Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Quick Craft: Make Your Own Furry Monster Christmas Tree!

It all started when John and I were browsing the Christmas decorations - like ya do - and I suddenly asked, "Who on EARTH would want a furry brown Christmas tree??"
 
 Whut.

Then, exactly 2 seconds later, I realized it was me. I WAS THE ONE ON EARTH WHO WANTED A FURRY BROWN CHRISTMAS TREE.

You know, to make this:

 
"HI."

We figured it'd be OK if we invented a few of the fantastic beasts at our coming Potter party. :D


This is a ridiculously easy craft, plus there are sooo many ways you can customize your own tree monster. I kind of want to make a whole army of them now.

If you don't have any craft or home decor stores in your area with the kind of discerning taste it takes to sell furry trees, then you can always make your own: just roll some posterboard into a cone and glue on fun fur fabric. This tree was huge and like 60% off, though (yay coupons!), so I decided it was worth the ten bucks.

Next you'll need eyes. I grabbed this pack on the left:

 Again with a half-off coupon, booya!

You can also use fancy googly eyes (they have some great colorful styles now) or even paint eyes on the back of glass drops. Sky's the limit.

The last things you'll need are a little clay (I used paper clay), some craft paint, and hot glue.

I actually made my monster tree so fast I did the unthinkable: I didn't take process photos. I can tell you I just parted the hair and used hot glue to press in the eyes, though, then rolled a quick snake of clay for the bottom lip:

 ... which I painted reddish pink before aging with black. To glue on the lip I had to trim his mustache so the hair wouldn't overlap the teeth.

Playing with his hair is super fun, btw; brushing up the section around his eyes makes it look like he has eyebrows. :D

The teeth are more paper clay, painted white and then aged with yellow and brown.

I accidentally got a big hot glue splooge on the left there. I'm calling that drool. :D

Again, you can do all sorts of funny things with the teeth - or skip them all together and make giant lips, or just a nose, you name it.

To give our monster tree an extra ridiculous touch, John added the Santa hat. It's one of those little dollar hats from Bath & Body Works, which I recommend stocking up on, since they fit all KINDS of toys.

It really brings out his eyes.

And to give the monster tree more height, I stuck it on a big wooden candlestick. Candlesticks are fantastic with cone trees. Try pairing different sizes/styles, gives any tree an instant upgrade.

Our Monster Tree is on a tiny shelf in the guest bath, right next to the mirror.


He's watching. Allllways watching.


Here he is staring into the abyss:

And a dramatic low shot for his future rap album:


Now a little coy side-eye for his cover of GQ:

Er, maybe I should stop this photo shoot now.


Right, get out there and make some monsters, people! Then share your pics on the Epbot FB page or tag me on Instagram so I can see!

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28 comments:

  1. XD That is amazing. I may need a forest. I made felt trees a couple of years back and one of these hiding in that forest would be great. ^_^

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  2. My 5 year old would think this was awesome! Okay, I do too. = ) ~ Jamie

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  3. OMG. I don't know why I love this so much, but it makes me really, really happy :)

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  4. He is definitely a cousin of the Monster Book of Monsters monster

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  5. LOL. I love this guy, and he totally needs to be part of a horde. You could scatter them all over, like a furry Where's Waldo. :P

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  6. This is the greatest thing I have seen all day. Possibly all year.

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  7. That is EPIC! I love it!!

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  8. We keep our fur tree on display year round because it's punny. And the fake chocolate easter bunny lives under it.

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  9. He's definitely MUCH better than Elf on the Shelf!

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  10. About the only way to make this better would be some sort of clawed foot for the base.

    Also, reminded of the Christmas Tree Monsters in the old text game Beyond Zork.

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  11. That first pic seriously made me give out a startled "HA!" The rest of them, along with the comments, made me laugh until my scalp cramped up. You rule SO MUCH.

    The pic with the packages of eyes got me on its own, because they totally reminded me of RHONDA! FROM THE SEVENTH LEVEL OF YAR!! THIS BLOG WILL BE JUDGED HARSHLY!!! (Shout-outs to the Brak fans, yo!)

    Also gonna use this post as a chance to share a Fun Fur Pro Tip: Take it from a Klingon, y'all, you are gonna want to cut that fur somewhere you can clean up easily, and for the love of Kahless, don't wear anything fuzzy or velvety! Otherwise you and your environs will look like you've done something horrible with/to your cat. Also, I don't recommend working with it while you're sweaty, or have lotion or sunscreen on your face; the loose fur will stick to your face and drive you slowly insane with all the itching. Again, take it from a Klingon in San Diego, my sourcesauce is legit!

    Cheers, thanks a lot,

    Storm the Klingon

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    1. Oh my goodness! I was about to sneeze when I read the portion of your post about looking like you've done something horrible with/to your cat and I burst out laughing at the same time and I'm here to testify that laugh/sneezing is really painful! But totally worth it! This post made my day.

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  12. This is amazing, even without a Fantastic Beasts themed party. From the first completed picture I though you HAD added dark fur for the eyebrows! I love his magazine cover shots. He's so photogenic. Have you given him a name?

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    1. Audrey - I posted your comment to Facebook, and they suggested Hairy Cone-ick Jr! :D

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  13. My daughter made me post that she wants this really badly. Can't wait for shopping day!

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  14. Bwahahaha! This is fantastic- he looks so cuddly.

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  15. And here I never knew I needed a furry tree! The makers of the furry trees should probably thank you...because, seriously. Who was going to buy them if our tribe didn't find them?

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  16. HE reminds me of Sweetums from the Muppets! ❤️

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  17. I love this. I want one. Anyone else think of Cousin It?

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  18. This is the cutest. I totally wasn't expecting this awesomeness at all when I clicked through my email :D

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  19. Where did you find that tree?? *asking for a friend. Yup.*

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  20. Where did you find this? I haven't ever seen anything like it.

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