I know Halloween is this weekend, but when I got Eileen Hull's new Flowers 3-D #2 die and saw the part that makes a section of what looks like fringe to me, I thought of Christmas trees! And since Sizzix dies cut recycled wool felted sweaters like a dream, and being the author of Sweater Surgery: How to Make New Things with Old Sweaters, you know what's coming...these cute as can be recycled wool felted sweater Christmas trees!
Here is how I made my recycled sweater Christmas trees:
I started by cutting scraps of the recycled wool felted sweaters and getting all different shades of fringe sections. I had some cardboard cones already made in prep for this holiday season of Christmas tree making as I always make a few new ones each year. These cones were a bit too big and I knew I wanted to make 3 trees (as 3 is the minimum for a collection).
So off to the recycle bin, and I happened to have a cereal box, and a folder of some promotional material came in so I just rolled them into 3 cones of varying sizes. I recommend the color of your cardboard cone be similar to the shades of your fringe so if some peeks through it will blend.
I decided each tree would be a bit of a different collection of shades of sweaters, light, medium and dark.
I started at the bottom and hot glued each row of the die cut fringe.
All that was left to do was whip up a few pom poms to top them off. I did this using two different yarns and just wrapped around my fingers a bunch of times. Then I tied the loops around the center and cut the loops open.
If you want to see what else this fabulous die cut will make, use the Sizzix button on the top right side column to hop to a whole bunch more blogs to see what my fellow designers have created with Flowers 3-D #2 die cut.
Want to WIN a Flowers 3-D #2 Die? Pop on over to the blog Oh My Crafts and enter!
If you need more recycled sweater projects, might I recommend:
How to Make New Things with Old Sweaters
by
Contemporary crafters are thriving on personalizing, modifying, and altering fashion, and as a way to take a greener approach to their creative lifestyle. This book shows you how to upcycle all your slightly worn, slightly damaged, or out-of-style sweaters into fabulous new items for your wardrobe and your home. Readers learn how to choose, cut, restitch, felt, and embellish old sweater fabric, transforming it into beautiful handbags, mittens, scarves, hats, hoodies, skirts, jewelry, soft toys, pillows, and more! You'll find complete instructions for 27 projects, plus a huge gallery of exciting ideas for further inspiration.
Stefanie Girard (Los Angeles, CA) has a degree in industrial design from Pratt Institute and worked as a set decorator and prop master for 10 years in the entertainment industry. She has produced, written scripts, and edited Web content for television shows and has been covering these creative topics for HGTV, DIY Network, and Lifetime TV. Check out more recycled sweater projects at www.sweatersurgery.blogspot.com.
Whoa! How Fun and Creative!
Great Holiday project :)
Hugs and Blessings,
KimberlyRae
Posted by: KimberlyRae | October 26, 2011 at 10:40 PM
Wow! you're idea is simply brilliant. The trees are not only pretty, festive and easy to make, they are also environmentaly friendly! I love this idea!
Posted by: Einat Kessler | October 26, 2011 at 11:19 PM
Okay, I am surprised at how cute the trees turned out. I am going to try them!
Posted by: Maggie Barnett | October 27, 2011 at 05:03 AM
How cool is this never would have thought of that. great job. thanks for sharing and for the chance to win.
www.anita-craft-corner.blogspot.com
Posted by: Anita Braddock | October 27, 2011 at 06:56 AM
Wow! I love the trees and especially the little deer peeking out from behind them. Thanks for sharing :0
Posted by: Marci Ellsworth | October 27, 2011 at 07:18 AM
This is a great idea. Love recycling things. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Johanne L. | October 27, 2011 at 07:32 AM
Oh Stef- you have outdone your self! These trees are so great and love that you recycled the cereal boxes to make them. Where do you get all these sweaters? Love this idea :-) Thanks for working with my die!
Posted by: eileen hull | October 27, 2011 at 07:51 AM
Darling! Off to Goodwill to see what wooly goodness I can find!
Posted by: Lisa | October 27, 2011 at 09:03 AM
Fun Fun for years to come. I never use the same decorations from year to year, so I love your idea of making something new each Year and rotating. And trees are always in. Lol
Posted by: Paulette S in MO | October 27, 2011 at 06:51 PM
Your idea really has my head spinning. Such an inspiration, thank you!
Posted by: Jonathan | October 28, 2011 at 04:00 PM
Brilliant! I love, love your fringed cones!
Posted by: Sharon | November 02, 2011 at 11:07 AM
The perfect combination of great art and passion are seen on this post.Very creative and nice to know that there are people who are really into artistic designs.
Posted by: HP Print Cartridge | November 05, 2011 at 12:04 PM
The way people learn and enjoy and retain knowledge is with a tactile object. So many people are visual that when they remember a favorite story or a favorite moment, they can actually picture that page, that picture, the feel of the paper, the font— it's a piece of art. Books are a piece of art and they're never going away. They're always going to be amazing gifts and amazing friends. They are so great to share and reuse. http://youtu.be/cY3qY3kCwZo
Posted by: alex | December 26, 2011 at 10:27 AM