Toothpaste trees…<$9 (for many)

Text - Permalink

Toothpaste trees…<$9 (for many)

Every year I turn toothpaste box trees into Christmas ornaments (see last year’s here). The boxes are the perfect shape! This year I went for a Fruit Stripe Gum look. Super easy gift idea, only limited by the number of toothpaste boxes you have stashed. This is the first of several posts on turning trash into ornaments…stay tuned.

You need:

Toothpaste boxes (I used the small ones; any are good)
Pastels
Some kind of glaze (sparkle glaze or Mod Podge)
Paint brush or foam brush
Wire or string (for hanging)
Containers for messiness (like old gift boxes or aluminum foil)
Pencil & ruler
Scissors
Rubber gloves
Rag or old sock

Want to see the steps?

Costs = <$9 (for many):

Pastels = <$7
Sparkle glaze = $1.39
Everything else = free or already available around the house

How to:

With pencil & ruler, sketch out your tree. Let the built-in lines of the box do the hard part and delineate the width and shape. Build the shape from bottom up, using the thinnest flap to form the tree trunk.

Cut.

I placed my tree in a box half to capture the inevitable pastel dust. I colored each panel a different color, then used my fingers to smudge the pastels within each panel. I tried my best to not cross-contaminate finger dust, except to create a bit a blending where the colors transition. I then used an old sock to gently remove pastel dust from the back of the tree and the surface on which I was going to repeat the process.

In a different messy tray/box, apply your glaze. I ended up using a sparkle glaze to give some iridescence, but clear Mod Podge works great too. Your brush will pick up pastel color, but just a few swipes (like I did on that box clearly) gets the color out and prevents contamination.