I saw these adorable felt trees in my Garnet Hill catalog and decided I wanted them:

But $20 seemed pretty steep for felt and glue, so I set out to make my own (Also, they’re out of stock).

Meh.

It was a LOT harder than I thought to a) get the cones the right shape b) get the felt tiers even and c) not burn the crap out of myself with hot glue. But after a couple of hours I came up with my own version which I think is just as cute as the original AND won’t make you throw your scissors across the room in frustration:

You could make them in any color combination to match your Christmas decorations (what, you don’t pick a new color scheme for your holiday each year?). Felt comes in TONS of colors and costs about 30 cents a sheet. I bought 11 sheets total but used only 8 of them for both sets of trees – plus lots and lots of mistakes. The only other cost was two 99 cent sheets of poster board, so DIY was DEFINITELY cheaper than store-bought. (I already owned a glue gun. Duh.)

If you want to do it the easy way, just buy a few foam/florist foam cones from the craft store. They run between $3-$8 each but there are always coupons and sales. Find the best art and crafts supplies like epoxy resin and more on this website.

If you want to make it the cheap way, you’ll need a couple pieces of poster board. Trace something large and round (I used my egg plate) and cut out the circle. Then fold your circle in half, then in half again so you have lines showing 4 quarters.

Cut out one of the quarters and roll the board into a cone. The more it overlaps the pointier the cone will be. Use various size circles to make different sized cones for a staggered look or the same size a bunch of times for a more uniform look. I used a line of hot glue to secure the cone, but tape would probably hold just fine.

For the felt leaves, fold a square of felt in fourths (just like how you started your cone). Cut the outside into a scalloped edge (or points, or use pinking sheers, or fancy patterned scissors) then cut the center out so it’s a ring. Cut through the ring in one spot so it becomes a strip. Glue one end to your cone and wrap the felt around so it overlaps up the cone.

Repeat with more felt, varying your colors and lengths. Try to line up the ends so you can have a “back” that is less pretty and can face the fall.

To make them fancier, paint on a little clear glue with a paintbrush an dust with glitter, add beads as ornaments, or add construction paper stars to the top. So cute, so easy. At least now that I know what I’m doing.

Today, I am thankful for my creativity, perseverance and that cold water soothes hot glue burns.

I don’t even know who I am anymore.

Sticks. Trash. Should be thrown away or at the very most turned into mulch.

I was out in the garden this week, cutting back a stupid useless vine of some sort that keeps trying to grow up the side of our house and stuffing it into a trash can to haul out to the dump. I looked at the bendy, twiggy vine all curled up in the can and thought “hey, it looks kind of like a wreath.” And then instead of doing the TOTALLY NORMAL PERSON THING and throwing it away I cut a few more branches, dragged them inside, trimmed them up and made a damn wreath.

I started with some long ones and just twisted them together. I used an extra thin twig to tie the ends.

By hand. With sticks. Sitting on the floor of my living room. When I could have been doing something useful like knitting or blogging or picking my toenails.

Then I twisted different sized twigs around and tucked in the ends until it was wreath-sized.

Oh but I didn’t stop there. I dragged out my craft box and glue gun and the felt flowers I made last year and decorated that bitch right up.

Junk I keep in a box for moments like this where I lose my mind.

I started with some ribbon and tulle and yarn, because those look nice on a wreath, right?

I really half-assed it on the bow

Then I used the glue gun to attach some felt leaves and flowers.

Hot glue: the lazy crafter's best tool

And because, hey, naptime lasts forever right? I’ve got all the time in the world to waste! I stitched up couple of little buds to fill in the gaps.

Just makin' it up as I go

A little more hot glue, a loop of ribbon for a hanger and BOOM. My front door has been spring-ified for exactly zero dollars.

Too bad I made a brown wreath for a brown door. Stupid.

Take your $6 stick wreath and SHOVE IT, craft store. Ain't got nothin' on me.

And that’s the end of today’s craft project. I’ll be in the kitchen, drinking wine straight from a bottle and wondering when my life became so boring this is what I do for fun.