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Craft a Christmas Tree from Your Reader's Digest Magazine

Got an old issue of the magazine lying around? Here's how to turn it into an eye-catching Christmas tree in minutes.

By Chandni Jhunjhunwala

From readersdigest.com

Thousands of readers write in to tell us how they grew up testing their Word Power, or laughing out loud at All in a Day's Work jokes in the pages of Reader's Digest. But Tina Ragnone, an administrative assistant at Reader's Digest, has another childhood memory associated with the magazine. "My friends and I would stay after school, fold the pages of the magazine, spray paint them and sprinkle with glitter," she says. "We would always make a few Christmas trees for the classroom and one to take home. Who knew back then, that one day I would actually work for the company?"

If your parents didn't teach you this neat trick, it's not too late to learn how to do it. Now, you can get your kids or grandkids into the holiday spirit with this easy and fabulous craft.

You Will Need:

Reader's Digest magazine

Glue

Glitter

Spray paint (green, gold, or silver)

Small wood or foam star (optional)

What to Do:

1. Remove both covers from magazine. Take the upper right hand corner of the first page and bring it down so that the top edge of the page rest against the glued binding of the magazine.

2. Now crease this first fold, carefully. Again, take this page and fold it over until the crease rests against the glued binding of the magazine. Crease second fold.

3. Finally fold the triangle (that overlaps the bottom of the magazine) upward so it will be even with the bottom of the book, crease it. The first page is finished.

4. Continue folding & creasing the remaining pages.

5. When the magazine is completely folded glue the front and back pages together. Spray tree with paint, and sprinkle glitter while still wet. Glue star to top.

Tip: To create a bigger tree, try gluing two Reader's Digest magazines back-to-back.

Comments :

By Cindy, 11/18/2009, 5:58 PM EST

I remember staying after school to help one of my teachers make these trees. The finished trees were given to residents in nursing homes. It is one of my best memories from grammer school.

By Bonnie Brewer, 11/15/2009, 10:04 PM EST

Yes, I have plenty of RDs to make the Christmas tree! Does anyone remember making angels? I made one in Camp Fire Girls and my Grandmother took it out every Christmas for many years. Fold the right corner of the page into the spine then bring the bottom right page up to meet the folded edge. they stood up on their own. We spray painted them gold, added a styrofoam head with curly angel hair and sequins for eyes. We added foil wings and were so proud of our resulting angel!

By Sally Wible, 11/10/2009, 5:35 PM EST

I was so happy to see the Readers Digest Christmas Trees on Pg. 4 of the December issue - it brought back so many memories. Forty years ago or thereabouts, I was a Den Mother and my Cub Scouts made them for Christmas - so much fun and a very nice decoration.

By Diane Westfield, 11/09/2009, 9:23 PM EST

I am just now planning to make the Christmas trees from old reader's digest mag.. But the way you have them folded is not the way my mom taught me to do them back in the '70's. We folded the top right corner down into the center and then brought bottom right corner up to meet (about center of that fold at the bottom). It gave you a slight base, so the tree did not topple over. Wish I had a drawing for you, but no can do here.

By Sheila Sweiger, 11/02/2009, 8:47 AM EST

I am a long time reader of Readers Digest. I want to Thank you Tina for making this sight. I made the Christmas trees with the books when I was in Brownies and Girl Scouts. We would make one to take to shut-ins or nursing homes and make one for our family. I wanted to make them this year for gifts and could not remember how to fold them. Thank you so much and Readers Digest for the continued great stories. Have a great holiday this year 2009.