DIY Steampunk Cone Trees

I've seen a bunch of DIY cone trees on various crafting blogs, covered with everything from feathers to pine cones, so I decided to try some out myself! Of course, mine would have to have a steampunk twist:

These cone trees have limitless decorating possibilities, are easy to make, and make gorgeous centerpieces when grouped together. They're also cheap, since odds are you already have everything you need to make them. (The only thing I purchased for these were the rhinestone decals, so all three only cost me $8 to make.)

I hear craft stores actually sell plain cones, but they're simple enough to DIY from old cereal boxes:

Just twist 'til you like the shape, tape the edge down with strong packing tape, and then trim the bottom to make it level. (That part's the hardest - most of my trees sit a little wonky.)

I made four cones from two cereal boxes, and half accidentally ended up with a nicely graduated set of three:

I initially planned to paint them, but quickly realized that wrapping paper is smoother, easier, and shinier. I wrapped the largest cone in a swirly metallic paper with lots of golds and silvers in it, and then proceeded to layer on those thin metal gears I love so much:

My friend (& now fellow CW writer!) Sharyn makes these gears for me using Spellbinders Gear Dies. They're thin, lightweight metal, and bend easily. It took FOREVER to glue them on the cone, though; the superglue kept letting go, and the E-6000 takes a long time to dry. Eventually John suggested I use blue tape to hold the gears in place while the glue dried, which was a real sanity-saver.

My little tree toppers are 3D stickers from the drool-worthy Jolee's Boutique steampunk line:

 

I've been saving this one pack for half a year now, waiting for the right project to showcase them properly. I seriously, SERIOUSLY love these stickers. I hope they never stop making them!

I curled thin brass wire around a chopstick to make curly sprigs to set behind the owl:

And for a final touch, I hung a vintage key on the front of the cone using two straight pins:

 All the metal and foil paper really gleams in low light, and doesn't it look perfect with the owl?

Next up, I dug through my fabric scraps and found a square of raw silk that was *just* large enough to cover my smallest cone:

(Note Jabba the Cat [aka Tonks] back there. My craft table = the cats' daytime bed.)

I used spray adhesive to attach the fabric, which I highly recommend. No mess, no bumps or dark spots on the fabric, *and* it's easy to peel the fabric off and re-position it if you get a wrinkle. Great stuff.

Last Christmas my dad, who repairs antique clocks and watches for fun, gave me a small box of rusty old pocket watch guts. (I KNOW. I was jumping up and down with glee!) I've yet to do anything fun with them, though, so I decided to showcase one on the cone:

Most of the rust dust wiped off with a damp cloth, so the face is shiny white again now.

I added several more curled wire sprigs all around the watch face, taping them down in the back, and then rigged a wire hanger with even more packing tape. (It isn't pretty back there, trust me.) Another sewing pin acted as a nail to hang the whole shebang up:

And for my final tree, I first covered it in several layers of shiny chrome wrapping paper. (The foil paper is so thin that I had to roll it several times to get a non-crinkly layer.)

After staring at it for a while, I headed off to Micheal's for some inspiration. There I found some lovely - albeit expensive - rhinestone decals:

They're $4 a pack, so that's a dollar a sticker. Like I said: pricey. They're reeeally hard to apply, too, because the swirls flop all over the place once you peel them up, and then they stretch and move while you're sticking them down, and occasionally a stone will pop off if you flex it too much. Urg.

Still, the topaz gems on the shiny silver gives the tree a really glamorous look, like old jewelry:

 

To make the swirl design I started with two full stickers in the middle, and then worked out from the center, cutting the stickers to make different shapes as needed. I think I used six stickers for this design, so at least I have two left over for later use. (Also note that you could easily do this with nail gems or other stick-on stones; just free hand your swirls, or stick the gems on randomly.)

Oh, and I also replaced the owls' blue gem eyes with smaller gold ones, to match.

And there you have it! The cones are on our front buffet, which isn't quite finished yet, but here's a crummy photo to give you the general idea:

 I'm off to finish the greenery swags next to the picture now, so I should have better pics soon.

And now, your moment of Pin:

 PIN ME!

Hey, since I keep finding so many holiday craft ideas on Pinterest, it only seems fair to send mine out into the mix, too, right? ;)

Hope you guys enjoyed, and that the holiday madness hasn't taken too many of you just yet. (I find eggnog helps. Lots...and lots...of eggnog. *hic*)