Decorative Christmas Tree made From Catkins!

 Catkins? What are catkins you ask? They are the male part of the tree that sheds pollen. In most trees and shrubs, the catkin falls apart soon after it releases the pollen. The type of catkin we will use comes off an evergreen tree and while somewhat delicate, it holds it's shape for quite awhile and we can prevent it from losing the bits by spraying it with a coat of hairspray. My interest in it is that it has a really neat texture with curling ends we can use in crafting all sorts of things. Since it is the holiday season, a tree sprang to mind! :)

My tabletop Christmas tree turned out well and I thought of several ways to adapt it to your liking.

Below is how to make the basic tree and some ideas of how to dress it up, if you choose. I really like it in it's natural form. It could also be used in a model railway train set up.

Materials:

• glue gun
• glue sticks
• 20cm x 28 cm (8" x 11") light cardboard (What color is up to you and may depend on how you decide to dress up the tree) or you may choose to use a styrofoam tree-shape. I use green so you can easily see the gaps between the catkins.
• scissors
• tape
• hair spray (or diluted white glue 1:4 glue to water)
• spray paint of the color you want the tree to become (optional)
• acrylic paint (to paint the acorn caps) (optional)
• paintbrush
• 1 cm (half inch) slice of a tree (tree cookie) slightly larger than the base of the cone as a base (optional)
• plastic plate, a piece of paper or scrap cardboard larger than the base of the tree (to allow you to turn it around without touching it) 
  
  
• ~ 100x 2.5 cm -7.5cm (1 to 3 inch) catkins (if you use larger catkins, you will need a larger cone)
• one large sweetgum ball or other tree topper
• a handful of pine scales
• a handful of acorn caps

How To:

Step 1
Lay out all your materials.
Sort the catkins by size: small, medium, large. The large are used near the bottom of the tree and the smalls near the top.

Step 2
Create the cone base for the tree by rolling up a piece of light cardboard into a cone. You are aiming for a tree that is a little more than twice and tall as the base is wide. Leave a small hole in the top. Tape the cone together in at least 2 spots. 

Cut off the extra triangle on the bottom so the cone can sit straight upright. This is important or your tree will lean. You could also use a styrofoam form in place of the cone if you have one. 

Step 3

Place the cardboard cone on a plastic plate or second flat piece of cardboard. This will allow you to turn the tree as you work in it. The paper, cardboard or plate acts like a Lazy Susan! This is not depicted in the photos below as I didn't think of it until later on in the project when I needed to start handling the cone as I worked towards the top of the tree. But do it! You will thank me when it comes time to turn the tree and when you need to pick it up to move it. 
https://youtu.be/Khz3Of_XoHI

Step 4

Start gluing the catkins on at the bottom of the tree. I like to choose ones with a curled tip so the branches look like they are draping down. Glue each one so the tip just touches the plate. Leave enough room between two catkins to fit another catkin. When you get to the last two or three catkins, space them equal distance apart. You can choose to crowd them or to leave more space. Either way, we can fill the space in with smaller catkins, scales or acorn decorations later. 

Step 5
Once you have finished the first row, start the second one slightly above the first, placing each catkin between the space left by the first row. 

Step 6
Continue adding more rows in the same way, finishing each row before adding the next one. Here is the first one added to the third row.

As you add catkins upward, choose shorter ones to reflect shorter branches as you get closer to the top. 
If you need to, use scissors to trim the catkin to the desired length.

Here I have worked up to the 6th row. 

As you get higher on the tree, the catkins will get closer together since they are all about the same width. 

As you near the top, the catkins will be quite short. 

At the top, you have a couple of options:

Option A. You could glue a single short catkin as the top branch. 

Option B. You could glue on a sweetgum ball (left natural color or painted) or other tree topper on the top of the cone. 

Step 7
If you notice gaps between some of the catkins lower down on the tree, you can cut a one shorter and glue it in place to fill the gap. This makes the tree look fuller as well.

Another option is to use individual cone scales as decorations. I like this natural look. I choose scales from cones that have an interesting lighter tip or chocolate pattern on the scales. 

The scales can be glued onto the base of the tree to look like the trunk.

Still another idea is to use painted  acorn caps. They become colorful decorations placed all around the tree. You can fill in the base with more catkins.

One last option I thought of is to use spay paint to coat the entire tree in one color or several stripes of color. That will paint both the catkins and the spaces between them so no fill may be needed (unless you prefer a fuller tree). I choose not to do that as

This base tree can be "spruced up" (pun intended!) by using gold spray paint or glitter glue for the sweetgum balls, adding garland on the tree, or a key part of many other projects where you need a tree (such as our previous table centre piece with the acorn elf.) 

Step 8
Spray the whole tree top to bottom with an even coat of hair spray. This will help to seal the catkins and keep the small bits from falling apart.  
It is usually best to do this outside or in a covered area like a deck or garage. Place some newspaper under your tree. Check the directions for hairspray use. Shake if needed, make sure the wind is blowing away from you. Apply the spray evenly, turning the tree around with the plate or cardboard. Let dry.
If you or your kids have allergies, it is usually best to have someone else do this. The mask you would have to wear to protect yourself is very expensive. Everyday face masks won't help prevent the aerosol from being breathed in.

An alternative is to spray your tree with diluted white glue. 1 part glue to 4 parts water. Place in a spritzer and spray an even coat all over the tree. You can also soak the catkins in advance but they must be dry before you start gluing them onto the tree.

Step 9
Glue the tree onto a flat base. Let dry thoroughly for at least 24 hours before moving. Choose an out of the way spot to let your tree dry.

I'd love to see yours when it is finished! I think you can post it in the comments section below. At the very least, post a link to where the photo or 3-D video can be found!