Kraft Paper Tree

Happy November! Don’t you just love November? It’s a warm and cozy month that we spend preparing for and enjoying the holiday season. Yesterday was my birthday so I took the day off blogging to celebrate at dinner with my hubs, but also to recover from 31 Days of Pumpkins. Well, it wasn’t that strenuous. It was quite fun really, I’ll elaborate more in a future post on what it’s like to blog for 31 days straight.

Today I want to show you a fall decoration I made for the front foyer. Last year we made a bulletin board out of homasote, which is an insulation material but it is frequently used for bulletin boards because you can stick things into it easily.

We made the board specifically so we could change things up, which I do pretty much each season.  This year I had the idea to make a tree on it. I was quite inspired by The Nester’s book decorating party, she made some vines from kraft paper {check out # 16} and I thought, hmmm, I can make a tree on our bulletin board like that.

We actually had a roll of kraft paper up in the stores everything attic. Where my pile of items to donate is growing large. Might need to hold a yard sale in the spring.

We also added to the bulletin board the Fanaholm picture light from Ikea. I’ve always loved the look of their lighting and thought this was the prefect spot to add one, especially since we have an outlet right below the bulletin board. Perhaps I can figure out how to hide the cord more?

The leaves are from the dollar store. They have all shapes and colors and come 12 in a pack. So this entire tree cost me around $4.

I had a really fun time making this and putting the leaves on, it was a creative process. The “branches” are just rolled up pieces of kraft paper which you can get at craft or home improvement stores, check the paint section. Tear some off, there’s not more specific directions than that, and then roll it up, squeezing and crinkling it as you go. I attached it with thumbtacks within each “branch” or roll.

I love it so much I might leave it for a while. Maybe I should take some leaves off like the real trees outside? You should see the maple tree in our front yard. It’s dropping more leaves than there are people in Manhattan. Raking is our every other day hobby 🙂

What do you think of the tree? Ever make something our of kraft paper?

P.S. The holiday issue of House of Fifty is out, have you seen it?

Sharing With Hookin Up with House of Hempworths , Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now, The DIY Showoff Fall Festival, Tutorials and Tips Tuesday at Home Stories A 2 Z, Thanksgiving/Fall Project at The CSI Project