We love DIY Christmas trees here on Curbly for lots of reasons: for one thing, they’re incredibly creative, and, for another thing, they can cost very little to nothing to make. They also make great alternatives for apartment dwellers and other small space-rs. So, to share our favorite ideas and inspiration this holiday season, here’s our 2011 guide to DIYable and other handmade Christmas trees. We’ll start with small options and end large!
The tree pictured above from Sweet Paul is made of dowels which have been hot glued together.
Mel at Bliss Bloom was inspired by a wreath spotted at Design Sponge to make this ruffled, felt Christmas tree.
Mantels are prefect places for little trees, like this trio. They’re actually handmade cards popped into little stumps that have been scored to accept the card stock.
Rolled wrapping paper and buttons make up these dimensional trees.
Even if you have a small home or apartment that doesn’t me you can’t have a big tree. These next ideas are big but flat, so they’ll fit anywhere.
A few lengths of reclaimed wood and some nails is all we’d need to make this minimal Christmas tree.
If you like your wood a little more natural, this twig/log tree is a great option. (If I were to make this one, I’d actually consider stringing the logs together like a mobile.)
Speaking of string, this string Christmas tree idea from AT is as fresh as it was when it first appeared a few years back.
Eight embroidery hoops and some fabric make up this clever tree.
Now for some large trees with GIRTH. This next one is totally doable with 2″ x 2″s. (Not suitable for homes with young children and animals, if trimmed with real candles.)
If you’ve got a tripod, you already have a tree of sorts. Here’s mine all decked out a couple years ago.
If you have a ladder, you also have a Christmas tree. The idea has been around a while, but this version using a metal ladder is oddly light and airy. (Note the putty knife as the star. Clever.)
This last one isn’t probably the most do-able, but, if you can scrounge up a bunch of the right kind of chair legs, you can make a tree out of those too. Specifically, the legs are moulded plywood chair legs. And the guy sitting beside it? That’s none other than Charles Eames circa 1946. Yes, it looks like a fire hazard, but who cares? It’s Charles Eames….sitting by a tree made out of chair legs!
