Making Christmas

Since I live in an apartment building we are not allowed to have live trees, it is like they are a fire hazard or something. In stay of buying one of those awful plastic things that vaguely resemble a pine tree I have decided that it is far more fun to get a bit more creative with the whole holiday decoration process. Last year I made a Donkey Kong themed tree and this year I went chalk board.

Parts:

  • Chip Board: $30
    3/4" thickness. 2 Sheets of 4'x8'. I know it is kind of crappy but plywood is crazy expensive for this.
  • Chalkboard Paint: $10
    YOu can also make this with no-sand grout and matte latex paint. I think it is 1tsp for 1qt of paint.
  • Screws: ???
    You just need a few for the base. I used 12 2" wood screws.

Tools:

  • Jig Saw/legend> </li>
  • Sand Paper
  • Brush, whatever you like and possibly an artist brush
  • Twine
  • Pencil
  • Drill
  • </ul>
    Step 1 - Draw a Tree:
    Okay. I am apparently a drunken 3-year-old when I try and draw pine trees so all you really have to shoot for is drunken 4-year-old to have it look better than mine. I went for something where each step was the same height to make it look a bit more Susseian. I made mine about 6'6" tall. You are going to need some of the bottom for a base and remember that it is going to add about a foot to the height. If you tape the twine to the centre of the top and tie the end to the pencil you can use that to make the swoops even.
    Step 2 - Cut All the Things:
    Cut the first tree side out and then use it as a template for the second one and cut that out. Then you need to cut a ~3/4" slot half way down one and half way down the other so that they can slot together. Then cut 4 pieces about 1' square for the base out of the scraps.
    Step 3 - Build the Base:
    Take your 4 pieces and you are going to screw through the top of some piece into the edge of another to make the box so that there are screws on each face and the final product is 1'3/4" on each side (I wish I had a picture of it in the process but I do not, sorry). Make sure to pre-drill your holes or you will split the material. When it is together you need to cut slots for the tree to sit in. Measure the center of each side and cut a 3/4" wide by 1" deep slot in each side on the top.
    Step 4 - Sand:
    Use a pretty low grit. Try and take some of the roughness off of the back side and clean up the edges.
    Step 5 - Paint:
    It is going to take several coats. I did 4 with some sanding in between. The artist brush is nice for getting in the little divots that the material can tend to have.
    Step 6 - Assemble:
    Get some help and slot the two pieces together. Then lift them up and slot them into the base.
    Step 7 - Decorate:
    Get the chalk out and get to work. If you want to add some lights do that too. If you let the excess fall into the base it looks pretty nice with the under lighting effect. If you have the room above it you could hang a paper lantern as a star. I did not so I glued a magnet to the top of the tree and a washer to the bottom of a tea light holder and used an electric tea light as my star.