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!!
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 beads:
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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Sharon Bernstein says
December 11, 2013 at 8:43 pmGreat tutorials on how to make Christmas cones. I am going to try this. Thanks.
sondralyn says
December 11, 2013 at 11:49 pmThey are pretty easy to make! And thanks so much for stopping by… hope you’ll visit again soon!!
J. Betsill says
March 26, 2018 at 8:20 amWould you please tell exactly what kind of glitter you used? There are many instructions on how to make these trees but the most important item is left out: the kind of glitter. Thks so much.
Sondra Lyn says
April 9, 2018 at 12:27 amHi J.! Thanks for popping by! As I stated in my post, I used glass beads and Mod Podge to adhere them. To finish, I used spray-on glitter in silver.
Jordan Hansen says
December 12, 2013 at 1:44 amThese 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.
sondralyn says
December 12, 2013 at 9:57 amThanks, Jordan… so glad you like them! And I’ll be happy to share!!
Kayla @ Home Coming says
December 12, 2013 at 10:18 amThese 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
Denise says
December 15, 2013 at 3:55 pmgreat idea sondra. I am doing these. maybe even this week. very exciting.
Sondra @ Sondra Lyn at Home says
December 15, 2013 at 9:40 pmThanks, 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…
Vickie Munton says
December 18, 2013 at 9:14 pmLOVE these! I was looking for something like this for a wedding reception I’m doing with a Winter Wonderland theme– thanks!
sondralyn says
December 18, 2013 at 9:31 pmSo 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!!
Margaret moody says
December 22, 2013 at 1:05 pmCould you use a foam tree shape?
sondralyn says
December 22, 2013 at 2:35 pmYes, 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.
Jeanne says
September 14, 2018 at 10:06 amThe link for making these cones doesn’t work, can you redirect? Please respond via email. Thank you so much
Sondra Lyn says
October 22, 2018 at 10:22 pmThe link worked for me. Here it is again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lr7Vqvbo3N0
Lollie says
October 12, 2018 at 9:32 pmWhat beads, I can only see the lg. glitter pieces??Can you tell us where to buy the supplies needed, PLEASE!!
Thanks,
Lollie
Sondra Lyn says
October 22, 2018 at 10:20 pmThese are glass beads that can be found at craft stores or here on Amazon https://amzn.to/2Ra37o8 OR https://amzn.to/2CY3TkT.
Sheila Moreton says
November 29, 2018 at 4:50 amThese look like fun to make! But what is Mod Podge? Could I use PVA glue?
Paula says
December 15, 2018 at 9:36 amI would imagine you could also use styrofoam cones as well.