a peek inside the fishbowl

Awhile back I received an email from Cascades, a packaging and paper company in Quebec. They asked me if I wanted to check out their product catalogue and possibly receive a free sample of one of their cardboard Christmas trees. (And although I did receive this for free, as always my opinions remain my own.)

It took me about a split second to reply to that email. I knew the girls would love it and that it would make a really interesting advent activity.

A cardboard Christmas tree might not sound that exciting to some, but I think it’s a pretty cool idea. It’s made from 100% recycled paper, Canadian made, and comes flat… in large perforated sheets you punch out. Then you just lie them out and start designing your own tree (there are ornaments too), piece it together, and voila, you have an eco tree!

The decorating possibilities are endless and many questions arose: should we paint it? Crayon or pencil crayon? Découpage? Should it be green, or something else? Should we stick things on the tree or leave it plain?

I tell ya, this was an all day project. The girls went to TOWN, and (seemingly) dragged out every single craft supply we own. Almost. (Including the glue gun.)

There are six of these panels and each side had to be painted and left to try. It was a lot of work, but fun. (Here’s a tip, use acrylic paints as they are washable.)

Phew. It’s done! Assembly (not pictured) was a snap.

Now to put something underneath the tree. Oh wait, we already have something furry under there…

… and here’s another view of the final product!

Pretty neat eh?  I loved watching the girls in action, and glitter glue, goggly eyes, pipe cleaners, pom poms were also thrown into this crafty mix.

We are all really proud of the final result. Thank you Cascades for this advent activity!

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This post is part of my 25 days of Christmas advent activities, although I’m actually doing only 12 this year. You can read more about that here.