How to create your own Christmas trees

• Lengths of wood in a variety of widths (mine range from 30mm to 90mm wide)
• Measuring tape
• Saw
• Sandpaper
• Paint
• Paintbrush
• Wood glue
• Set square
• Star
• Old plastic plant pot or tin
• Stones

• On the green tree, Resene Cleopatra, Resene Surf Crest, Resene Norway, Resene Highland, Resene Clover, Resene Dingley, Resene Forest Green and Resene Jalapeno. 
• On the colourful tree, Resene Jalapeno, Resene Irresistible, Resene Gold Drop, Resene Funk, Resene Seeker, Resene Blue Lagoon and Resene Lucky Point. 
• On the reclaimed tree, Resene Quarter Milk White and Resene Wishlist.

Instructions

Step 1: Cut your wood into lengths.  Fleur used 9 lengths and each length is 5cm shorter than the previous length.  The longest length is 50cm and the shortest is 10cm.  Use sandpaper to sand any rough edges smooth (Photo 1).

Step 2:  Paint each of the wooden slats in a graduating colour.  Fleur painted the smallest/topmost slat in Resene Surf Crest, followed by Resene Norway, two slats in Resene Highland, two slats in Resene Clover, two in Resene Dingley and the last/bottom slat in Resene Forest Green. (Photo 2). 

Step 3:  For the trunk, use a 60cm length of 4cm x 1.8cm wood.  Apply some wood glue to the trunk where you want your branch to sit. (Photo 3).  

Step 4:  Use a set square to make sure the branch sits at 90 degrees from the trunk. (Photo 4).

Step 5:  Continue gluing each of the branches to the trunk.  Fleur left a gap of a few millimetres between each branch.  (Photo 5).

Step 6:  Add a star to the top of the tree.  Fleur painted hers in Resene Cleopatra.  Paint an old plastic plant pot or large tin can in Resene Jalapeno.  Place the tree in the pot/tin and fill with stones. (Photo 6).

Step 7:  Experiment with using different widths of wood, different angled cuts at the ends and non-traditional colour schemes.

Top tip: Add a little Christmas magic with the shimmer of Resene FX Metallic using a traditional hue like Resene Silver Aluminium and Resene Gold, or go non-traditional with Resene Yeehaa or Resene Copper Fire.

Styling and images by Fleur Thorpe. September 2020.