DIY Who-ville Christmas Tree

A year ago I found inspiration from a craft project a friend had done. It was a cute little christmas tree that could have been plucked right out of Who-ville from a Dr. Suess book. This year I decided to recreate this absolutely adorable project. I looked to my usual inspiration spot, Pinterest, but did not find much in the way of DIY instructions. So as we set out to make our who-ville tree last night, in a sort of trial and error way, I decided I would document my approach. 

And so here it is, my attempt at the Who-ville Christmas Tree, Grinch Tree, Dr. Seuss Tree or whatever you want to call it! 

Materials Needed

Cedar Branches (available at any local green house)
Styrofoam cones
floral wire
** a base of some sort for the trees (which I will go into detail about later)
glue gun and glue
scissors
one christmas ball ornament
and any sort of crazy fun decorations you wish to decorate with 
Including but not limited to :
- pipe cleaners
- pom poms
- bows
- bells
- garland
- feathers
the sky is the limit so pick your wackiest decorations and have fun with it.

** for a base we used small christmas boxes, wrapped in yarn. You could also use jars, cans or planter pots. Again use some creativity and create a cute base for your tree. 

Step 1
Making Your Tree
Gather your materials for the tree; cedar branches, styrofoam cone & floral wire.

Trim your branches so that you are using the part with the thickest amount of leaves. At the bottom of the branch the leaves are more sparse and the branch is thicker and harder to work with so trim that part off. Cut one piece of floral wire that will fit around the base of your cone. Next wrap your branches around the cone. and secure with the floral wire. (This part is definitely a two person job)

As you can see the leaves are quite sparse at the bottom of the cone so you may want to cut a few leaves from another branch and place them on the naked spots of the cone and wrap another piece of floral wire around to secure them.  Depending on how big the base is that you are using to put your tree into, you may or may not need to add extra leaves. If the base it tall enough you won't see the bottom of your tree thus eliminating the need to add extra leaves. 

Next you will want to start wrapping your floral wire around and around the tree. Starting at the bottom of the cone and securing one end of the wire, work your way up the tree, around and around, until you get to the tip. You want the wire to flatten all of the leaves making it look like a bundled christmas tree that you would buy from the grocery store. Make sure that you have several wire wraps where you want to create the bend in your tree as the wire is what will help you to shape the tree. 

Step 2

Making Your Base

Making your base. We opted to use square christmas boxes that we covered in yarn and garnished with a bow. But like I mentioned above you can most definitely get creative and use any sort of a base. Planters pots, vases, jars, cans, you name it!
Here is a link to a blogger that created truffula trees (from The Lorax) and I absolutely LOVED the base they used. I think it would make the perfect base for our who-ville trees and fits so well with the Dr. Suess theme.

Next you need to insert your tree in your base and secure it so the tree does not tip over. DISCLAIMER, the trees are very top heavy so make sure you have something to weigh your base down with or you will have a toppling tree. We opted to use rocks but I'm sure anything would work as long as it is heavy enough. 

Step 3
Decorating your Tree
This is the most exciting part. My kids loved picking out their feathers and pom poms and gluing them on! We used a hot glue gun to attach all of our trinkets (so I guess adult supervision required). Once you are finished don't forget to add your one dangling christmas ball ornament from the tip of the tree to give it that authentic Dr. Seuss feel!

We love how our trees turned out, they were so much fun to make and they are a wonderful Christmas decoration in our house. We have no idea how long they will last but I will update you once they have "served their purpose". We watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas while we made our lovely little trees and it was a perfect holiday tradition born into our family this year!

Here's to hoping I've inspired you to attempt and little tree of your own, and if you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment below!