How to Make a Tinsel Ribbon Christmas Tree Table Decoration

One of the hottest trends for Christmas is a return to the tinsel trees that were so popular in the '60s and early '70s. However, instead of resorting to full-blown aluminum trees, many are opting for smaller tinsel tree tabletop decorations. Create your own tinsel tree decoration out of metallic ribbon.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Metallic ribbon Ribbon shredder Floral wire Wire cutters Styrofoam tree frame Spray paint

1. Decide on the size and color of tinsel tree tabletop decoration you want. Most range between 10 and 20 inches.

2. Purchase the supplies needed if they are not already on hand. Depending upon the width of the metallic ribbon chosen and the size of the tree, it will take between 15 and 30 yards of ribbon.

3. Cut floral wire into lengths about 3 inches. You can go longer if you want since the wire can be trimmed at any point. However, it is not recommended to go shorter than 3 inches

4. Paint the Styrofoam tree frame the same color as the metallic ribbon. Use a type of paint that is safe for use on Styrofoam.

5. Cut the ribbon into 4- to 6-inch strips. Four-inch strips are best for tinsel trees that are 10 to 12 inches in height. Six-inch strips work better for tinsel trees that measure between 13 and 20 inches in height.

6. Beginning about ¾ inch above one end of the ribbon strip, run the ribbon through a hand held ribbon shredder, stopping about ¾ inch from the other end of the strip of ribbon. You can choose to use coarse shredding, fine shredding, or a combination of both to make the tinsel pompoms for the tree. If you aren't sure which you prefer to use, make a pompom of each type and try it on the tree to see which "look" you prefer.

7. Fold each shredded ribbon strip in half, gather the ends, and secure in place with the short pieces of floral wire that were cut in Step 3. Fluff out the pompom. Trim any excess wire length off before putting the pompom into the tree frame.

8. Push the pompoms into the Styrofoam tree frame. Start at the bottom and put the pompoms close together so that no Styrofoam shows in between. If you don't have enough pompoms to complete the tree, go back and make more, repeating Steps 5 and 6 until the tree is complete.

9. Decorate the tree with miniature Christmas ornaments if desired. Wire the ornaments and push the wire into the frame or glue the ornaments into place.

10. Add a star or other ornament to the top of the tree, if desired.

Tips & Warnings

• Metallic ribbons routinely come in gold, silver, pewter, copper, bronze, red and green. Larger trees tend to look better with coarsely shredded pompoms while smaller ones look better with finely shredded ones. If you cannot perfectly match the spray paint to the ribbon color, choose the shade closest to that color. Floral wire needs to have some flexibility but must be stiff enough to push easily into the tree frame.
• Take care working with wire as it can easily puncture the skin. Paint in a well ventilated area.

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