Sound Wave Wood Art

Snowflake Trees 

I am always looking for new ideas for crafts and it seems like this (2018) has been the year of the tree.  I have made wooden slat trees, twig trees, fleece trees and yarn trees just to mention a few.  My friends and relatives know that I am always up for a new project and my sister-in-law recently shared an idea for a snowflake tree that she saw in a gift show in Lincoln.  She shared a photo of the tree along with a "I'll bet you could make one of these...." and the challenge was on.

My first discovery, after spending over an hour with my Cricut trying to cut snowflakes, was that the weight of the paper is very important. (I have an older model Cricut Expression) I finally settled on Southworth parchment paper (24lb) that I purchased at Walmart. I tried using printer paper, the pages of a book (I'm still trying to get this to work because I think it would be a great gift for teachers & readers) and some other paper I had on hand but settled on the parchment paper because it cut pretty well without tearing.  Below are the materials I used and the steps I followed.  Enjoy!

Materials I Gathered Before Starting:

• Paper:  Southworth parchment paper (24lb) that I had on hand from a Walmart purchase
• Cricut or Scissors:  for cutting out snowflakes--much faster with a Cricut!



Pattern available at this site

• Wood base: Wood rounds from branches,  or lumber squares to use as a wooden base.
• Stick or Dowel:  Use a stick or dowel as a tree trunk for your project
• Drill with a small and large bits:  I use the large bit to drill the hole in the wooden base for the dowel/stick and the smaller bit to drill a hole in the dowel or stick to insert the wire that will hold the snowflakes.
• Wood Glue:  Used to glue the stick/dowel to the base
• Clear, Pearl Beads or White Perler Beads:  Used as separators between the snowflakes
• Stiff Wire:  I used baling wire or the wire marking flags that are used to mark utilities in yards (remember, I am a dumpster diving scrapper!)
• Tree Topper Embellishments:  I have used wooden stars, cardboard stars, bows, buttons and a pearl bead as a topper--this is optional and a personal preference.

Getting Started:

Drill a hole in the base for the
tree trunk, then glue & insert the stick/dowel 

Step #1:  Drill a hole in your wood base so that you can glue a dowel or stick into the base.  This will serve as a trunk for your snowflake tree.  While you have your drill out, switch to the smaller bit and drill a small hole into the dowel or stick.  (see photo at left)

Step #2:  Use the wood glue to glue the dowel/stick into the larger hole you have drilled in the base.   Also glue the wire into the smaller hole you drilled in the dowel/stick.  The length of the wire becomes the size of the tree.  I like to have at least 5-8 inches for the tree but the longer the wire, the more snowflakes you will need! (see photo at left)

A Cricut speeds the cutting process

You can also use scissors
to cut the snowflakes.

Step #3: Next, you will want to begin cutting your snowflakes on a Cricut or cutting them with scissors.  The number of snowflakes you will need will depend on the size of the snowflake tree you are making.  You will need 4-5 sizes of snowflakes. (larger for the bottom of the tree and progressively smaller snowflakes as you move to the top of the tree)  Here is the pattern that I used--a printable coloring snowflake available on-line.  You can print pages and cut them out--remember you will need to reduce or enlarge the page to get different sizes.  I generally use 6-8 snowflakes of each size so you are looking at 24-32 snowflakes total.


Step #4:  Once you have your snowflakes cut out, you are ready to start the assembly process.   Begin by putting a bead on first, then a large snowflake.  Add a bead, then another snowflake until you have added 6-8 snowflakes of the largest size. Next, move to the next size of snowflake and repeat the process until you have used all your snowflakes or are happy with the size and shape of your tree.

Start with a bead then add
your largest snowflake and
then repeat.

Here is a finished tree :)

Step #5:  The finishing step is to add your tree topper.  I usually add one last pearl bead and then glue my tree topper to the bead. (small stars, bows, buttons, etc work well!) 

I love these little trees and plan to find some stiff book pages, sheet music, and wall paper to experiment with different papers for my snowflakes.  Enjoy!