Made from trinkets and doodads, this festive tabletop decoration makes a great conversation piece for holiday guests.

Materials

• Hard plastic cereal bowl, 5 inches in diameter
• Tacky glue
• Corrugated cardboard circle, 8 inches in diameter
• Styrofoam cone, 12 inches tall
• Roll of twine, optional

• Trinkets and tiny toys
• Hot-glue gun
• Toothpick
• Gold spray paint

Instructions

1. Use tacky glue to join the bottom of the bowl to the center of the cardboard circle. Once the glue dries, invert the bowl and glue the base of the foam cone atop the cardboard. Let the glue dry.

2. To make the tree wider, wrap twine around the cone until you've achieved the desired width. Then glue the loose twine ends in place. If you prefer a tall, slim tree, go right to step 3.

3. For a treetop ornament, choose one with a hollow portion, such as a bell, whistle, or seashell. Then insert one end of the toothpick into the top of the cone and set the tree topper over the protruding end.

4. Glue the trinkets one at a time. Start with larger ones arranged around the base and build upward using increasingly smaller objects. Some items, especially weightier ones, may need to be hot-glued in place (a parent's job), but many should hold well with the tacky glue, which is more child-friendly.

5. Place the adorned tree on newspaper in a well-ventilated area and apply several coats of gold spray paint (adults only) to the tree and base. Allow the paint to dry completely.

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