How to make Christmas Trees for Home Décor
I have a few different designs for the trees that most people seem to want and enjoy. They want different designs because they don’t want to be all the same and appear mass produced. The tools that I use include a power: jigsaw, drill, miter saw, and hole saws of different sizes. I also use glue and a brad gun for joining pieces. The wood should be solid wood and not fiberboard or plywood. This is so you will have better options for adding decorations without splitting or crumbling also allows for sanding and overall look and feel. I use a lot of scrap wood from other larger projects, so I have very little costs to build them. I used mostly ¾ to 1 inch cedar boards.
- I like to make solid single piece trees that I design and cut out with the jigsaw. I then use the hole saw to create a tree trunk that I then glue and/or screw into the base of the tree. I also use a larger hole saw to cut out a tree stand base and put a hole in the center of it from the tree trunk to fit into. This way you can easily take the tree apart for flat storage.
- Another design is to join 3 to 6 trapezoid shaped pieces each being 1 inch shorter than the one below it. With the tips cut at a 45-degree angle, with a triangle top piece. I glue them together and hold the in place with a brad for the glue to set. I then make a round trunk, or you could use wooden Dowell rods cut to length. Then I cut out the base and use either round or square design to hold the tree.
3) Another design is to make a 3-dimensional tree. This is done by making 2 identical trees from option 1 or two and then cutting one down the center and attaching each half to the opposite sides of the tree. One the makes and attaches the trunk as described above.
- My 4th design is to use a ¾ inch dowel as a tree center and attach a design much like in option 2 above, except there is a space between the shaped pieces. I also use a modification to this design by cutting the dowel in half, down to the last inch or so, his creates a nice round trunk and a flat surface to install the shaped limbs of the tree.
Some folks like to paint their trees and others like to add some type of decorations. I like to use a chainsaw to cut flat trivets from cedar or oak trees that have fallen due to storms. I then have unique base to plan the layout of the trees and other pieces that I want to incorporate into my design. You may need to use an angle grinder with a wood sanding disk that performs much like a planner but works much better in this type of work on the trivets that you produce with the chainsaw.
One of my favorite design scenes:
Have fun making these for friends and family. They will love them. Contact me if you have questions at the website below.