Hi everyone, it's Jeanne here and I am doing an emergency fill-in for poor Cindy who's entire family has come down with the flu....Ugh! Can you imagine what that is like? If you have a minute, maybe you could pop on over to her blog and leave her a wish for a speedy recovery.

In the meantime, I will show you how to make the easy-peasy Valentine Card shown above. Nothing fancy, but it's quick and simple! Hop on over to my blog here for the directions!

xo

jeanne