DIY: Palm Tree

I finally finished my palm tree and OMG is it adorable! I love it and everything about it! Thanks to the help of my Mom and a cloudy Sunday afternoon, we finished it and with time to spare. Mom was able to cook and the fam came over to celebrate my sweet and wonderful Dad! Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there!

Here is the top view.

I started out with this. A carpet roll mounted on some 2x4s. I think that's what they are? ha I don't know, my Uncle Ronnie put this together for me!

Next, I followed DeAnna's directions step by step (well - except for ONE part). I used the LARGE lunch bags instead of grocery bags. {DeAnna's Palm Tree Directions}

 I cut the bottoms off like this...

 See? It's kinda like a cylinder when you open it up and round it out. You should have two open sides. 

 After you've cut, you scrunch your paper bags making layered circles. 

Add them to your carpet roll. I used nothing to secure them....just kept adding and sliding them on the tube. All in all, the tube took about 50 of the lunch bags vs. 20-25 had I used the big grocery bags. 

Afterwards, I stripped a golf umbrella of it's umbrella (does that make sense?) leaving only the "bones." I didn't take a picture of this! Oops! My Mom helped me make a leaf pattern out of wrapping paper. This was great to use because the back of the paper had a grid on it for easy cutting and measuring. We folded our leaf in half and pinned it to our fabric, which was also folded in half. 

 Here is a close up view of the grid. I HIGHLY recommend making and using a pattern.

After we unpinned it, the fabric opened up to make a leaf! I forgot to snap a pic of that, too! So sorry. Anyways, we simply slid it over the umbrella wiring and secured with hot glue. Easy peasy!

And viola! It's done and oh so presh! 

What do ya'll think? I'm feeling rather Martha Stewart like!