Learn how to make DIY Christmas Trees with handmade paper cones, and then wrap them with rope, jute, twine, and yarn.
Rustic Christmas decor is popular and for good reason. It's simple, elegant, and can be dressed up by adding color.
We are going to make our own rustic decor today; DIY Christmas trees made by wrapping styrofoam or DIY paper cones with rope, jute, twine, and yarn!
Jump to:
- Why You'll Love This Craft
- Craft Supplies Needed
- DIY Christmas Trees with Rope, Jute, Twine, and Yarn
- Other Versions of DIY Christmas Trees:
- DIY Jute Christmas Tree
- DIY Twine Christmas Tree
- DIY Yarn Christmas Tree
- Common Questions
- More Yarn Crafts You'll Love
- How to Make DIY Christmas Trees with Rope, Jute, Twine, and Yarn
Why You'll Love This Craft
- Christmas decor for the holidays is one of the best parts of the season, and what's better than Christmas decorations? DIY Christmas decorations!
- These DIY Christmas trees can be made using any type of rope, yarn, twine, jute or any other string. You can choose the thickness and the color, depending on what look you want the trees to have.
- If you're looking for an easy Christmas craft, look no further. This project is super easy to do, and can be done by anyone who is comfortable using a hot glue gun - even kids! That makes it the perfect craft for a classroom, Church group, or just an afternoon at Grandma's.
Craft Supplies Needed
- Cones - You can use styrofoam cones or make your own paper cones using cardstock or other flexible cardboard. (The box from a case of pop would work well too because it's thin and flexible!)
- Hot Glue Gun and Glue - If you use styrofoam cones as the base for the Christmas trees, be careful with super hot glue guns. If you use a standard-sized glue gun that gets too hot, it can melt the styrofoam. I typically use small glue guns and they don't get quite as hot, so I didn't have as much of a problem with the styrofoam melting.
- Packing Tape - (Optional) - If you are worried about the hot glue melting the styrofoam, you can cover the styrofoam cone in clear packing tape first. This gives the styrofoam a protective layer and prevents it from melting as easily.
- Rope, Jute, Twine, Yarn - Any type of string can be wrapped around a cone to make a Christmas tree!
- Scissors - A craft room staple!
DIY Christmas Trees with Rope, Jute, Twine, and Yarn
Step 1: If you use a styrofoam cone as the foundation of your DIY Christmas tree, you can add a layer of protection by wrapping it with packing tape.
This creates a barrier between the hot glue and the styrofoam, protecting it from melting as easily.
Step 2: Start by hot gluing the beginning of the rope along the bottom edge of the cone.
This is going to be the BACK of the tree.
Put hot glue around the rest of the cone's bottom edge and secure the rope around the whole way.
Step 3: Continue gluing the rope around the cone, from the bottom up.
Step 4: If you run out of rope, glue and trim any excess from the first rope at the same vertical spot where you began gluing the rope.
Then begin gluing the second rope from that same spot. (To the right of where my thumb is in the photo.)
That way, all of the starting and stopping of the rope are on the BACK of the DIY Christmas tree, and the front will be seamless.
Step 5: Continue wrapping and gluing the rope up to the top of the cone.
Step 6: You will have created a hole in the top of the Christmas tree.
To finish the tree, you will insert the end of your rope into this hole, and glue it.
To make this easier, I taped the end of my rope to prevent fraying, because this type of rope frays very easily.
Step 7. Insert the end of the rope down into the hole at the top of the cone, and glue it to secure.
Your DIY rope Christmas tree is done!
Other Versions of DIY Christmas Trees:
You can repeat this same process with different types of rope, string, and twine.
DIY Jute Christmas Tree
Here, we wrapped a styrofoam cone with jute rope.
DIY Twine Christmas Tree
In this version, we used a DIY paper cone made with cardstock and hot glue.
We then used the same process to wrap the paper cone in twine.
DIY Yarn Christmas Tree
Here, we are used another DIY paper cone, and wrapped it in thick gray yarn.
We used the exact same process.
These DIY Christmas Trees are rustic, classy, and just plain cute!
Common Questions
There are two ways to make these trees - with styrofoam cones or with paper cones. You can buy styrofoam cones at dollar stores, craft stores, or online on places like Amazon. If you would rather go the DIY route, you can make your own paper cones using our tutorial!
You can make a Christmas tree using any sized cone you like! You could make tiny trees with the smallest cones or giant trees several feet tall if you can find a cone that big! These cones in the tutorial are about 10"-12" tall. You can also see our mini yarn-wrapped Christmas tree tutorial for smaller versions.
As we showed in this tutorial, you can make these trees using any type of string from rope and thick jute to yarn and twine. We have also made mini trees using medium-weight yarn, and Christmas trees using extra chunky yarn as well!
If you liked this project, we have several other types of DIY Christmas trees for you to try! You can use Mod Podge and old book pages to make a book page Christmas tree, and you can try wrapping cones with fabric to make DIY Fabric Christmas trees!
You can make your own DIY Christmas Trees with just a few simple craft supplies.
By using styrofoam cones or DIY paper cones as a base, and hot gluing string or rope of your choice around the cones, you can quickly and easily make beautiful rustic DIY Christmas trees that are ready to be used on your mantel as part of your Christmas decor!
You can also make mini yarn-wrapped trees, and fabric Christmas trees as well, if you are looking for variations of this project to continue the fun!
More Yarn Crafts You'll Love
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How to Make DIY Christmas Trees with Rope, Jute, Twine, and Yarn
Materials
- Cones Styrofoam cones or you can make your own paper cones.
- Hot Glue Gun and Glue A small glue gun works better if you're using a styrofoam cone because it doesn't get as hot as a standard glue gun, which can melt the styrofoam.
- Packing Tape (Optional) - Can be used to wrap the styrofoam cone to protect it from the heat of the glue gun.
- Rope, Jute, Twine, Yarn
- Scissors
Instructions
- If you use a styrofoam cone as the foundation of your DIY Christmas tree, you can add a layer of protection by wrapping it with packing tape.This creates a barrier between the hot glue and the styrofoam, protecting it from melting as easily.
- Start by hot gluing the beginning of the rope along the bottom edge of the cone.This is going to be the BACK of the tree.Put hot glue around the rest of the cone's bottom edge and secure the rope around the whole way.
- Continue gluing the rope around the cone, from the bottom up.
- If you run out of rope, glue and trim any excess from the first rope at the same vertical spot where you began gluing the rope.Then begin gluing the second rope from that same spot. (To the right of where my thumb is in the photo.)That way, all of the starting and stopping of the rope are on the BACK of the DIY Christmas tree, and the front will be seamless.
- Continue wrapping and gluing the rope up to the top of the cone.
- You will have created a hole in the top of the Christmas tree. To finish the tree, you will insert the end of your rope into this hole, and glue it.To make this easier, I taped the end of my rope to prevent fraying, because this type of rope frays very easily.
- Insert the end of the rope down into the hole at the top of the cone, and glue it to secure.Your DIY rope Christmas tree is done!
Notes
- This process works on any size cone from mini to giant. You can make any sized DIY Christmas tree you want!
- You can try any size string too. We've made them with thick rope, super chunky yarn, medium-weight twine, and thin yarn with success all around!
- Styrofoam cones work well for these trees, as long as the hot glue gun doesn't get too hot. It can easily melt the styrofoam and make big holes and gaps in your trees. Covering the styrofoam tree with packing tape helps somewhat, but using a smaller glue gun that doesn't get as hot is the best way to prevent melting. Otherwise, you can make your own cones using our tutorial!
Susan McConnell
How much cording would you need for 10 inch tree?
Laura
Hi Susan! I don't have a specific answer as it would depend on the thickness of twine you use, but I will say I buy twine in big bulk rolls - both because it usually is cheaper and because I use twine for all kinds of different projects. So if it were me, I'd buy a big spool and you'll have more than enough for as many trees as you want to make!