Recycled paper fringe trees

Have you ever fallen in love with a pair of scissors before? I have. I bought a pair of fringe scissors last year and never even opened the package.Cleaning my supply area, I decided to crack them open and give them a try.  I ended up making some recycled paper fringe trees.

Holy cow. These things are amazing! I knew immediately I needed to make something with them so I immediately started trying all kinds of paper I already had and made little trees to see what would work best.

I promise. You will love these things!

First, wrap your dowel rods in cork pattern ribbon to make a faux wood trunk. I found mine at Michaels in the main ribbon aisle,

but if you can’t find it there, you can also find it here.

I first fringed my recycled Christmas cards the entire length of the scissors.Once I did that, I also did a smaller fringe along the top on the opposite side so the paper would bend easier.Be careful not to cut all of the way through the other side.

The I added glue and started to wrap around a dowel rod.

Rolling tightly as I went.

I started at the bottom with one layer and then I worked upward. I also used super thick tacky white glue so it held better.

Once I got to the top I added a small cone of paper for a tip.

I did the same thing with crepe party paper. Make sure to wrap one layer at a time and not up the dowel in a spiral pattern to get distinctive “tree” layers.

That had to be wrapped more carefully so it wouldn’t rip.

I used various things for bases: paper clay in candle sticks ,and mini wooden pots, as well as a plain wood base with a hole drilled in the bottom.

Once they were dry, I added some fun moss and sparkly glitter to the base.

 Just fluff the paper a little and you have some fun little recycled paper fringe trees! I made one out of the front of a Christmas card, one out of the back (I used about 4 card pieces each), and besides the crepe paper tree,

I even tried one out of the cork printed ribbon.

The crepe paper one looks so sweet! White paper was what I had on hand, but these would be even more fun in bright colors! Like paper bottle brush trees!

These are so easy, it’s almost addictive. I added  a cute wood bead as topper.

I love making an easy project with stuff I already have on hand like my recycled cardboard stars. And,I am in love with those scissors. I am already thinking about other projects I can use them on!

Have fun fringing!

If you liked this holiday craft, you’ll love my book!

And the 2015 holiday house walk!!!