A Feather Christmas Tree and a Snowy Mantel

I decided to decorate my mantel in all white this year and I wanted something really different to place in the center. This is a Martha Stewart craft that is a little time consuming, but well worth the effort. Here is Martha's tutorial if you would like to see how she did it.

Materials needed:

1 white styrofoam cone
1 - 1/2 bags large white feathers ($1.99 Hobby Lobby)
1 bag small white feathers
hot glue gun
popsicle stick
wooden skewer or large toothpick
star for topper

Start with a styrofoam cone. I couldn't find a white one, so I just painted a green one with white acrylic paint.

These are the feathers I used.

Starting at the bottom, glue the large feathers on one at a time, making sure they flare out and extend a couple of inches from the bottom of the tree.

Use chop sticks from P.F. Changs that haven't been broken apart yet to to protect your fingers from the hot glue. Just kidding. Use a popsicle stick like a normal person.

Work your way up the tree, filling in as necessary.

Start using the smaller feathers as you get toward the top. Place a skewer or large toothpick into the top of the tree.

Keep adding the smaller feathers and work up the skewer a little bit. Then snip off most of the skewer.

I used 2 unfinished wooden stars that I got at Michael's. I painted them a couple of coats of iridescent white and let them dry. Then I gave them a light coat of glue and sprinkled them with glitter.

I applied hot glue to the tops and attached the bottoms to the remainder of the skewer.

Here is the finished tree.

For the mantel, I used 2 sets of 100 white lights with white cord. I arranged them on the mantel and covered them with several layers of white tulle. The branches are dogwood branches that I spray painted white. I found the tiny snowflakes and sparkly icicles at Michael's. I wanted a splash of color, so added these pretty birds:

I got them at Garden Ridge.

It turned out to be exactly what I wanted.