Christmas nature craft using hole punched leaves

You’ll love this Christmas nature craft if you love leaves as much as I do!

Last week, I was fascinated with the leaves. I felt compelled to bend down and take a closer look at the ones that littered the side of the path. It didn’t take long for a bunch of them to be in my hand, skimming the air as I walked back to the house.

I did have a plan for these leaves though and was excited to try duplicating this Crate Paper’s  Christmas Tree using nature.  I was quietly confident I could do it too.

Although the finished product was well worth the effort, it was much harder to replicate than I first anticipated. I didn’t get the flicking that I liked on the original inspiration either. Still, it really is lovely and next time I make it, I’m hoping it will be easier using a glue gun!

What you will need

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• Recycled cereal cardboard
• Large circle hole punch
• Green to slightly yellowing leaves
• Modgepodge (although I’d suggest trying a glue gun)
• Rubber bands
• Pegs
• Small stick
• Star hole punch

Make this Christmas nature craft

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1. Make a 3D cone shape using the recycled cereal cardboard packet (please don’t use Styrofoam, it’s really bad for the environment). Here’s the template I used to make the cone shape. It’s best to glue the edges together and let it dry or secure it with sticky tape on the inside of the cone. The leaves won’t stick to the sticky tape if it’s put on the outside.
2. Cut circles out of leaves using the circle hole punch. You’ll need quite a few.
3. Glue the leaves around the base of the cone, overlapping slightly as you go. Use pegs to secure them.  I must admit that I should have let each layer dry before starting the next one but I’m an impatient person and didn’t mind the fiddling that doing it all at once created. I’d would suggest drying each layer separately though. 
4.  Now it’s time to glue the next layer of leaf circles higher up on the cone, placing the new circles in between the of two circles below it (see image). The pegs should still hold this layer quite well too.
5.  Layer the circles all the way to the top using the instructions from the last step.  When moving further up the cone, use a rubber band to help secure the leaf circles while they were drying. 
6. Once you have covered all of the cone with leaf circles, use the hole punch to cut a star out of another leaf. Glue the star to a little stick that fits down the top of the cone. Then,  slide the stick in the top.

It’s been over a week now and this Christmas nature crafts tree is perfectly sweet sitting on the living room buffet with the family portraits.

This Christmas nature crafts was more difficult than I first anticipated and so I wouldn’t recommend it for children. Miss J thought up the perfect craft to accompany this one though. She used the materials I used but made a Christmas tree on flat paper. I think it looks just as stunning, and it’s simple!

She added some nature’s glitter to her tree too.

So,  here we have two Christmas Tree crafts for you to try in the next coming month. One that’s a little challenging  and another that’s beautifully simple for the kids. Do what we did and sit at the table together, each working on your own Christmas tree creations.

Perhaps I’ll go back out into the bush and let nature decide what else I could use to put on the next Christmas tree. I’d try sticks, moss or paper bark. I’m sure if I go out there I’ll have another rush of wonderful inspiration and a small basket of goodies filled with special treasures to take home.

Want to scroll other Mother Natured posts in pictures? Take a look at the Mother Natured Pinterest boards. There’s plenty of other wonderful nature craft and nature play inspiration too.