Holidays

Sometimes I find that we are doing a lot of “flat” projects – cards, paintings, etc.

And while there are plenty of amazing and fun projects that are flat, it’s can be fun to take things up a notch.

Enter this 3-D paper plate Christmas tree. This Christmas craft is easy to make and you probably already have all the supplies you need.

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Supplies Needed

Paper plate (1 per tree)
Clear tape
Green paint
Glue (either school glue, pva glue, or Tacky Glue)
Multicolored pom poms*

*Note: While I love the look of the pom poms, don’t let a lack of these stop you from doing this project. Stickers, beads, gems, buttons, or sequins also work. Use what you have on hand.

How to Make a Paper Plate Christmas Tree

In order to make the cone shape, you will need to cut a chunk out of your paper plate.

Find the center and cut out a wedge. We cut out an entire quarter of our plate.

Roll the plate into a cone shape and seal with tape.

Since you will be painting the cones, keep all the tape on the inside. I made little rolls of tape and used that to hold down the outer flap down.

If you find you need tape on the outside, wait until your paint is dry before taping it down.

Paint your cone green. While it will work to paint your plate before making the cone, I’ve always found that my girls loved the idea of painting on the cone shape. Sometimes it’s fun to mix things up and paint on a different shaped object.

After the paint dries, glue on all your pom poms. We had a bag full of pom poms and thought they were a fun addition. We also thought our trees looked a lot like party hats!

Special note about the glue: We had great success with regular school glue (pva glue), but if it doesn’t work for you, use Tacky Glue or a low-heat glue gun. 

Have fun decorating and don’t hold tight to the pom pom suggestion. If your kids have another suggestion, let them go for it. It’s all in the process and not the finished product.

When you’re done, find a fun place to display your cute mini paper plate Christmas tree. Our kid-made decorations are some of my favorites.

If you enjoyed this Paper Plate Christmas Tree craft, the above photo is perfect for sharing on Facebook or you can save the photo below on Pinterest.

You May Also Like One of These Christmas Activities

   

Use cinnamon scented paint to make fun Scented Gingerbread Man Ornaments.

Nothing is cuter than these Santa Hat Ornaments hanging on the tree.

String a whole row of sparkly Christmas trees in your window with this Sparkly Christmas Tree Banner.

Try one of these Christmas Paper Plate Crafts over at Crafty Morning.

Or one of these Paper Plate Christmas Crafts for Kids at Growing a Jeweled Rose.

Every year, without fail, we make a few homemade ornaments for our tree. (And some years, we make a lot!)

This year, we added a sweet Gingerbread Man Ornament to the Christmas tree. For a fun twist, we added spices to our paint so that they not only look like gingerbread men, but they smell like them too.

Disclosure: This post contains Amazon Affiliate and other affiliate links. Please see my Disclosure Page for more details. CraftProjectIdeas.com provided some of the materials for this post. All ideas are my own.

Supplies Needed:

Thick cardboard (We used a shipping box)
Gingerbread man cookie cutter (optional)
Brown paint
Cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger
Assorted beads, sequins, buttons, and other baubles
White glue
String

How to make your Christmas Scented Gingerbread Man Ornament

Start by tracing your cookie cutter on your cardboard. If you don’t have a cookie cutter, you can freehand a simple gingerbread man shape or find a simple coloring page to trace.

Cut out your gingerbread man shapes. This is not a very kid-friendly step in the process. My cardboard was thick and my scissors were dull, so I had to get out a box cutter. You may want to prep ahead if you’re planning on making quite a few of these.

Also, do yourself a favor and punch a hole in the top for your string. I didn’t do this until the end and wished I would have done this step earlier.

Mix your brown paint together with a bit of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. About a 1/4 teaspoon of each spice would do the trick. Your paint will be thick and goopy; make it thinner by adding more paint.

Let the kids do the mixing. It’s fun to see it all come together.

Once the paint is mixed, paint the entire surface of the gingerbread man. Try for an even coverage. The goopier it is, the longer it will take to dry. Once the paint dries, you’ll be able to smell the spices without the added paint scent.

Once the paint is dry, it’s time to decorate your gingerbread men.

We had an assortment of beads and buttons. The girls searched and sorted to find the perfect embellishments for their gingerbread men. Use white glue (or hot glue) to add them to the ornaments.

Once the glue is dry, you can add your string and hang them up on the tree.

I just love homemade ornaments and this Gingerbread Man Ornament is the perfect fit for our eclectic tree.

You may also like one of these Christmas crafts:

Stained Glass Star Suncatcher

Santa Hat Ornament

Gingerbread Man Paper Doll Decorations

Gingerbread Clay Recipe for Ornaments