Getting Crafty--Christmas Tree Lanterns

My daughter and I are swimming in a sea of holiday crafts right now---crafts for our house, crafts for teachers, crafts for relatives, crafts, crafts, crafts.  The last couple of days we have been working on Christmas Tree Lanterns.  They are a little tricky, but I think we have got it down now.  Here is a look:

 I think the key to being successful is getting the sizes of certain pieces just right.  The first thing we did is make the base.  We took a 10 in long strip a couple of inches wide and glued a similar sized piece of cardboard to it so that the base would hold the form better.  (Also, it is helpful if you want the lantern to stand on its own.)

Then, we rolled the paper to form the base.  I actually stapled it together to form a stronger bond.  Then, we cut a 4.5 in strip of brown paper to form  place to attach the green branches at the top.  This strip is about 1-1.5 in wide.  We rolled it and glued it at the seam.

Next, we cut our green strips.  We made them 7 inches long and about .75 in wide.  Then, we folded each strip 4.5 in down (about 2/3 the way down.)  After, we glue the strips to the top ring.  When you do this, make sure the fold is bending out.

Next, we glued the bottom of our branches to the base.  To glue them to the base, we did not extend the branches far down into the base.  Rather, we glued them a little less than an inch down.  After, we bent the branches back at the base so that the bow out a little bit.

Next, we decorated the "trees" with stars on top and foam stickers around the base.  Then, we attached string so that we could hang them.  I think that the lanterns are super cute and provide an easy way to add Christmas cheer to any corner of the house!