Beaded Christmas Tree

Repurpose cast off mardi gras beads to make unique Christmas tree decor.

Wondering what to do with that giant pile of Mardi Gras beads? This is the perfect project to use them up.

Supplies:

Mardi Gras beads – lots
Styrofoam cone
Craft paint and brush
Hot Glue
Clear glass votive holder
pom pom or tinsel for topper

The first thing you want to do is to give the base cone a neutral color since the white will show through the beads too easily. I am using a muted grayish lavender. You can use gray or any color that is not too bright and matches your beads.

Apply a thick coat of paint to your base cone and let it dry thoroughly.

Using your hot glue begin to add your beads around the bottom of the cone and trim off any excess beads. Layer the colors however you like.

Continue to glue the beads on your cone layering in colors as you see fit. Note – if a strand or two don’t look right you can always pull them off and redo them!

Keep adding your beads to until you cover the whole cone.

Choose a pompom for the top and a paint color for the base.

Add your pompom or tinsel to the top of your tree.

As always when working with hot glue be careful not to burn yourself.

Once your cone is covered add some paint to the inside of the glass votive candle holder. Swirl the paint around to cover the inside and let it dry.

Add a lot of hot glue to the bottom of your votive holder.

Position your votive on the bottom of your beaded tree.

Gently slide it so it is in the center of the bottom of the cone.

I like to arrange my trees as singles or in groups of three.