We have another awesome crafting project for you and the family! This yarn craft project gets your creative juices flowing, and you will score some awesome handmade home decor! I completed this tree-scrape using three products from Darn Good Yarn. Take it slow, finish one step at a time, relax and just enjoy the process!
Designed by: Harshini Fernando
Materials needed
- Recycled Silk Yarn “Lux Adventure” - Irish Hills (1 skein)
- Sparkle CollectionLace Weight Silk Yarn - White (1 skein)
- 3 - Ply Nettle (1 skein)
- Burlap 11” W x 14” L piece
- Watercolor Thick Paper 9” W x 12” L - (Preferably Hot Pressed 100% Cotton)
- Light Blue Acrylic Paint
- Metallic Pearl White acrylic Paint in Gloss
- Silver Glitter Glue
- Paint Palette
- Wide Flat Paint Brush
- Flat Coarse Bristle Paint Brush
- Cardboard Piece - 1.5’ W x 2.5” L
- Fork
- Clear Multipurpose Glue
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Hole Puncher
- Scissors
Step 1: Create a 1 inch border from all 4 edges of the Watercolor paper
Step 2: Painting the background
- Apply the light blue paint on the inner rectangle. Can use a little bit of water if the paint is thick.
- Apply Metallic Pearl White paint on top of the Blue paint. Mixing these 2 shades gives a nice sky blue color. *Let it dry for a couple of minutes before painting the borders so colors wouldn’t mix.
- Paint all 4 borders with Metallic pearl White paint. Let it dry completely. It will take only a few minutes.
- Apply Silver Glitter Glue smoothly on top, cover the entire surface of the paper, including all 4 borders by spreading Glitter glue quite well using a flat coarse bristled brush. Let it dry and apply one more time repeating the same instructions. Let it dry completely.
Step 3: Making three spruce tree trunks
- Using 3 - Ply Nettle, cut seven 4 inch pieces for the short tree and ten 3 inch pieces for the two tall trees. All 3 sections are shown on the image
- Set the nettle strings that measure 4 inches for the taller 2 trees near the corners. Keep around 1¼” from the 2 sides & 1½” from the bottom side. Use 5 pieces of strings per tree.
- Glue the 7 pieces of Nettle that measures 3 inches for the short tree trunk, keep about 2” away from the trunk on the Right side & 1” from the marked bottom marked line. Apply Glue using the brush on the paper and also all over the nettle strings as well. It would glue the paper better. Let it dry.
* Try to shape it like a tree trunk using fingers and press to keep them in place. It’s better to see the background popping through the strings, it highlights the tree trunks.
Step 4: Making pom-poms for the spruce tree branches
- Upper 2 Images - With Irish Hills Yarn, wrap 5 times around the cardboard, take them out secure them with 2 knots. Repeat and make 1 more. Wrap 5 times around the fork make a smaller pom-pom, repeat and make 8.
- Lower 2 images - With Sparkle White Yarn, using only the cardboard piece wrap 30 times around and make a pom-pom. Repeat this 2 more times. Now wrap 60 times around the cardboard piece to make 1 bigger sized Pom Pom. Trim the pom-pom just a little maintaining the spiky look.
Step 5: Assembling the spruce trees
- For the short green tree in the middle - glue the big 2 green pom-poms to each side of the tree, repeat this for the second section with 2 small sized ones and add 1 small pom-pom at the top of the tree.
- For the tall green tree at the right corner - Start with 2 small pom-poms, repeat the same pattern towards tree top, only with small sized pom-poms this time.
- For the tree at the left corner - start with the 2 thin white pom-poms and add 1 thick pom pom in the middle. Then add only 1 thin to the top of the tree.
Step 6: Making the heap of snow with sparkle white yarn
- Double the yarn like a loop as shown on the left corner image, cut 12 pieces of Yarn about 15” in length. Basically cutting 2 pieces at once. * Having an extra length will make it easier to manage yarn.
- As shown on the right corner image, shape the yarn into a small heap of snow, slightly over the tree trunks and glue 2 pieces at a time, repeating the same glueing method by using the brush until you cover the bottom section of the picture. It’s better if the background color is seen through the yarn.
- Cut the excess threads with scissors from each corner
Step 7: Adding a border and preparing for hanging
- Cut two 7 ½” and two 10¾” Nettle pieces. Repeating the same glueing method, glue two pieces of string that measures 7 ½” to left and right sides along the marked border and glue the 2 of 10” string pieces to the top and bottom borders.
- Punch a hole on the left and the right corners.
* Leave a little bit of string popping over the marked inner 4 borders.
Step 8: Adding silver glitter glue
- Add streaks of silver glitter on the branches of all 3 trees to resemble snow. Can use the brush to paint on and smooth the glitter but only for the White tree.
- Add glitter to the bottom section under the trees where the “ heap of snow” is. Use the brush if needed to smooth the Glitter.
Step 9: Adding a backing and frame
- Cut a piece of burlap that measures 11” in width and 14" in length. Keep 1” border around all 4 edges. Inner rectangle measures 9” W x 12” L, which is the measurement of the Watercolor Paper.
- Apply glue on the inner section.
* Keep a plastic sheet or cover under the burlap before applying glue.
Step 10: Adding the hanging strings
- Glue the picture onto the burlap and smooth out as much as you can.
- Before it gets too dry, poke through the punched hole on the paper and into the burlap with a pencil and make room to pass the string. As shown on the top Image.
- Cut two 15” Nettle strings, pass each string through 2 holes at the corners. Secure with 2 knots as shown on the bottom image
To finish, grab the two hanging strings and secure with two knots, cut off the excess strings. To keep it polished you can brush all 4 edges of the burlap borders with a thin layer of glue to stop fraying threads any further. * try it on a different piece of burlap just to make sure how it looks when it dries.
Hang any place you can enjoy!
Designed by: Harshini Fernando