DIY Christmas Crafts: Vintage Jewelry Tree Cone Decoration

Vintage Jewelry Christmas Tree

DIY Christmas Crafts: Vintage Jewelry Tree Cone Decoration

 

Have some vintage jewelry or old costume jewelry you never wear? Well, this is a great project for you! Since I collect vintage jewelry for my handmade upcycled jewelry business, BluKatDesign, I had a big collection of beautiful Christmas brooches from my mother-in-law, some not-so-nice or broken pieces and a few strands of pearls and beads that were not usable for my jewelry making but nice enough for this project. You can find great deals at estate sales and if you are lucky, eBay! For the cone tree form, you can use a styrofoam one but I found a heavy cardboard cone with green velvet for 50% off at Joann’s, which is cheaper and sturdier than the styrofoam!

Tools & Materials:

vintage and old brooches, earrings, bracelets and necklaces

strands of pearls and beads

loose beads and pearls

pins

hot glue gun & glue

Christmas tree cone, this one is 16″, see pic below:

 

 

I arranged the brooches on the cone to see what it would look like first

 

I pinned the good brooches without using glue so they could be removed in the future if necessary and then used a hot glue gun for the rest. For filler, I made bead clusters using stands of vintage pearls (6 beads) and gluing them in a circle to scrap fabric and top with a bigger bead in the center and cutting them out when cooled:

 

 

I then used pins to fill any more spaces with beads and pearls.  This is how it turned out:

 

 

 

 

I really love how sparkly and elegant it looks. I think it would make a great centerpiece for a dinner table. This project was fairly simple but sometimes it was difficult pinning the brooches. It is so much easier to pin them to clothing than to this cone!  I cheated a couple times and tacked the stubborn ones with a bit of glue. I have seen these trees done with buttons too! The coolest thing about this project I did it BEFORE Christmas!

See more DIY Christmas crafts here: Button Crafts: DIY Christmas Wreath and Ornaments

 

Do you do Christmas crafts? What is your favorite thing to make? Like the idea of a vintage jewelry tree? Comments welcome!