Using Rope to Repurpose Christmas Decor

I have some lovely Christmas decorations from past homes that just don’t feel like they belong in my new home. It is time to start repurposing Christmas decorations and I decided to start with these trees. I am going for a coastal Christmas look, but this transformation would also work for a Western or Texas style Christmas, too. I will be using rope to repurpose Christmas decor.
These trees were really pretty when I had them arranged on some silky fabric on a glass topped table with pretty coordinating brown and copper ornaments arranged around them. Alas, that was years ago and it is time to repurpose these trees.
The most expensive thing I used for my transformation was rope that I purchased locally. I soon learned I could purchase less expensive if I went to Amazon. If you are taking on this project, I would suggest you look into this Wellington Cordage which sells for $6.89 for 50 feet. I used about 150 feet for each of my larger trees. I used a smaller gauge rope the smaller the tree for a variety.
I began with my hot glue gun and rolled the end of the rope into a circle as flat as I could. This just took a lot of glue and a lot of holding until the glue completely dried.
I continued working my way down the tree, always pushing the rope up very tightly and occasionally gluing rope to rope to keep it tight.
As the work progressed I found it easier to turn my tree over and work on it upside down, continuing the same process.
A few hours later I have a rope tree! Now it is just time to add a little embellishment and get to work on the two smaller trees.
Here are the three smallest trees after being trimmed out for a coastal look. I have a secret here though, the smallest tree I found in the bargain section at Target and just added the starfish top to it. I glued the starfish on the first tree, and then realized it would be difficult to store, so I changed up to tying them on with string. The strings don’t really show up unless you get very close.
My largest tree is bedecked with mercury glass anchor ornaments that I found this year at Target. These must have sold out quickly since it took me three different stores to come up with four of these ornaments. I hope you like my tree transformation. I look forward to sharing the rest of my Christmas mantel decorations next week!
Chloe Crabtree
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Mary Lou Mary Lou on Aug 21, 2021

    Cannot imagine how many glue sticks that required?!? Very pretty, love the coastal theme! Well done.👍️

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  • Jennifer Jennifer on Nov 20, 2016
    I love this! I have my living room decorated in a beach theme. I can't wait to make this, I'll probably leave them out after the holidays. Thanks so much for sharing.
  • Cindy Steffen-Fenske Cindy Steffen-Fenske on Dec 03, 2016
    Wow. So pretty.... Wish we could see a picture of the whole fireplace mantle.
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