Seed Bead Tree, Oh Seed Bead Tree

From Rockefeller Center's majestic Norway spruce to Charlie Brown's lonely little tree, the Christmas tree has always been an icon of the holiday season. As the centerpiece of our home's holiday décor, variations of the Christmas tree have changed over the years. From nature's finest noble firs to the aluminum trees of the 1960s and today's pre-lit LED artificial trees, this holiday symbol has been around for centuries, and decorating the branches has become a family tradition worldwide. A fun element for creating holiday style is to incorporate the Christmas tree symbol into everyday jewelry such as Christmas earrings, Christmas necklaces and noticeable home décor.

Christmas Jewelry

Miniaturizing Christmas trees is one of the beloved holiday projects that so many jewelry artists look forward to each year. What better way to spend an evening than putting on a classic Christmas movie, digging through your jewelry-making supplies and creating Christmas tree-inspired earrings, seed-beaded trees or pint-sized ornaments to cover a miniature tree?

Christmas tree earrings have become a perennial favorite among jewelry designers. With an abundance of color combinations and varied bead shapes, it is possible to curate a sizable collection of earrings to perfectly complement each of your holiday ensembles.

The Gallery of Designs features step-by-step directions for creating a few basic Christmas tree earrings styles, including our most popular design using margarita flower (marguerite lochrose) beads.

Some of the key components for Christmas tree earrings include:

• Margarita flower beads
• Crystal bicones
• Crystal cubes
• Head pins
• Ear wires

Seed-Beaded Trees

Seed-beaded Christmas trees can be created in a range of sizes for table toppers, fireplace displays or other holiday decorations. Seed beads are the preferred choice for this type of beaded art because they're small enough to create the necessary details. The weaving technique and style of layered branches will determine if beading thread or wire will work best for you.

A recommended tool for projects requiring threading on multiple seed bead strands is the Speedy Stringer™ bowl. Stringing layers upon layers of seed bead branches can get tiresome and time consuming. If you haven't tried the Speedy Stringer bowl yet, you're in for a special treat, as the seed beads literally jump onto the beading needle with ease, saving you from going cross-eyed trying to string each bead individually.

Seed-beaded trees can be very personalized with small nuances in the colors, ornaments and presents surrounding the base. Find a theme that fits your decorating style and start creating.

Some of the key components for seed-beaded Christmas trees include:

• Delica® seed beads
• Zebra Wire™
• FireLine® thread

Miniature Tree with Ornaments

We can all appreciate the invention of the tabletop miniature tree. Whether it's a space issue, finances or simply no time for decorating a traditional-sized tree, these smaller versions are a perfect solution. Plus, with a couple miniature trees around, you won't have to limit your tree themes to just one. Take advantage of these mini trees and elaborate on additional decorative ideas.

Though quite small, generally standing only a foot or two, mini trees can make a big impact when fully decorated on the dining room table or through a shop window. Let your personality shine with beautiful ornaments that cover the tree from tip to base. If you're in a time crunch, Christmas-themed charms work as instant mini-tree ornaments. Just attach ear wires and hang.

Mini Christmas trees can also be used as craft fair displays for selling handmade earrings. Simply hook the earring finding to the tree’s branches as ornaments. Or when hosting a holiday get-together, display earrings as fun gifts or party favors for your guests.