The best thing that you can do is test whichever paints or inks that you intend to use on a piece of scrap board. let it dry thoroughly preferably overnight and then try gluing a couple of pieces together with different glues. Again leave overnight to dry thoroughly before pulling apart. The card pieces will either rip (fibre tear) when you attempt to separate, or they will separate cleanly and easily. This will dictate whether you can paint the individual components before assembling them with your chosen paints and glue. If the glue does not hold the pieces of board together after painting, then you will need to glue each of the 12 branch layers together before painting. Once each layer is glued in the shape of a bowl, then you can paint both the outside and inside. I would suggest that you paint one side first and allow to dry before painting the other side. This will prevent the board from becoming too soggy and warping especially if you are using thin water based paint.
 
We now have a range of spray aerosol can paints available from our website which are superb and very easy to use. These give a very thick coat of paint in one coat and leave the card with a slight sheen (Not too glossy and not quite matt) We have used these on a number of our trees and we are delighted with the results. You will however have to glue the components first as described above as the paint does not take to glue especially the metallics. These come in a range of colours including dark and mid green, Silver, Gold and copper. just look under accessories.

We have used cheap acrylic Tesco green paint applied with a sponge to great effect on the green trees. Just keep dabbing with the sponge and build up the layers

One of our trees has been left white but covered with spray glitter which we supply in large cans. the spray is fantastic for most trees as it leaves a very subtle glittery effect. This again is available on our website and will probably cover 50 trees. This glitter can be used over any colour finish including our spray paints and the cheap Asda and Tesco paints and gives a fantastic depth and glitter effect to the trees.

We have painted a tree black with Colour Crazy paint bought from Asda in a large 500ml bottle applied with a sponge. This will probably cover a couple of hundred trees and cost 0.99p and then once the black was dry, we applied 'Glitz It Glitter Glue' and then covered with our iridescent glitter which changed colour to dark green. Of course you can use any clear glitter glue. This gave a fantastic sparkling base to our tree.

We have used spray gold enamel paint from B&Q - Plasti-cote to paint one of the trees gold, and then over sprayed with our glitter.

Use some of the waste board to experiment with different paints. Remember that some paints such as spray enamels and spray acrylics do not glue very well with PVA glue, so test the glue on different paints using scrap pieces of board. We find that for water based paints such as most acrylics, it is best to paint the parts whilst still flat with several coats using a sponge or brush until you have a nice deep solid colour. Experiment by adding a bit of brown or orange dabbed lightly with a sponge to give a two tone effect. You will probably be able to glue with PVA to these paints, but try to keep the glue flaps free of paint. I am told that Pinflair glue will stick to any paint finishes. Contact adhesives are also likely to stick to any paints. You apply contact adhesive to a glue flap, put the parts together as if you are going to glue them so that the glue transfers to both parts, then separate and let dry for a few minutes, then push the parts together again, you will have to position them right though first time.

If you wish to spray with enamels, fully assemble/glue the parts such as the 12 branch layers and then spray them before assembling to the wooden dowel.

Gill- our demonstrator has used a combination of different greens and browns in distress inks applied lightly with a sponge to great effect.

If you are still unsure, I would suggest that you ring Mary (Scary) at any time and she will give you a lot of help and advice. We will be adding a tips and help section to our website shortly.