Christmas Tree DIY

Last year I made this Christmas tree. I had a lot of fun making it and I’m posting it here so it might help you if you want to make something yourself.  

How to make it

1. Go on a branch hunt

I went out to the forest and looked for straight branches on the ground of different sizes and took them home with me.

You need:

• Three big, strong branches for the base of the tree, one of them with a fork of two branches at the end of the stick. 
• A bunch of lighter and smaller branches in different lengths.
• Take extra branches so you can find out at home which work best

Take note:

There are usually some creatures living on/inside these fallen branches, so lay them out on the balcony or shed for a while so you don’t bring the creatures inside ;-)

2. Take a bit of rope and tie the branches together.

This is a bit tricky, but with a little patience you will get it. Be aware that this tree is not going to be super stable so make it in the place where you would like to have it. 

Start by using the three biggest branches. and place them together so they stand on their own. (see photo) the fork-part can really help here. Then use some yarn or rope to tie the pieces in place.  

After that you start at the bottom with the longest branches and tie them horizontally  to the base. If you want you can hang some ornaments on the branches before you tie them. I hung most of my ornament on little hooks I found on the branches. 

My floor is very smooth so I put a bit of tape on the floor and on the bottom of the branches so it wouldn’t slide and fall. 

3. Make it look nice with ornaments

Some ideas for making it look even better:

• Hang lights on the tree
• Find some evergreen branches and tie them to you tree
• Fill it with your favourite Christmas ornaments
• I received the star on top from a little girl I know and it finished the tree perfectly. She  made it out of golden cardboard. 
• Under the tree I made a little snow world by putting an old bed sheet underneath the tree and placing different ornaments on top of it. I also used some pine cones as trees. 

It happened a couple of times that an enthusiastic kid would accidentally hit one of the base branches so that it fell. I found that it was actually pretty easy to put it back again, it is more sturdy than you think.
So don’t panic if something like this happens to you. Just put the base back and usually the rest is still in place. (the damage usually looks worse than it is) 

I hope this helps you to come up with your own Christmas tree. Send me a picture if you have made one yourself, I would really like to see all your creations :)

Enjoy!

xx Merith