How to Make a Christmas Tree With a Dowel & Mesh Material

DIY Christmas trees make fun and heartwarming holiday gifts.

Handcrafted Christmas decorations make heartwarming gifts and help create a festive environment in which to celebrate. Make your own Christmas tree with a wooden dowel as the trunk and mesh material to fill it out. You can make a different size or color of tree for everyone on your holiday list. As a family craft it is a project that children especially will enjoy. Each tree will turn out differently, but each will delight its recipient.

Things You'll Need

• Saw
• Wood block, 2 inches by 4 inches by 4 inches
• Drill
• ½-inch drill bit
• Wooden dowel, ½ inch in diameter, 24 inches long
• Wood glue
• Mesh fabric
• Scissors
• Ornaments
• Hot-glue gun and glue sticks
• Florist’s wire
• Sequins, buttons, glitter or other decorations

Instructions

1. Saw from a wooden two-by-four a block 4 inches long.

2. Fit a ½-inch drill bit onto your drill. Drill a hole in the center of the wooden block about 1 inch deep.

3. Squeeze two or three drops of wood glue into the hole. Insert the end of a ½-inch wooden dowel that is approximately 24 inches long into the hole. Place the block on a table so that the dowel points straight up. The dowel is the trunk of the Christmas tree.

4. Make small ½-inch cuts along one side of a piece of mesh fabric 1 or 2 inches apart. Tear the fabric into 1- or 2-inch strips, using the cuts as a starting point. The fabric can be any width. The width of the fabric becomes the length of the strips. A good starting point for the width is about 18 inches.

5. Tie a strip of mesh material around the base of the dowel next to the wooden block in a simple knot. The two ends of the mesh should be about the same length. If the mesh knot begins to loosen, tie another knot in it.

6. Turn the wooden block slightly and tie another strip of mesh material just above the first one. Keep turning the block slightly after each strip, tying another strip right above the last one. The mesh hides the wooden dowel. Keep tying mesh strips until they hide the dowel entirely. The ends of the strips are the “needles” of the Christmas tree.

7. Trim the mesh strips with a sharp pair of scissors into a conical Christmas tree shape. Trim the strips at the bottom the longest. Trim the strips at top the shortest. Fluff the mesh strips into a full Christmas tree form.

8. Attach ornaments with hot glue or florist’s wire. Glue on or attach sequins, buttons, glitter or any other decorations you want.

Tips & Warnings

• Use mesh material in any color or pattern. Green makes the Christmas tree look more traditional, but any color will do. Or mix and match. You can use any type of fabric as well, such as scraps from previous craft or sewing projects.

• Make your tree any height by adjusting the height of the dowel. Tear narrower, shorter strips for shorter trees. Tear wider strips that are longer to make larger trees.

References

• Poppies at Play: Fabric Christmas Trees