Craft Stick Christmas Tree Ornament

A very simple and fun-to-make project with Craft Sticks for decorating your Christmas Tree or using as a package tie-on.

Materials Needed:

Craft Sticks
Pencil
Heavy Garden Shears
Sandpaper
Wax Paper
Green Paint & Paint Brush
Heavy Glue
Brightly Colored Buttons
Gold String

Directions:

1.Lay one craft stick down vertically for the tree trunk. Lay four or five craft sticks horizontally over the stick that is the trunk of the tree for the branches of the tree. Use the pencil to mark the desired width for the branches. A graduated tier looks nice with the top branch being the shortest and increasing in size with the bottom stick being the same length of the tree trunk. Use the heavy garden shears to cut the sticks at about a fourth of an inch of the pencil mark. After the sticks have been cut, use the sandpaper to round the ends of each branch of the tree.

2.Lay down a piece of wax paper and paint the trunk and branches of the tree green on both sides and along the edges. Let the paint dry between the tops and bottoms of the sticks. A green marker can be used to paint the trunk and branches if desired, but the color is not as bright.

3.When the paint has dried on all the sticks, use the glue to assemble the tree and let dry.

4.Glue on the buttons where desired for the ornaments of the tree. A star button for the top of the tree looks particularly nice.

5.Glue a five to six inch piece of the gold string to the back of the top of the tree for a hanger. Small pieces of the gold string can also be added across the branches for garland if desired.

Note: This project can be a package tie-on or a tree ornament.