Every year we like to make some DIY or crafty decorations for Christmas. Whether it’s something new and quirky for our Christmas tree, or something to display on the table. We love adding new handmade things to the home to get into the spirit!
I’ve been doing a whole series using cardboard rolls. So I thought, what sort of interesting Christmas decorations can I make using the humble cardboard roll. The result is these lovely little cardboard roll Christmas trees.
This craft involves a little bit of cutting, so it’s probably better for older kids, say from 8 and up. But younger kids can certainly get involved in the painting and decorating part. We ended up making quite a few of these, as they were lots of fun to make, and they’ve been adorning the kids bookshelves since.
You will need
Toilet rolls or small cardboard rolls
Pencil
Resene test pot paints in Can Can, Scotty silver, Light green (Colour check), Colour Me Pink, Niagara
A paintbrush
A pair of Scissors
What to do
1. Paint your toilet rolls in Can Can and light green and set this dry.
2. Squash the toilet roll down flat and draw a tree shape onto it using the pencil. Make sure that some of the lower branches are drawn right to the edge of the roll.
3. Cut around the outside of the tree shape. Remember to cut the bottom branches right out to the edge as you are cutting them, this keeps the front and back intact.
4. Once the tree is cut out, decorate how you like. We added dots for baubles using Colour Me Pink and zigzag lines for tinsel using Scotty Silver. You can be as creative as you like at this point.
5. Finally, stand the trees up by gently squeezing the bottom of the rolls, so they go a little round again. And find a place to display them.
These trees look great if you create 3 or 5 or more at a time, and display them in a small group together. You can paint each tree slightly different colours, and with different designs. And to really make a display of them, you can pop a tea light, or small LED lights inside them.
Check out hundreds more craft and Christmas-inspired projects in our School age: Creative arts and crafts section.
