Have you seen those gorgeous glass beaded trees? The ones like they have at Frontgate for $129.00 for the set of 3 (on sale from $179!). I wanted them SO badly! I love natural materials for decorating, but sometimes you just can’t beat glitz and glamour! I do love me some sparkle!!
I am participating in the 25 Days of Christmas over at That’s What Che Said and I am just thrilled to bring you this glass beaded tree tutorial!
While shopping, I found some similar trees at TJMaxx, but they were still more than I wanted to spend (about $75).
So I decided to try my hand at making the cones myself. I found this great tutorial online for making the cones out of poster board and I made 3 cones of varying height in no time! They weren’t difficult, and didn’t have to be perfect, since they would be covered with gorgeous sparkle!
I bought about 15-16 ounces of glass beads: bugle beads, cut bead and seed beads in both silver and iridescent. My plan was to give the cones a good coating of Mod Podge and then shake the beads on.
I used a foam brush to apply the Mod Podge as thick as it would go (the brush in photo above didn’t leave a thick enough coating of MP). Then all I did was combine the beads in a pyrex cup and, holding over a piece of poster board, gently shook beads over the cones, turning as I went. I did the tops first and let dry, then went back and did the bottoms.
After covering each cone with beads, I shook the excess from the poster board back into the pyrex cup. About a pound of beads should be enough to do three trees this size. After the Mod Podge has fully cured (like a day or so), I will spray with a sealer spray to help prevent any bead loss. I am so thrilled with the finished product!
This project came in at under $20 for all three trees! And I absolutely LOVE them!!
Wishing you a wonderful Christmas!
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Great tutorials on how to make Christmas cones. I am going to try this. Thanks.
They are pretty easy to make! And thanks so much for stopping by… hope you’ll visit again soon!!
These look beautiful, and now I have to make a trip to Hobby Lobby so i can make my own 🙂 I hope you will share this post on Thank Goodness It’s Thursday at http://www.jordansonion.blogspot.com – the party goes live on Thursday at 10am MST.
Thanks, Jordan… so glad you like them! And I’ll be happy to share!!
These are BEAUTIFUL! You did such a great job. I’m hosting a giveaway for a beautiful chandelier that you should enter! http://homecomingmn.blogspot.com/2013/12/master-bedroom-reveal-and-chandelier.html
great idea sondra. I am doing these. maybe even this week. very exciting.
Thanks, Denise! It’s hard to contain the beads… I had a bead/glitter explosion in my dining room! 😉 But they were fun to make. Mine are shedding beads as I move them, so I’m considering giving another coat of Mod Podge and more beads, or spray a coat of sealer over them as they are…
LOVE these! I was looking for something like this for a wedding reception I’m doing with a Winter Wonderland theme– thanks!
So glad you like them! I will amend my post, but do seal them somehow… either with more Mod Podge on top of the beads (it dries clear) or with a spray sealant… just to help the beads to not shed, especially if you will handle or transport them a lot.
Merry Christmas!!
Could you use a foam tree shape?
Yes, you could. In fact, I had bought some. But they were pretty expensive, esp. The larger ones. And they don’t come to a point at the top, so I opted to make the cones.