I can’t walk past a skip (dumpster) without having a good look in. I especially love odd bits of wood with interesting moldings or hooks and knobs on them. Over the last year, I managed to gather quite a collection of this Architectural salvage. I needed to do something with it, that’s when I got the idea for a DIY wooden Christmas tree
I love a flat Christmas tree, last year I made a stylish branch DIY Christmas tree. This looked great in my front room and didn’t take up half as much space as a real Christmas tree. I’ve even painted a large flat Christmas tree on my wall.
As much as I love a real Christmas tree we don’t really have the room for one. Flat Christmas trees just don’t take up as much space.
DIY Wooden Christmas Tree Made From Architectural Salvage
I still have my branch Christmas tree, but I thought it would be fun to have another flat Christmas tree in the dining room. This DIY wooden Christmas tree is very different as it has knobs and hooks and is made from architectural salvage.
I think that the knobs look like Christmas ornaments in themselves especially the coloured ones. The tree can be simply hung on the wall or you can make a stand for it and have it free-standing.

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What you need to make a DIY wooden Christmas tree
- Scraps of wood – I used bits of skirting board and architrave because of it’s attractive moldings. I also used some old wooden coat racks and pallet wood scraps. Use whatever you can find. The longest branch was approximately 3ft.

- A collection of old knobs, hooks and general ironmongery

- A piece of wood for the tree trunk approx 4″(10cm) by 4ft(120cm)
- Annie Sloan Antibes Green Chalk Paint
- Spray paint in various colours – or any leftover paint in various colours
- Annie Sloan Dark Furniture Wax
- Crackle Medium
- Reciprocating Saw (or handsaw)
- Drill
- Woodscrews
- Screwdrivers
- Copper string lights
How to make a DIY wooden Christmas tree
1.. The first thing to do is to gather up all your wood scraps and lay them out on the ground to work out how the Christmas tree will look. Put the smaller pieces of wood at the top.

2. Next, to get a typical Christmas tree shape using a sharpie, mark where you will need to saw your wood planks. Make sure that the ends of the tree shape slope. Using a reciprocating saw if you have one, saw along the sharpie lines.
Don’t worry if you don’t have an electric saw, you can always do this bit by hand, but it will just take a little longer.
3. Next, before screwing your Christmas tree together paint the wood. However, before painting, you can brush a Crackle Medium onto the wood to give a more rustic finished look to the wood.
For the paint, I used Annie Sloan chalk paint in Antibes green. To add to the aged wood effect, I finished it off with a coating of Annie Sloan dark wax. Stain the wooden trunk dark brown using the dark wax.
4. Then prepare the knobs and hooks for the tree. First, by scraping away any excess rust from the metal and painting the wooden ones.
I just used what spray paints I had in my craft cupboard to paint the wooden knobs but you can use any leftover paints you have.

5. Next, the placement of the knobs and hooks on my DIY wooden Christmas tree may look random, but they weren’t quite.
Lay the painted wood branches down on the ground. Then, place the knobs and hooks where you think they look best. Taking one branch at a time, screw the knobs and hooks into place.

6. Finaly, lay the trunk flat on the ground and starting with the top, one by one screw the branches of the Christmas tree to the trunk. I used 2 screws per branch.



The DIY wooden Christmas tree hangs on the wall in my kitchen. I just used to hooks in the wall to hang it from. The way the tree is designed it can simply lean against the wall if you want. Just make sure you lean it somewhere it won’t accidentally get knocked.
Another way to secure the Christmas tree is to make a stand for it.

The original plan was to hang decorations from all the knobs and hooks of my flat DIY wood Christmas tree. However, the knobs and hooks are like Christmas ornaments in themselves, so I think I might just leave the tree as is, and hang my decorations elsewhere.
Mind you as the tree lives in the kitchen during the festive season the knobs have been handy for hanging tea-towels and oven mitts.


I love my flat Christmas trees as you can just hang them or lean them against the wall, taking up very little space. You might want to check out the stylish branch Christmas tree I made last year.
Or if you like simple Christmas trees that are great for showing off ornaments, check out these other DIY trees.
DIY Lampshade Rustic Christmas Tree
Stylish Scandinavian Christmas Tree
I’ve also used scrap skirting boards like the one I used for this tree to make some cute wooden key holders that would make a fabulous Christmas gift.
For more Boho Christmas decorations, check out these DIY wooden ornaments made from curtain finals and curtain rings.
How many Christmas trees do you have in your home?
For more repurposed and DIY wood projects visit the DIYideacentre.

madeline newton
this is wonderful …so good and has so much expression ..keep up all of your great ideas….
Claire Armstrong
Thank you ?
Teresa
This is the most unique and creative Christmas tree I’ve seen and I absolutely love it!! It’s inspiring! Thank you so much for sharing it at Party in Your PJ’s.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you for your kind words!
Sharon@BlueWillowHouse
Adorable! I am featuring your Christmas Tree today on Snickerdoodle. Pinned.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much I look forward to seeing it.
DIY Home Sweet Home
So creative and very unique. I love it. Thanks for linking up to More the Merrier Monday. Can’t wait to see what you’ll be linking up next week.
DIY Home Sweet Home
http://www.diyhsh.com
Claire Armstrong
ThNk you so much!
MEDINA GRILLO
I couldn’t remember if I commented on this before – but oh well if I have this post deserved two comments! Great way to use knobs Claire .. loving this! And like you said – a total space saver!
Claire Armstrong
Thanks, Medina. I would have loved some of the knobs from your project. I’m going to start collecting more of them for other projects.
Carrie @ Carrie's Home Cooking
Congratulations! Your post is featured on Whisk It Wednesday this week. Thank you so much for sharing with us and sure hope you come see us again! ~ Carrie
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much and I look forward to seeing the feature.
Leanna
The knobs on this tree are so gorgeous I love all their clunky vintage goodness. Your blog posts are always so unique and one of a kind.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you Leanna, that’s very kind of you to say so.
Jodie
I LOVE THIS!
Would love to have you share at my weekly party: http://www.jodiefitz.com/2017/11/07/reader-tip-tuesday-weeks-craft-recipe-party-11/
Hope to see you there. xo
Claire Armstrong
Thank you!
Cap Creations
Oh my goodness I absolutely love it, just my style! Very creative! Stopping by from Tip Me Tuesday.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much!
Julie
That’s brilliant, what a lovely tree. We just have the one in our house, and it has every decoration we’ve ever had on it!
I love the idea of these flat trees though, I’m sure we have a space for one somewhere.
Claire Armstrong
Thanks, Julie, flat trees are great. You still get to hang all your favourite decorations.
Amber Harrop
I absolutely adore this and it is definitely a favourite but I will be so accused of favouritism lol SO just now Claire I love it and will share it everywhere
Claire Armstrong
Ahh thank you Amber. It is my favourite Christmas tree I’ve ever made so far too!
Lisa // Cucicucicoo: Eco Sewing and Crafting
What a stunning tree and amazing idea! I just love how unique it is! Sharing and Pinning, thank you! 🙂 Lisa
Claire Armstrong
Thanks so much Lisa and thank you for the share!
Cecilia
LOVE it–best pallet tree I’ve seen! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm. Pinned and tweeted!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Cecilia, that’s very kind of you to say so.
Florence @ Vintage Southern Picks
Very clever way to have a Christmas tree that doesn’t take up a lot of room! My junker heart loves the junk knobs and things on the tree! Totally my style…love it!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you. I have a lot of Junk I can’t stop picking bits out of skips (dumpsters), so it’s great to finally use some of it.
Cindy Richter
Love this. It’s perfect and awesome and so fun! Saw this on the Sweet Inspirations link party. Grinned and pinned!
Claire Armstrong
Ahh thank you so much and thanks for the share.
Anne Marie
OMG! This is so clever! I love it! You’re one talented lady! I think I might even try it myself!
Claire Armstrong
It was very simple, just a lot of skip diving to collect the bits of wood. Thank you.
Carlee
Oh my goodness, what a fun idea! That really is so cool! Now my head is spinning with ideas!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, glad to hear I sparked some ideas!
Linda Feray
I love this! I love all the vintage knobs you added too! Have a great day
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much. I loved collecting all the knobs for this project.
Debrashoppeno5
This is a fantastic idea. What fun to select the knobs and you are done decorating leaving time to enjoy the holiday.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you. I still have plenty more decorating to do yet though!
Carla
Oops… I guess I just submited my comment to the contact form. Well, here again as a comment: I totally love your idea of flat Christmas trees and do like both your versions. Maybe will try one too, as one Christmas tree is never enough.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, that’s the beauty of flat Christmas trees they take up so little space that you can have more than one.
Lins @ Boo & Maddie
The flat Christmas Tree is fabulous! I’ve seen so many ideas on Pinterest but none so creative as this. I think my favourite is all the bits of ironmongery which make it really stand out. Thanks so much for linking up to #HomeEtc X
Claire Armstrong
Thanks, the ironmongery is my favourite too!
MEDINA GRILLO
wow this is so so clever Claire, honestly your ideas and projects just get better and better!
Claire Armstrong
Ahh that’s very kind of you to say so, thank you Medina.
Carrie @ Carrie's Home Cooking
This is adorable! Pinned. We just started the Whisk It Wednesday link party and I thought you might be interested in sharing there too! Thanks, Carrie
Claire Armstrong
Thank you and thanks for the invite.
Julia - Vintage with Laces
Your Christmas tree is awesome and makes me smile, Claire. I love all the hooks and knobs. It’s such a great idea!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you very much, Julia.
Kara
Wow, I love this, I wanted to do a flat tree last year and seeing this has made me want to do it even more. Nothing better than a great upcycle x
#homeetc
Claire Armstrong
Thanks, I love a flat tree this is my second one!
Louisa
What a fantastic idea! My husband has an ever growing collection of wood offcuts and I know he would love an excuse to use them. #homeetc
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, they are fun to make.