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A "HOW TO"
Christmas Tree...it's about that time of year again,
The dollar store holiday trees are great, but they are a bit big and sparse to look in scale with our dolls.
Vickie and Joe chose a simple color scheme to go in their condo, and this white tree is perfect for their mid-century vibe furniture!
Let's See how to make a tree
perfectly in scale for your dolls.
Opal is a 11 1/2" Barbie...and well the branches are big and open..and it's so wide, will it fit in the house?
These trees come in a variety of colors, if your local store has them in stock. I tried to do a video of this for a Halloween tree....but holding a camera, talking and doing a demo are too hard for my old hands and brain, apparently. So back to photos and text.
Here is the tree viewed from the top down...it is almost 11" across. Most doll spaces are only 12" deep in Mattel houses, maybe a bit more in homemade displays. This tree would take up more than half the space or depth in a house or display.
On the right is a second tree I have trimmed. This is an easy project, you need a clippers, a ruler, a low-melt glue gun and glue sticks. Now to make it beautiful and ~!FULL!~
Assemble your tree. Pull down the branches straight out, going around in a circle one branch at a time. Once that is done from bottom to top, you are ready to trim.
On the bottom row, clip the branch about 3" off. This doesn't have to be exact, but it helps to be close.
Keep your branch clippings in a separate pile for each level of the tree.
The second tier up, clip 2 to 2 1/2" off, and place these in a second pile.
The third tier, just clip 1 1/2 to 2" off, and place in another pile.
The top tiers, clip 1 1/2" and put in the fourth pile. The tippy-top branch cut in half and put with the first pile.
Now you are ready to make your tree full and fluffy. Each branch will have a flatter side. Starting with your first pile and the bottom pieces, place a big squeeze of glue on the flat side at the bottom of the cutting--
You can see, this is a good gob of glue.
Turn it over, glue side down and place the hot cutting half way inside the bottom branch at a 45 degree angle and hold pressing down. Watch your fingers, though cool melt will cool off quickly.
Turning the tree, apply all cuttings the same way....here is the tree before adjusting the branches all the glued on branches. Adjust by moving the alternate branches up and down by going around in a circle, push down, pull up...go on to next level and do the same.
Opal standing in front of her full fluffy tree, that now measures 7-8" across, a good scale and ready to decorate!
Opal: Don't forget to put your lights on first...this is so classy now! And, this gorgeous tree will actually fit in our condo!
Special NOTE: Do not store anything made with hot glue in an attic or garage...the temps will be too high, and you end up with everything a mess.
Tools and supplies needed:
Dollar store tree
Wire clippers
Cool-melt glue gun
Ruler
Please Share your dolly holiday DIY's in the comments, links are fine if they aren't advertising!
This is an updated repost and was previously published in 2021.
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