How to Make Christmas Trees From Paper Towel Tubes

Save your paper towel rolls throughout the year for this holiday tree.

Transform your empty paper towel tubes into a festive paper version of the Christmas tree. Place the trimmed tree that sits on a snow-white plate in your child’s bedroom for a non-breakable decoration during the holidays. Use this craft project as a way to spark the Christmas spirit with a group of children, and then add to the good cheer by giving the Christmas trees to residents of retirement homes, hospital patients and homeless shelters.

Things You'll Need

• Paper towel tube
• White paper plate
• White glue
• Scissors
• Green crepe paper
• 30 to 40 gems and rhinestones
• Yellow construction paper
• Gold glitter

Instructions

1. Attach a paper towel tube upright in the center of a white paper plate using white glue.

2. Cut green crepe paper into one 3-inch circle, 10 14 by 1-inch strips, 10 10 by 1-inch strips, 10 6 by 1-inch strips and 10 2 by 1-inch strips.

3. Place the 3-inch circle of green paper over the top of the toilet paper tube. Press the sides around the tube so the green paper is taut across the top of the tube. Use white glue to attach the sides of the circle.

4. Attach one end of the 14-inch strips around the top of the paper towel tube using white glue. Overlap the strips halfway over each other as you arrange the strips so the ends fall down the sides of the tube.

5. Glue the 10-inch strips around the top of the tube. Place the strips over the top of the longer strips so that when they hang they are four inches shorter to create the first layer of the tree.

6. Add the 6-inch strips around the top of the tube over the 10-inch strips; use white glue. Affix the 2-inch strips in the same way as the other strips so they fall around the tree for the final layer.

7. Trim the tree by gluing 30 to 40 gems or rhinestones randomly over the exposed surface of the strips.

8. Cut a 3-inch star out of a sheet of yellow construction paper. Spread white glue over one side of the star; cover it with gold glitter. Flip the star over and cover the other side with gold glitter. Attach the star to the top of the paper tube using white glue.