Christmas Tree Makeovers!

Bryan's Workshop
by Bryan's Workshop
13 Materials
$20
2 Days
Easy

You can transform any tree into something amazing. That's right! No matter what that tree looks like, you can give it an epic upgrade.


This post is how I make my workshop trees. I live in Japan where Christmas is very popular, but christmas trees...not so much. Most of my students don't have a tree in their house for these three reasons.


1. There's not enough space

2. Trees are too expensive

3. It's too troublesome for parents


I solved these problems with my workshop tree. My trees are:


1. 90cm tall and come in a sturdy box that fits in the corner of a traditional Japanese closet

2. Only costs $5 for my students

3. All decorations are glued in place so the tree can be unpacked and packed up in minutes.

These are the finished trees. I made three styles to choose from:




  1. Rustic
  2. Black & Silver
  3. Blue Tinsel

I started out with what you see in this picture.


-Tree

-Greenery

-Pinecones

-Ornaments

-Ball picks

-Hot glue gun w/ glue sticks

-Scissors

-Lacquer spray paint

-Twine (not used)


These trees are on the thin side, so I bought some greenery to cut and glue to the Christmas tree branches. The end result is perfect!

First you'll spray the tree. I used lacquer spray paint and didn't try any other kind. This paint will not flake or scratch off of the tree.


I put down a tarp and used a piece of thin plywood to block the breeze.


The colors I used for each tree:


Rustic: Gold followed by White

Black&Silver: Black followed by White

Blue Tinsel: White


You don't need to wait for the first color to dry before spraying on the second color.

This is the rustic tree: Gold followed by White.


I glued the greenery and ornaments onto the black & silver and blue tinsel tree before spray painting them.

There is a mind blowing difference once you paint a tree!

I glued everything in place so the trees are easily unpacked and stored. I know this takes the fun out of decorating, but it was one of the big reasons for parents not having a tree to begin with. I left plenty of room for more ornaments too.


To secure the ornaments:


-Glue the caps to the ornaments

-Tie the ornaments to the tree

-Glue the cap to the underside of the branch

-Cut the extra string from the ornament knot.

These are awesome things that'll spruce up your tree.




  1. Greenery! Any kind of greenery will work. Just cut it and glue it to the branches.
  2. Natural pinecones for the rustic trees.
  3. These are natural pinecones with a shot of white spray paint for the blue tinsel trees.
  4. Snow covered pinecones for the black & silver trees. These can be made by gently rolling this type of pinecone in glue and then something coarse like sand and then spray painting it. I've also use shredded bits of paper for bigger flakes. Lucky for me, these are now sold like this.

Add accents with beads or cotton balls. Ball picks can be used too.

The finished trees!

One of the trees in its box.

Awesomeness!


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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 4 questions
  • Cheri Tanner Cheri Tanner on Dec 15, 2018

    Did you decorate all around the whole tree? Very pretty. Did you take the ribbon and just tuck it in every few inches?

  • Tessa Tessa on Dec 15, 2018

    Your trees're beautiful! Why do you initially spray the trees with lacquer paint? To keep the 'needles' from shedding? Thank you!

  • Heidi Kramer Heidi Kramer on Sep 10, 2021

    Kudos! You can really womp-up a cheap tree and make it look elegant! One question: how are the cotton balls used on the trees?

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