I just love Christmas trees! Every year I find new ways to create little ones out of various craft supplies – usually involving a base made of a styrofoam or paper mache cone. This paper strip tree happens to be built on a paper mache cone and is a holiday standard, however I tried a few new touches since I just HAD to try out some more of my new Helmar adhesives!
All of the paper strips are adhered using Helmar Premium Craft Glue. I chose this for the fact that it sets quickly – after all, who wants to spend hours holding down pieces of paper while they dry on a curved surface? Well, it worked like a charm! Yes, it's still a tedious process to attach all those little strips of paper, but it went so much faster than the last time I made one of these!
To glitter the ball (made of air dry clay) on top, I coated it with Helmar Professional Acid Free Glue. I simply squirted the glue onto my fingertips and smooth it on with my fingers. Then I added the first layer of glitter. After that dried, I added additional layers of various colors of glitter by spraying it with Helmar V2 Vellum Adhesive – it holds ultra fine glitter beautifully.
While that was drying, I finished up the tree itself. I wanted to glitter it, but didn't want the whole thing coated. So I again turned to the Helmar V2 Vellum Adhesive and standing over the tree, I pointed the nozzle straight down at it from about two feet above and gave it a light coating. Then I shook the glitter over from the top, tapped off the excess, and it gave the impression of newly fallen snow – just on the edges, just what I wanted!
For the final step, I glued the ball onto the top of the tree using the Helmar Premium Craft Glue again. I hope you will give one of these little trees a try – it makes a beautiful table, shelf or mantle decoration!
I hope your holidays sparkle!
Jenna Franklin, Helmar USA Design Team
