DIY Sparkling Holly Tree Centerpiece

                          

Capture the beauty of the holidays with this sparkling holly tree centerpiece! And the fun part about this adorable handcrafted see thru  holly tree is that it lights up to enhance the sparkly hollies! How cool does that sound!

Welcome to this months' Creative Craft Hop hosted by Sara @Birdz of a Feather!

If you're coming over from Donna's @Modern on Monticello, wasn't her beaded Christmas Tree Garland adorable!

You've heard the old Christmas saying - "deck the halls with boughs of holly." Holly leaves and berries at Christmas time has always created a festive touch to any decor! But like everything these days, variations are created. I've always loved the design of hollies and wanted to use it in my Creative Craft project for this month. I hope you enjoy how I made a sparkling holly tree centerpiece!

Materials:

• Clear Plastic Cone Tree (15")
• Holly templates/
• Clear Stencil Sheets
• Chipboard sheet
• Rhinestone Mesh Ribbon
• Fabri-Tac Fabric glue
• Gorilla Super Glue with brush
• Twinkle lights

I started with a simple dreamy look using a clear plastic cone tree. Something I've had in my stash since ACMoore closed several years ago. Back then, it was labeled a "doll body" I believe for fifty cents or a dollar. They seem to be hard to find now or available at a ridiculous high price!

Next, I found a holly leaf template online that I copied, pasted in Word and printed out - one 4" long and the other 3.5" long and slightly thinner for the top. Then I cut them out on chipboard (heavy duty cardboard) so that they would stay intact while cutting the hollies out on the transparent sheets. 

                                             

At first I thought it would be easier to draw the hollies on the plastic sheets and then cut them out, but after drawing them using a magic marker and then a chalk marker and making a mess on the plastic, I decided it would be much easier to cut the clear sheets in strips and place the template on top and cut them out. Things went much quicker doing it that way.

Once the hollies were cut out, it was time to add the faux rhinestone mesh. That is, after I cut the mesh in strips. Once the strips were cut out, the next step was to measure the strip along the edges of the holly and cut out. Then add glue to the back and apply it to the edge of the plastic leaf - holding in place for several seconds until set.

                                                                         

Continue measuring each holly edge shape with the rhinestone mesh strip, cutting it and  .  .  .    

gluing in place until  .  .  .

all edges are covered.

Then, glue on a rhinestone strip in the middle .  .  . 

leaving a space on the end as a decorative effect for the holly leaf.

Then make lots more. You can imagine that this is a very tedious project. I turned on my music and made nearly fifty hollies.

Starting at the bottom with a bit of overhang on the cone, I used brush-on Gorilla Super glue that's made for clear plastics and has a quick hold of around 45 seconds to attach the hollies. No way can you use a glue that takes time to set up and I was wary of hot glue melting the plastic. 

Gluing on ten hollies for the first row.

Beginning of the second row - overlapping where two hollies meet.

Gluing on ten hollies for the second row.

Adding the third row of 10 hollies.

Fourth row of six hollies.

Fifth row of four and  .   .   .

finally added four, 3.5" hollies to the top. One in front and one in back, and one on each side for a total of forty four hollies.

How cool is this to have the bottom hollies flair out. 

It really does make for a beautiful and unique centerpiece.

Since this creation is more wintry because of the sparking stone mesh edging on clear plastic hollies and not overly Christmasy, you can use it well beyond the holidays! It makes for a striking centerpiece in your decor!

And for a bit of extra sparkle at night, add LED twinkle lights!

I hope you enjoyed how I made this sparkling holly tree centerpiece. Up next is Cecilia @My Thrift Store Addiction sharing her fabulous Mini Wreaths Napkin Rings. 

Be sure to visit all of the wonderful projects listed below for more inspiration!  

DIY Retro Beaded Christmas Tree Garland  

DIY Sparkling Holly Tree Centerpiece

Repurposed Napkin Ring Mini Wreaths

Holiday Napkin Rings

Fairy Light Pom Pom Wreath

Aluminum Can Art

DIY Christmas Memory Ornament

Leaf Shaped Dinner Roll Idea