DIY Faux Sweater Trees

Have you seen those adorable sweater trees floating around the blogosphere? I have and I adore them. The only problem is that I love all of my sweaters too much to cut them up. Oh, and our local thrift stores are closed on the weekend so no snagging them on my time off either. Instead, I came up with a nice fake option, but I'm fancy and I'll call them faux instead. These "sweater" trees are sweet sixteen of The 25 Projects of Christmas.

These are super easy and involve a technique that you probably mastered in day camp -- Finger Knitting.
Don't remember finger knitting? Check out the tutorial by Flax & Twine; Anne and her kids will walk you through it step by step. 

Once you've created a chain, you're ready to get started. My 5 3/8 inch tree needed a 3.5 foot chain.

MATERIALS

Chunky yarn - finger knitted into a chain

Styrofoam cone

3 dressmakers' pins

1 yarn star (easy tutorial from Live.Laugh.Rowe if you need it)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Pull your chain tight and stick a pin through a few layers of yarn at the end

2. Insert the pin into the base of your styrofoam cone

3. Begin wrapping the chain around the cone. The texture of the styrofoam keeps the fluffy yarn in place with no glue needed!

4. Keep wrapping!

6. Once you get to the tippy top of the cone, stick a pin through the tail end of the chain and insert it into the styrofoam.

7. Now take your yarn star and use another pin to attach it to the top of your tree.

I hate to love something so much but these turned out so stinking cute! I decided to use a much chunkier yarn for the middle sized tree (which required about 7 yards of chain) and I think it looks so full and luscious! I topped that tree with an oversized satin bow.

For the large tree, I decided to go an alternate route and covered the form with surplus batting. To spruce it up a bit, I used red, white and green pearl pins as ornaments.

I tucked all three of them into our bay window in the living room and I love the warmth they add to that little vignette. You also get a sneak peak of the pinecone project I mentioned yesterday: new curtain ties! Even the Mr. gave me his stamp of approval!

And guess what! After the season is over, you can salvage the form underneath as there are only pins holding everything in place. This might sound silly but I spent almost $20 on those cones (with a coupon!) and they're only going to be out for a little over two weeks. That's a bit of a waste if you ask me. Who knows what next year's tree fad will have in store for me but at least I'll be prepared!

If you liked this project, I'd be delighted if you'd consider following Spool and Spoon via email or through Google Friend Connect; there are plenty of other simple tutorials and mouth-watering recipes for you to discover! Also, did you know Spool and Spoon has a Facebook? Hop on over so you don't miss any of the fun. 

I'm linking to:

DIY Showoff | S3 | Classy Clutter | A Little Tipsy | I Heart Nap Time | Mine for the Making | Flamingo Toes | Craftomaniac | Shabby Creek Cottage | Somewhat Simple | My Simple Home Life | My Girlish Whims | Stone Gable | Young and Crafty | Nifty Thrifty Things