DIY Reclaimed wood Christmas tree and star
If you love the rustic look of reclaimed wood, this Christmas project is perfect for you! Learn how to build your own rustic DIY reclaimed wood Christmas tree and star using free scrap wood!
I love decorating my front porch for Christmas. In fact, I’ve since made a few cool vertical porch signs you can check out HERE.
However this year, I wasn’t sure what to put up yet.
But after glancing around my festive, surrounding neighbour’s front porches of cute toboggans and pretty greens, I looked at my own bare porch, called myself a scrooge, and vowed to change that! And boy did I!
So I rummaged through my wood stash in my workshop, and came up with a pretty cute and festive project…
Have you too ever wondered how to make a Christmas tree out of pallets? I do believe this is the tutorial to copy!
Because thanks to this pallet Christmas tree or DIY reclaimed wood Christmas tree and star, made from free scrap wood for absolutely free, my Christmas front porch turned out as cute as can be!
This wood or pallet tree ended up being one of my favorite December DIY projects to date! But best to start collecting reclaimed wood or wooden pallets in November or earlier, so you have plenty of time to make a few for yourself or as gifts.
Scrooge no more, here’s the instructions on what I did:
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DIY Reclaimed wood Christmas tree and star
Supplies you will need
reclaimed wood planks
measuring tape
orbital sander
miter saw
cordless drill and screws
Gathering and preparing the wood
Remember all that amazing, chippy fence wood I picked up not long ago? Grabbing from my wonderful stacked setup in the workshop, I set up to work.
1. Gather plenty of like-minded reclaimed wood planks.
These fence planks happened to be chippy white, however any planks will do. It’ll just change the look!
2. Prepare the reclaimed wood by pressure washing, allowing to dry, then lightly sanding.
Other wood sources to consider:
- repurposed wood pallets
- any wood planks, even new
- reclaimed barn wood
- plywood sheets
Other helpful woodworking tips to try:
Read The Easiest Way to Clean Reclaimed Wood HERE
Learn if your pallet wood is safe from THIS POST
How to take apart old pallets or fence planks easily
Building a wood tree stand
3. Use one plank to create a tree stand, Charlie Brown tree style!
The size of your stand should be dependent on the size of your tree. I will admit, this stand was a little too small. Try longer boards than I did, and you may get more stability if you position the stand in an x, rather than a cross.
- Cut one board into two longer lengths, and two short pieces.
- Center, then cross the two longer boards.
- Tuck the smaller pieces under the top board at the far edges as shown above.
- 4. Flip the boards good side down, then attach the boards together with screws from the underside.
Pre-drilling holes prior to screwing the wood is a good idea if your reclaimed wood is brittle, to avoid splitting the wood.
Making a tall wood tree stand
4. Cut a tall wood post to the desired height of your DIY wood Christmas tree.
I used a 3 x 3 post.
5. Position the post on top of the stand, then assemble the post and stand together by screwing the wood together from underneath the stand.
Now for the really fun part!
How to angle cut the tree boards
1. Select an angle on the miter saw for all your angle cuts, which will create the Christmas tree shape.
I believe my angle was about 35 degrees.
2. Starting with the bottom of the tree, cut the longest board first.
* My first board was 28″ long, x 4″ deep. The tree ended up being 38″ tall. I suggest to cut all your small planks first, then the post last, to ensure it’s long enough for your tree.
Cut one side of the plank…
… then keeping the board in the same position where the same bottom faces you, flip the board over, and cut the other side at your desired length.
2. To cut the next board, cut one edge first, lay your fully cut board on top of the new board, and pencil in the same length.
3. Position the board in miter saw until the pencil mark hits the 2, then cut.
This will cut all your boards 2″ shorter from the last.
Repeat with all the rest of the needed tree boards.
Assembling the reclaimed wood tree
4. Mark the centre of each board, and screw each one to the tall support post, starting from the longest bottom board, working towards the top of the tree.
I used one screw to secure each board, however you could use more.
Painting and protecting the tree
At this point you could paint, stain or protect the tree with some kind of outdoor wood protectant if desired.
However I left my own chippy fence wood as-is, as my tree would be sitting under cover. It weathered perfectly.
View Christmas Crates stencil HERE
Check out Shipping Crate Stamps stencil HERE
How to stencil pallet crate markings
Another paint treatment to consider adding a pallet look with either of these two stencils, with one of them being Christmas-themed!
View Christmas Crates stencil HERE
Check out Shipping Crate Stamps stencil HERE
See how the Christmas Crates was used on THIS TREE PROJECT. So cool!
Wood scrap Christmas tree star
I didn’t want to go to a ton of work making a perfect star. No patience for that.
So… I used the edge cuts from the tree boards to build this. How easy is that?
With one exception. The top peak will have to be custom cut, to align with the bottom legs.
2. Dry-fit hinges that connect each of the star points, pencil-in screw holes, then pre-drill pilot holes. Attach with short screws.
3. Attach a large hinge behind the star, to attach to the tree.
Decorating ideas for the DIY Christmas tree
And your beautiful DIY wood Christmas tree is now ready to decorate any way you wish!
- use mini Christmas string lights or fairy lights
- hang a DIY garland
- add hooks to hang ornaments
- attach rusty junk with ribbon
Mason jar pinecone twig garland tutorial is HERE.
I rather liked how this mason jar pine cone twig garland looked! Very quirky!
And of course, you can also build this DIY tree smaller for small-space decorating too such as beside a fireplace. Even a family of wood trees all different sizes would look super cool! See where your own creativity takes you!
And with that, I have one final thought…
What scrooge? My Christmas front porch has never looked better!
Think you’ll give this alternative Christmas tree project a go?
Other DIY Christmas trees to make:
Wood scrap Christmas tree farm
Christmas and winter reclaimed wood trees, crate-style!
String wrapped wood scrap Christmas trees
Vertical Christmas tree porch sign with added 3D crate
A You Cut Tree Farm tree sign in a Buffalo Checked crate
.Visit many other DIY wood Christmas trees HERE
I LOVE your tree, Donna! There is no Scrooge in sight.
Love, Love, Love your tree! Thank You for sharing.
Relatively new follower here, all I can say is I love this along with ALL your other projects. Thank you so much for sharing this! I am making this for outside my front door…
I love this tree! I would “undecorate” it and leave it in my landscape all year!
Adorable! I love the star with the hinges… very cute!
LOVE IT!!!!!!
Oh please do not take apart that beautiful tree! I’m not sure what the shipping would be but I would buy it in a minute if I could get it to Alabama! Love you and your style so much!!
That is seriously cute and definitely bumps you out of the Scrooge category. 🙂
Love it!!! All you do fits my decorating style….old and rusty AND repurposed. You are amazing.
I just love your tree. The boards you chose were just the perfect shabby distress. I will be on the hunt for fence now. Love all your projects and the inspiration that you give us all. Have a Merry Christmas my Funky Junk Friend!
Hugs
Becky
I especially love the garland. I really need to do something with my porch before my Christmas company shows up!
Another “junky” masterpiece! I LOVE this!! Pinning for next year! 🙂
You are so funny!! I love your sense of humor! I laughed all the way through this blog today. I really love your cute little Christmas tree! Where would you want to move to if you sold your house? Austin, Texas? That would be great, and we love people on bikes down here. Your son could go to Univ of Texas. See, it’s all planned out! Ya’ll come on down!
I also loved your Coca-Cola centerpiece from yesterday. And guess what I found in my attic 3 days ago while looking for other Christmas items that had seemingly evaporated? A CC crate made into a little wagon. That’s my project for today. Love your blogs! You’re the best!
That is awesome Donna. When Scrooge decides to get in the spirit, (s)he goes Big or goes home – love it! Great tutorial too – thanks.
So clever! I haven’t one anything outside either…you’ve inspired me!
Love it Donna! It’s the perfect junk tree!! Merry Christmas!
Hugs,
Jann
THAT IS VERY GOOD WORK
I love that your helper dressed up for the occasion (tuxedo kitty)! Merry Christmas from Southern Oregon. Thank you for all the inspiration!
(By the way, I’m originally from Ontario).
Looks really good Donna … GREAT JOB !!!
Love the garland too.
Merry Christmas,
Audrey Z. @ Timeless Treasures
Donna, I can’t even tell you how much I love this-it’s awesome!!
Donna, love this fantastic Christmas tree!! The way you made the star is awesome and of course love the decorations on the tree!! 🙂
It’s just perfect. I love it.
Hi, Donna! That is SO DARN BEAUTIFUL! I love everything about it, and your photos are just gorgeous. Thanks for the wonderful post, now super inspired to look at my pile-o-junky-wood again.
love this Donna your best & most creative person! love this tree and Lake or is it Skye? looks like he or she has his winter coat on! 🙂
Audrey
sunset beach ca
The tree is too cute,
Merry Christmas
Not only is that tree awesome but the instructions on how you cut the pieces to size was no less than brilliant! Thanks for the tip 🙂
So original Donna!
How wide and. Long is the bottom board
Hi Ann! I started with a 28″ long x 4″ deep board. The tree ended up being 32″ high. I’d suggest to cut all your small boards first, then the post last to ensure it’s long enough. Good question, I’ll add this info to the post!
Can you advise angel you cut boards for junk tree at? Thanks.
Hey Dennis, sorry, I don’t remember. It may have been close to a 45 degree. I’d just choose one angle that you like the look of and roll with it.
I adore this tree! That star with the hinges!!!
Hi, I was wondering what the length of the boards used as the base were?
Hi Stacy! The base boards are 11″ long, but I suggest to make them longer for more stability.
So sad that you plan on taking it apart after Christmas 🙁
I love this project so much that I featured it in my post “15 Rustic Farmhouse Christmas Decorations”. http://www.diyhsh.com/2017/10/15-rustic-farmhouse-christmas.html Hope you’ll stop by and check it out.
Thank you for this inspiration. I am so glad I didn’t put our old gate to the curb. Didn’t know what it wanted to be. Ta da Christmas tree. Love this! Love re cycling when it’s so adorable.