Christmas Tree Tutorial with Tombow Xtreme Adhesive!

A few weeks ago, I applied for the Tombow USA Design Team with this project and was selected as a finalist!  They sent the Xtreme Permanent Adhesive (which I already LOVED!) and said to think outside the box. Not hard for this crafty girl!  

The Xtreme Adhesive is 5 times stronger than their regular adhesive, so that got me thinking about all the fancy pieces of trim moulding that I have hoarded collected over the years and what I could make.  I checked my stash and found an 8" by 16" wooden canvas from Walnut Hollow which got me thinking tall and skinny, which of course lead me to a Christmas Tree - the creative process is a long and winding road!

Here's how I made it:

Materials:
Tombow Xtreme Permanent Adhesive 
Walnut Hollow Bass Wood Canvas 8" by 16"
Americana Paints by DecoArt - Lamp Black, Bleached Sand, Antique Gold, Chocolate Brown, Foliage Green, Hauser Light Green, Hauser Medium Green, Avocado, Hauser Dark Green, Evergreen.
Weathered Wood medium and Decou-Page medium by DecoArt
Decorative Wooden Trim - six designs in 36" lengths
Vintage Sheet Music (I make color copies of vintage papers to use on projects like this), Wooden Star 2 1/2", Mid West Products Easy Cutter, Distress Ink by Ranger Frayed Burlap, Paint Brush, Pencil, Ruler and  Scissors.

Instructions:

1.) Crumple then flatten sheet music, then apply to wooden canvas with Decou-Page medium, let dry.  

2.) Apply Chocolate Brown base coat to wooden star and trim pieces, let dry.  Once dry apply Weathered Wood medium to star and trim pieces, let dry.

3.)  Apply Foliage Green, Hauser Light Green, Hauser Medium Green, Avocado, Hauser Dark Green and Evergreen top coats to decorative trim pieces, let crackle and dry.  Leave a 2 1/4" section of the flat decorative trim brown to use later for the tree trunk.

4.)  With index finger apply light accent coat of Bleached Sand over all of the trims to highlight the decorative patterns, let dry.  Distress the dry wooden canvas with Frayed Burlap Ink.  Apply Antique Gold top coat to the wooden star, let crackle and dry.

5.) Measure and cut 13 sections of decorative trim from 7" down to 1" in half inch increments to use as the tree branches.   Measure and cut the 2 1/4" piece of brown trim to use as the tree trunk.  Apply a light coat of Lamp Black to accent the decorative pattern, let dry.

6.)  Lay the wooden canvas flat and measure the center at the top and bottom edge.  Starting with the star, dry fit all of the decorative trim branch pieces and ending with the tree trunk at the bottom.  

7.) One at a time, flip the pieces over, apply Tombow Xtreme Permanent Adhesive then apply to wooden canvas.  NOTE: The Xtreme is best applied with steady light pressure and then to end the adhesive, simply snap the runner to the side in a quick motion.

I attempted to "decorate" my tree, but decided to keep the design clean and simple instead to highlight the patterns in the decorative wood trim.  The bonus is that I have more than enough trim left to make two more!

Here are a few detailed photos:

I hope you have enjoyed my Tombow Design Team round two project today!  I would like to thank Tombow for selecting me as a finalist, it would be an honor to work with such a great company!  Good luck to the other Finalists!

Thanks for stopping by!  -Beth