Savannah Smiles: Smith & Daphne guest post

We have the lovely Kristen here from {Smith & Daphne} giving us a tree topper (That will blow your mind!) tutorial.

She is a "for real" friend too, and she is amazingly talented, she always wear these beautiful handmade dresses to church, and I have to remind myself I am at church and to not covet them.

Here's the catch...the final step is on her blog so be sure to check that out at the end!

{---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------}

Although my husband and I have been married for 6 years, last year was the first year we had a tree since we were always out of state for Christmas. I pulled together a few ornaments and lights, but there was no tree topper... This year? I made one.

I started folding paper and ended up making several round layers, each created differently. This isn't difficult to make, but it can be a little time-consuming. You can make this much simpler by just choosing one folded circle, or mixing them differently... it's easy to customize. My tree topper has 3 main layers, but technically there are about 9 in there if you count everything - so feel free to leave any of those out! I'll explain the first two now. This is my final product:

{ok, Savannah here: Isn't it great?!}

Well start from the inside and work out...

The first layer is made with an accordion fold, back and forth like you're making a fan. The difference is that you make every other fold on a diagonal. This turns it into a flattened out circle and lets the back peek through a little bit at the top.

Cut out two 4" strips of paper. Start with one and on the back, I marked every half-inch along the top and every 1-1/2 inches along the bottom.

Now, with the half-inch marks on the left, fold the top at the first mark. It should fold towards the front. Now you're going to match up the next 1/2 inch mark with the first 1-1/2 inch mark on the right. It will be diagonal and fold towards the back. It was easier for me to fold it towards the front so I could see the marks and then fold it backwards along that crease, but I also used a thin piece of cardboard to fold the paper over by lining it up with the marks. Keep folding it until you get to the end. Then, smooth it all out and cut the paper in half so you have two 2-inch wide strips.

After you cut in half refold each strip

I needed at least 4 thin strips to make a full circle - you'll have to play around a bit with lining each one up to make them look continuous, cutting off the ends as needed. I taped them all together on the back; you may want to use some tape (double-sided if you have it) in between the folds - you'll see where it might need to be held together. The center may not look pretty, but that's why I have a glittery circle on top.

The next layer was just a very basic accordion fold in green paper. I used 3-inch strips of paper for this, and taped the ends together until I had enough to make a circle. Then I glued it to a circle of thin cardboard - use something like a cereal box. The paper wanted to un-fold itself and flatten out, so I used paperclips to hold it together here and there toward the center; otherwise, it can be really hard to make it stay circular. I used a glue gun for all of this, but if you're really particular you may want to use regular white glue. My green circle isn't quite even, and the glue dried so quickly I couldn't really change that. It doesn't bother me, but it's something to consider.

{-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------}

Ok...Kristen has left us on a cliff hanger.....

To see the rest of the DIY Tree Topper...go

{HERE}