A Charlie Brown Christmas Inspired Christmas Tree Craft Ideas

Watching the Charlie Brown Christmas Special together is one our favorite family traditions. After our second viewing this Christmas season, my daughter was struck with an idea for a Christmas tree craft.

Remember the modern, metal trees in the tree lot when Charlie Brown goes searching for the perfect Christmas tree? The trees that looked "modern" in 1965 still look modern today. All of the tree lot trees, with the exception of the only live Christmas tree, the pitiful, tri-branched pine that Charlie Brown chose, were cone-shaped and every color but green. There were purple trees, pink trees, red trees and blue trees.

"Could we make some of those flashy Christmas trees?" my daughter asked.

Sure we could. We all like the idea of the colorful trees but we quickly decided that we could make them from paper this time rather than metal.

The Charlie Brown Christmas Special inspired Christmas tree crafts:
-Took less than five minutes apiece to make.

-Were created completely from on-hand household supplies and recycled materials.

-Were a no-mess, easy clean up Christmas craft.

-Are cute Christmas decorations that can be used in a variety of ways.

Materials:
Scraps of paper (scrap booking paper, newsprint magazine paper, gift wrap)
Clear tape
Scissors
Curly ribbons

Steps:
We used a variety of paper for our colorful Christmas trees from the freebie type newsprint magazines, scraps of scrap booking paper and even scraps of gift wrap. (No I haven't bought gift wrap in years but a charity "for the birds" sends me some samples every year.)

To create the cone-shaped trees, simply roll over the corner and keep rolling, keeping the point at the top sharp. Use clear tape underneath to secure the outer edge. Trim the bottom of the tree straight so it will stand up straight.

Now here's a trick if you'd like to make many more. Don't tape the first one. Unfold it and you'll notice that it is basically a rectangle with one curved side where you have trimmed the bottom. Place it over you other paper and trim them so that once you roll them they are all set.

These Christmas tree crafts were fun, easy and fast to make. We liked the look, but they looked like they needed a little something on top. In walked my husband, bringing a gift someone had sent to the children with a big sprawl of curly, silver ribbons on top. It was perfect. We added little slivers to the top of each tree and threw others around the base give our tree lot a frosty look.

How are we are using the Charlie Brown Christmas tree lot inspired Christmas tree crafts?

Christmas decorations:
Our first trio of paper Christmas trees were incorporated into a background for two lone Christmas caroler figurines. We soon found that making these colorful, conical Christmas trees was addictive.

DIY place card holders:
With a Christmas dinner party coming up with 12 guests, we decided that we could use the trees as place card holders for our table settings. Instead of the curly metallic ribbons adorning the top of the tree, we used thin slivers of paper, cascading down with the guests name written in silver marker. These DIY place card holders were creative, attractive, fun to make and super cheap.

Even though these Christmas tree crafts are made from paper, we have found that we can stack them to store and use again in the future.