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DIY Christmas Decor: Faux Tree Repurposed 3 Ways

By ♥ All Projects· Christmas· Holiday Decor· Outdoor Projects· Popular Posts· Simple DIY· Upcycle Projects

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8-Foot Faux Alpine Christmas Tree

As the Put & Take find didn’t have one, first I needed to make a trunk, so I took a little walk around our woods. I was looking for a thick and pretty long tree branch, and soon I found a fallen tree branch which fit the bill perfectly. Before carrying it into our house, I cleaned it properly, as deer ticks are everywhere, and I didn’t want to bring any nasty creatures inside.

Once my new tree trunk was ready to take in, I gave it to Greg for him to cut a bit shorter – it was a really long branch. Then I asked him to drill some holes in it: one hole right on the top center of the new tree trunk, and the other holes in the body.

man drilling the base of a tree branch

The plan was to drill several holes in the tree trunk, so I could insert the faux tree branches. But before going any further, I wanted to test how these faux tree branches were going to fit, so I did a test drive with the tree top.

woman hanging faux christmas tree branches from a real tree branch

Okay, excellent fit! Now it was time for Greg to drill more holes in the body of the trunk. He drilled the holes all the way through and in a rotating way. The spacing between each hole was around 4 inches.

man drilling holes in a tree branch

When all the holes were drilled, I also asked him to help me with the tree stand. I know… this was supposed to be my project, right? LOL. What can I say? He loves earning extra ‘Good hubby‘ points! 😉 [pfffft…I’d rather sit on my butt! -Greg]

For the tree stand, I went and found 4 pieces of scrap wood in the basement, and Greg cut them to size. I also asked him to cut one corner off of each piece so the stand wouldn’t have pointy corners.

three pieces of lumber

Next, I set the wood pieces around the tree trunk for Greg to mark them.

stand for diy alpine tree

Now that the pieces were marked, using wood glue and brad nails, he started attaching them to each other at the marked areas.

making the base for the diy alpine tree

And within 2 minutes my tree stand was ready 😀

completed base for the diy alpine tree

Next step was attaching the faux tree branches to the tree trunk. But before that, using heavy duty bolt cutters, I cut the steel stems a bit shorter, as I didn’t want steel stems showing when the tree was finished.

woman cutting metal tree branch with bolt cutters

To attach the faux tree branches to the trunk, I simply inserted the branches into the drilled holes. As it was a nice and tight fit, I also bent the branches a bit downwards to lock them in their places even better.

woman inserting faux chritsmas tree branches into a real tree branch

Once all the branches were in, I started arranging them to get my faux Alpine Christmas tree into the shape I wanted.

Faux Christmas Tree Repurposed into a DIY Alpine Tree

There it was: my 8-foot tall Alpine faux Christmas tree! But I thought it was missing something. I didn’t want to add Christmas lights to it, because I wanted it to keep its plain, but cute, appearance. Instead, I could put a small star on the top branch, and if I could make a lighted star, it would look perfect! But the issue was the top branch was very weak, so the lighted star had to be pretty light. Therefore I had to use light craft wire to make that star shape.

To do so, I found a star shape that I liked on the internet and printed it onto copy paper. Then I cut the star shape out. Using craft wire, I traced the shape of the star and created my wire star form.

making a lighted star from a star template

Then, I wrapped that wire star with starry string lights.

small wire star wrapped with string lights

Starry string lights are pretty light-weight, but the star still wasn’t light enough for the top branch to carry it. Hence, I attached another piece of craft wire at the bottom of my star and I turned it into a pick. Then, to cover the ugly wire, I wrapped some Dollar Store cheap garland around it.

woman attaching lighted star to alpine tree

As the final step, I wrapped my lighted star to the top branch, and that was it.

attaching lighted star to alpine tree

Here is how my lighted star looks. Cool, right?

Faux Christmas Tree Repurposed into a DIY Alpine Tree

And finally, here is my favorite one of all three…[drum roll] I present to you our DIY 8-foot faux Alpine Christmas tree!

Faux Christmas Tree Repurposed into a DIY Alpine Tree

Faux Christmas Tree Repurposed into a DIY Alpine Tree

Faux Christmas Tree Repurposed into a DIY Alpine Tree

I love this tree! It gives such a cozy feel to our living room. Overall, this tree cost me $10, which basically was the cost of the starry string lights. But seeing a similar 8-foot Alpine tree online for $220 a week after I finished my tree is priceless! 😀

Handan, xo

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Comments

  8. helenfern says

    Hmmmm — I have a fake tree in my attic — which project will i do…… Thanks for sharing on the Pleasures of the NW’s DIY Party!

    Reply

  9. Marie from The Interior Frugalista says

    Wow, I have to admit I was skeptical how you were going to get all that out of one faux Christmas tree but you did and judging from the photo of the assembled alpine tree, have more branches to spare. Very clever way to make a strong garland for your portico. It all looks so beautiful and what a story to share to your guests about the old dilapidated Christmas tree that kept on giving. Merry Christmas!!

    Reply

  10. Kristal says

    I love all three ideas. I am definitely going to try the swag as I never use the bottom row of branches on our tree. Thanks for the great idea!

    Reply

    • Handan says

      Thank you so much, Kristal! The bottom row of branches indeed would make the best candidates for swags, because they would be slightly bigger and fuller 😉

      Reply

  12. nancy says

    Your tree is so much nicer looking than so many fake trees. It’s got soul. I glued bark around my fake tree and use a stand similar to the one you built. My cats love it!!!!!!!

    Reply

    • Handan says

      Oh wow, Nancy! That is a brilliant idea! If I happen to find another faux tree (of course I will make sure to check if it has a trunk next time) I will definitely try your idea 😉

      Reply

  13. Leanne says

    My Dad has the same tree and when we replace it with a new one next year, I’m going to use the branches to make the swags and garland! Beautiful job.

    Reply

    • Handan says

      Awesome! I am sure they all will look so beautiful! When you finish them can you post a picture or two on our Facebook page? I would love to feature it!! 🙂

      Reply

  14. Brenda Schade says

    That was the very first post I have read Word for Word top to bottom, your creativity is awesome and I loved everything and your Alpine tree is also my favorite.
    I like it with just the star.
    Thanks for sharing your great ideas.
    Merry Christmas
    Brenda ?

    Reply

  15. Laura says

    I love all of your projects here – especially the swags, as I have two garage lights that I haven’t been able to figure out yet. Now I do!
    Off-topic question – What is on top of your lamp (that is standing next to your Alpine tree)? And what is it’s purpose? For the life of me, I can’t figure that one out! 🙂

    Reply

    • Handan says

      Thank you so much, Laura! Oh that is our wi-fi router, lol… Hopefully when Greg starts building the media cabinet for our living room, it will have a better nesting place 😉

      Reply

    • Handan says

      Thank you so much, Susan! I bought the garland long ago from Ramstore (a store similar to Stop&Shop) in Kazakhstan…it has to be at least 8-9 years old if not more. Originally it had black leather string, but over the years that started break from here and there, so I had to redo it with red, white & black baker’s string and sometime later strengthened it with chunky white yarn 🙂

      Reply

  19. Mary-The Boondocks Blog says

    Great repurposing Handan. I love the tree it looks like something out of Dr. Seuss. But now my daughter is looking over my shoulder and says I’m wrong. It is more like Tim Burton’s style. Anyway I want to wish you and Greg Happy Holidays.

    Reply

  20. Beverly Roderick says

    This is all so creative! What talent you both have for taking ordinary and making it extraordinary! Your outdoor decor is wonderful and the tree looks great, too! Thanks for sharing at Snickerdoodle. I’ll be featuring this at tomorrow’s party.

    Reply

  23. Alecia (Sarge) says

    Ok…so I have had a “spare” 6 foot tall faux Christmas tree that I bought for $2.50 at the end of the season, a few seasons ago, that I did not want to pass up but had no idea what to make of it. THANK YOU! I now have a few choices. (I love all of the projects that I have seen you and the Hubster create – not just these).

    Reply

  24. April says

    WHAT a super idea!!! I just found this link from Pinterest (I LURVE Pinterest for finding hidden gems like this!) You guys are super resourceful! 🙂

    Reply

  26. Collette Barnard says

    Haha, the same thing happened to me! Brought the tree home and it was missing the trunk, base and top. No wonder the box was so light. I’m going to give this alpine tree a try, I love the way it turned out. Very clever!

    Reply

  28. Julie says

    Just wondering how many branches did you use? My husband cut me some tree trunks today and hopefully I can start asseembling soon. Love yours!!

    Reply

    • Handan says

      Hi Julie, sorry for the late reply – I used 1 on top, then 2 on each row. I made the rows alternating so the 2 branches would cover more area without crowding the look. The number of the rows will depend on how tall you want your tree to be – somewhere around the middle of my branch, I stopped adding more rows. I hope this info helps!

      Reply

  30. Donnamarie Tonelli says

    It’s 2018 and I’m just seeing this posting and I LUV it! You did a fantastic job decorating that immense portico (with Greg, of course)! I’ll be looking for discarded trees this year to make the swags next year; THANK YOU for sharing.

    Reply

  31. Debra says

    I love this!! I’m so glad I didn’t throw away my old Christmas tree! I’ve already made the body of the swags and I’m waiting for the sleigh bell sprays to be delivered. (I ordered them for the link you provided because they’re perfect). I’m sure once I post the finished project, I’ll be asked by my family and friends to make them some.

    Reply

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