Make It Merry

I'm blog hopping for 14 days with Diane and the Make it Merry Gang...14 days of DIY Christmas decor!

My assignment:  Christmas Trees.

I've been wanting to make a tree out of scrap wood for a few years now, so this just gave me the nudge I needed. 

Should you like to make one...I'll show you how I made mine.  First you need to create a center post stand.  I used a 2x4 and four 1x6 pieces for the base.  The measurements are whatever you want or have on hand. :)

This is what the base looks like.  I suppose there is a name for such a configuration. A stand like this could be used for so many things besides a tree.  A coat rack and sign post come to mind now.

After screwing in the first two boards, you just rotate the stand and add the third, then fourth.  I pre drilled all the holes.

Next, I laid out the scrap pieces of wood I picked out for the tree.  A couple of them I did cut just a little, but mostly I just played around with what I had.  Some are drawer front pieces, one is part of a coat rack, one a cupboard piece, some from tables and so on.  Just keep rearranging until you like what you have. I then scrubbed them all clean with hot soapy water.

  When dry, I screwed each of the pieces in place from the back on the post. (pre drill)  After a few of them, it got awkward and I had to have my husband help me hold them and drill them in.  If my work table would have been cleared off I think I could have managed on my own but it wasn't. :)  It was fun to have him help me anyway.

All done!  I experimented with adding some vintage ornaments and my sparkle light bulbs, but decided I like it just as is with a couple of birds.  It won't be staying in this spot, but I needed to take pictures where I had some natural light.

That teal wainscoting is my favorite scrap wood.  I've used some of it here before.

I left the hardware just "as is" on the pieces. I enjoy the randomness.

Of course, every tree needs a topper.

Mine is baling wire around an old metal embroidery hoop.  Those embroidery hoops come in handy!
I nailed it into a block of wood on the post.

If you would like to see another scrappy DIY tree, click here to see my posts for last year's Junkle Bells tree.

Here's the big list again for the Make it Merry blog hop.  You can click on each one and follow along.