Wood Shingle Christmas Tree

We host Christmas dinner at our house every year. (Well, I host while Alberto cooks. You definitely don’t want to eat my cooking!) This year we wanted something special for the center of the table. We kept tossing around ideas, but nothing really seemed right. So to help us with our inspiration, we headed down to the basement to see what we could find. (Weird, I know, but it seems to work for us!)

We were rummaging through when we saw a bundle of wooden shingles left over from when we had the house painted a few years ago. Immediately, Alberto said “Christmas tree!” and just as quickly, I said “Of course!” (Don’t try to figure out how we do this, it just is…)

The tree came together very simply. All I did was break the shingles into smaller pieces and glue them to a styrofoam cone. To give it a festive holiday touch we added some leftover ribbon and a few glass ornaments. The result is another Christmas tree for our collection!

Here’s what we used to make the Christmas tree:

• Styrofoam cone
• Wooden shingles (We used probably 5.)
• Ribbon and ornaments

This is what we needed to put it together:

• Glue gun
• Scissors
• Floral sticks with wire
• Ruler and marker
• Pins (We used 3.)

Let’s make a Wood Shingle Christmas Tree!

 

• Start by cutting the wood shingles into 3 1/2-inch long pieces. I break the pieces into the width that I need as I go. Break one of the thicker sections to a width of about 2-inches, and glue it to the base of the cone.
• Continue on around the base making sure that you cover the styrofoam completely. On the last piece, you’ll need to break it into the size you need.
• Start the second row by measuring 1-inch up from the top of the shingles that you just glued on and make a mark. Break another piece of shingle, place glue on the top end, and glue it to the cone so that the top of the piece lines up with the mark that you made. Continue around the cone in this manner. Don’t worry about gaps between the pieces because the next row will hide the gaps. Also, use different widths to give the tree more character. Measure up another inch and make your marks.
• Break and glue another piece on the mark. Make sure that  you cover the gaps in the shingles on the row below.
• Continue this process all the way up the tree. As you get closer to the top, your pieces should become smaller and smaller.

  

• When you reach the very top of the cone, break the thinnest pieces of the shingles into 1/4-inch pieces.
• Place the glue about 1-inch up from the bottom, and glue to the top of the tree. The glue should hit the top of the row below.
• Continue around the top ensuring that the tops of the thin strips meet in the middle. If you find any gaps once you’re done, just glue a strip over the gap.

Cocktail Break!

We took off this week so that we could get the house ready. I was looking forward to sitting by the fire and relaxing a little, but it’s been very warm for the last few days. So Alberto whipped up a batch of the Mocha Blizzard…the perfect drink for the holidays!

Sparkle, Neely, Sparkle!

 

• Now it’s time to decorate the tree! Take the ribbon, fold the end in half lengthwise and cut diagonally to the end beginning at the fold. This makes a nice finish on the ribbon.
• About 3-inches up from the end, fold the ribbon over on itself, and tuck it between two of the shingles on the second row of the tree. (We liked the way the tree looked so much that we didn’t want to damage it. Now we can easily remove the ribbon, and keep it as a centerpiece for other occasions!)
• Moving diagonally up to the right, fold the ribbon again about 3-inches up and tuck it into the shingles about two rows up. Continue to the top and leave some ribbon on the end. Use a pin to keep the ribbon in place.
• Start the second piece of ribbon about a third of the way around the base and repeat. Do the same for the third piece of ribbon.
• At the top, hide two of the ribbon ends behind the third and twist the third and let it hang. Cut the end of the third ribbon the same as you did with the other end of the ribbon.

• To hang the ornaments on the tree, just wrap the wire from the floral picks around the top of the ornaments and insert the pick in between the shingles into the foam to hold it in place. Finish the tree by decorating it with as many ornaments as you want!

We wanted something unique for the center of our table and now we have it! It was so simple, free, and it be the centerpiece of our Christmas dinner. Happy Holidays!