Welcome To Crafty Thursday - Yo-Yo Christmas Tree

Meet Monica of The Homespun Heart! I have been blessed by Monica's blog for quiet sometime and I thought it was time to share her skills with you. :) She has graciously agreed to be my first Guest Post on "Crafty Thursday." Enjoy and remember to pop over to her blog and get just as spoiled as I do.

Yo-Yo Christmas Tree


I first saw these adorable trees in a catalog and they were on the pricey side. I decided to figure out how to make them!! Here's what I came up with:

Using a compass, cut seven circles out of heavy paper. The circles should measure 1 1/4", 1 1/2", 1 3/4", 2", 2 1/4", 2 1/2", and 2 3/4". You need one pattern of each size. Next cut out one circle of each size from various green fabrics. (I only had three different patterns as pictured above.)

Sew each circle into a yo-yo. Here's how to make a yo-yo.

Use a wooden spool for the base - cover the part where the thread goes with Elmer's glue and wrap twine around. (If you don't have a wooden spool on hand, you can buy them in the Wal-Mart craft department, but this will slightly increase your cost per tree.)

Search your yard for a stick that will fit into the hole on top of the spool and is fairly straight. It doesn't matter if it is too tall, you can always shorten it.

Snip a small hole in the bottom of each yo-yo so that you can "thread" them onto the stick trunk. Stack them in size order.

Put some Elmer's glue around the hole in the top of the spool. Put stick trunk in and allow fabric from the bottom yo-yo to sit in the glue and stick.

Glue a tin star to the top of the stick and trim stick if necessary. If you can't find the tin stars, you can also make cinnamon applesauce stars with a small star cookie cutter for the top!

To make the cinnamon ornaments, use the following recipe:

Cinnamon Ornaments

1 1/2 c. powdered cinnamon
1 c. applesauce
1/4 c. school glue
bowl
plastic wrap or plate
wax paper
cookie cutters
ribbon
drinking straw
rolling pin

Mix cinnamon, applesauce and glue in a bowl. (You can add water if it is too stiff - I did not need to do this though.) Knead dough until smooth, cover bowl with a plate or plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes.

Knead dough again and flatten with rolling pin to about 1/4"-1/8" thickness. Cut out shapes and make hole with drinking straw.

Bake ornaments for an hour in a 150 degree oven (mine doesn't go any lower than 170 and this worked fine) on a cookie sheet. Turn over half way through. Allow to cool and harden before adding ribbon or twine.

Now, tuck in a stocking or use in your own home to add a cute little touch of Christmas anywhere!!

Monica enjoys blogging about the simple pleasures of faith, family and home over at The Homespun Heart!

Thank you so much Monica!

Warmly,