It is no secret that black is not the most traditional color during the holidays. While I am obviously bias when it comes to that color, I do feel strongly that more and more people are looking to incorporate black into their holiday decor. I admit that this year, for the first time, I’ve seen a few stores carry an array of black ornaments which I am super excited to see! Some of my social media pals have also been scouring the stores, but came up with only the occasional black decor sighting. It’s better than past years, but c’mon people. Given that Halloween is considered in most circles to be the fastest growing holiday within the US, I would think more retailers would take the hint and begin offering colors of a deeper and darker variety. But until then, you know that I am not about to let the lack of choices stop me. My first project were these DIY Black Beaded Holiday Trees.
These cone shaped trees are extremely popular this time of the year and I AM A FAN. I have a lot of them around my house…. probably more than I should. So, this year, when I started thinking about how I was going to decorate my home, the fact that not one of my many cone shaped trees were black was a glaring detail that I am shocked has not been remedied until now. Slap on my wrist. Now I’m fixing it. In fact, I got so excited about making these black trees that I actually started on three different variations of them all at once. Given our short runway to Christmas, this is likely the only variation I’ll be able to share with you this year. More to come. Oh the suspense! 🙂
I started the project with a variety of foam cone sizes. I ordered some online, some I found in craft departments, and some I found in floral departments. The three I have pictured here are 15″, 18″, and 13 1/2″ high. I really just like having a variation of heights when I decorate any kind of table or vignette, so getting the variation of cone heights was my initial thought. As with any DIY project, you always learn things as you go, change your mind about some things, or even just have some new brilliant idea along the way…. on this project I experienced all of the above. You may notice that my displays include only two of the three trees. Once I began the beading process, it became very obvious that one of the three trees (on the right) was made of a different kind of material and did not want to play nice. For this project, you want the floral foam. It is a crunchy cell structure, not a soft one.
Once I started playing with the cones, it dawned on me that they would need to sit on a base. First thought… a round wooden plaque… it would give the cone a nice clean base, but wouldn’t take away from the design of the cone. Bought those, and of course suddenly had another idea… candlesticks. Why I didn’t think of this first, I have no idea… considering I am obsessed with using candlesticks in DIY projects, and have a readily available collection of them! You’ll notice in the photos, I put my 15″ tree on three different bases. As I was pulling out my arsenal of candlesticks to find one right for this project, I realized that I liked several. They each worked differently depending on the mood I was creating with the decor. Tip… find candlesticks with a pricket (the spike for holding a candle in place). The spike will also keep the foam in place. This gives you the flexibility of changing out your bases when the mood strikes!
If you are looking for a bold black and white color story, or even just want to stay safe with something that can mix into any decor at any time… choose a solid black candlestick base. Solid Black is also a great choice if you plan on making a lot of these trees. You can use different styles and different heights, but if painted solid black, all of the trees will remain cohesive. And keep in mind…. using candlesticks of different heights, allows you to purchase foam cones of the same height, and still achieve the variation in levels when decorating.
For my table setting, I went with a slightly more traditional look… using a Christmas Garland to add a pop of color to my otherwise Black and Gold table. I don’t know what’s up with me this year and the Black and Gold tables… first my Halloween Table, then my Thanksgiving Table, now Christmas. I felt the black and gold elements gave the table a more elegant vibe, so this ornate Black and Gold Candlestick fit in perfectly, and gave the tree more glam than the solid black base. Along with the garland and beaded trees, and the centerpiece consisted of black pillar candles, gold antique candlesticks with black taper candles, and black ornaments tucked around the garland. Black plates sat atop Black and Gold Chargers, and were paired with solid black napkins and gold flatware.
Last but certainly not least (this one’s my favorite!!) I went a bit more Gothic in my foyer. Here I actually used a Gold Lion Head Crystal Ball Base as the base for my beaded tree. The foam cone fit perfectly!! The Black trees sat in front of a Gold Ornate Antique Mirror featuring a quote from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. An antique gold Claw Foot Bowl holds various black bauble ornaments. And a few of my antique gold candlesticks with black taper candles were tucked in and around it all.
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Now let’s make these things, shall we? Here’s what you’ll need …..
- Foam Cones – 18″ Cone , 12″ Cone
- Black Spray Paint
- Base – Wooden Plaque, Candlestick, etc
- E6000 Glue in Black
- Black Beaded Strands
- U-Shaped Jump Rings
- Black Gloss Spray Paint
- Topper ( Star Lights, Star Ornaments, etc)
Spray Paint the cones. Know that the foam is going to absolutely suck up the paint. Don’t feel like you need to spray them a hundred times just to get them completely covered…. you just need a relatively black base so one or two coats is plenty. I did this because I didn’t want the risk of green or white foam peering out from behind the beads.
If you’re using a flat base (like a wooden plaque), paint the base black. Once dry, use E6000 to secure the cone to the center of the base. Let dry for 24 hours. If you choose to use candlesticks, paint those black as needed. I found they were easier to attach after the beading was complete.
Now to kick off the beading….
For the beads I turned to Mardi Gras Beads. If you happen to have strands and strands of black beaded necklaces you feel like re-purposing… more power to you. The Mardi Gras beads are inexpensive, easy to work with, come in bulk, and also come in black. No brainer.
Cut the beaded necklaces to create single strands. I used roughly 26 necklaces total to wrap both the 15″ cone, and the 18″ cone.
Starting with the bottom edge of the cone, run a line of E6000. Secure one end of a beaded strand into the glue, and begin pressing the beads gently into both the foam and the glue.
Use the U-shaped jump rings to secure a bead in place while the glue dries. These rings can be pushed all the way into the foam cone so you won’t be able to see them. I let the glue do most of the work, but used these occasionally at various points in the beading.
Here’s where I break to give you a few lessons learned / tips in regards to the beading…
- Do not glue a strand on, and let the tree sit upright to dry. The glue, and beads will slowly, but eventually slide down, and begin to bunch up. Believe me… it will quickly become important to you for the strands to stay in place, and cover as much surface area as possible, so lay the trees on their sides to dry.
- Another note about gravity….. just as your beads will slide down if the tree is upright…. if you glue a strand on and allow it to dry on the under side of the tree, you will not be able to count on the beads staying in place. You have two options here… Run your layer of glue in a semicircle around the cones, and allow to dry from the top side of the cone OR Run the layer of glue around the entire cone, and use a jump ring on the under side to keep the beads from succumbing to gravity.
- You do not need much glue. Run a very thin line for the beads to attach to. In fact, it does not even need to be a consistent line, as long as every few beads touch a dab of glue.
- Lastly…. If you are someone, like me, who gets distracted by something practically every minute of the day… this project may be a daunting one. Here’s why…. E6000 glue needs a bit of time to set. Technically it’s not fully cured until 24 hours, but for this project, you just need the strand of beads to be secure enough to roll the cone over and apply more beads. I gave between 10-20 minutes between each line of glue. This means you have to diligently run the line of glue, wait 10 minutes, run the next line of glue, wait 10 minutes, and repeat. If you are someone who likes to sit on the couch and binge watch TV, you are going to fly through this project. I, on the other hand, almost never made it back to the cones in a timely manner (usually hours later!!) so this took me days and days to complete. If you think you may meet a similar fate… I highly recommend setting a timer!!
Continue gluing the beads, gently pushing them into the cone, and securing them with a U-ring every so often as needed.
Eventually, closer to the top of the cone, you should be able to start gluing entire strands at a time, and simply holding them together with your hand while they set.
Most of the floral foam cones have a flattened top point … You can wrap the beads all the way to the top and coil them on the flat top. OR – you can add something ornamental to the top (like a tree topper). I went with something traditional – a star. This time of the year, stars are pretty easy to come by. A Star shaped Ornament would work perfectly. I happened to come across this strand of Star Lights at the Target Dollar Spot…. clipped the stars off of the lights, painted them black and adhered them to the top of the cones with a dab of black E6000. If these lights have all been snagged by the time you get to Target… here’s a remarkably similar string of star lights found online.
Secure the trees to a base if you haven’t already, and they are ready to go. I hope these trees will find the perfect spot in your holiday home!! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have at least five more of these to make! 🙂
Another Gothic beaut, my friend. Funnily enough, I made some of these a few years ago. I used hot glue on mine, which seemed to work really well, but how I’m now wishing they were black instead of white! Maybe next time 😉
There’s always that handy coat of spray paint! 😉