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You are here: Home / christmas / How To Make A Rustic Christmas Tree From Old Lampshades

How To Make A Rustic Christmas Tree From Old Lampshades

7th November 2018 by Claire Armstrong 42 Comments

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I have a confession to make! I don’t like real Christmas trees that’s why I made a rustic Christmas tree!

That’s not totally true, I do like real Christmas trees. I just don’t like them in my house.

The dropped pine needles drive me mad. I have tried non-needle shedding pine trees but they still shed their needles.

Another thing I’m not keen on with real Christmas trees is the space the take-up. Not so much their height but their girth. With five adults and a dog, space can be a bit tight in my house.

I think if I lived in a really big spacious house with a cleaner to hoover up the dropped needles, I might soften my stance against real Christmas trees.

Upcycled Lampshades Into A Rustic Christmas Tree

In the meantime every year I love to make an upcycled and repurposed Christmas tree. This year I made a wire rustic Christmas tree from old lampshades.

This rustic Christmas tree is so sparse and bare it’s perfect for showing off your homemade Christmas ornaments. There are plenty of places to hang them, and they don’t get lost amongst green foliage.

I have to admit I went a bit overboard with the decorating of this tree. It looks like it was dressed by a toddler on a sugar high after eating a tube of smarties.

This isn’t a one-off, I do tend to decorate my Christmas trees like this every year. Growing up my mum would have themed orderly decorations for the Christmas tree, the kids weren’t allowed to decorate it. Or if we did, my mum would carefully rearrange the ornaments when we weren’t looking.

I decided that when I grew up my Christmas tree was going to be full of homemade decorations and a riot of colour. No matching baubles insight. So far this is one goal from my childhood I have managed to achieve!

upcycled lampshade wire rustic Christmas tree


 
 

 
 
 
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What you need to make a wire rustic Christmas tree

  • A selection of old scalloped lampshades in various sizes. With or without the shades it doesn’t matter its the wireframes you need.
Lampshades for rustic Christmas tree
  • Old wooden broom handle or large wooden pole about 4ft in length.
  • Old round Christmas cookie tin approx 25-30cm in diameter (you don’t need the lid).
Old Christmas tin
  • Plaster of Paris – approx 2.5kg
  • An assortment of old nails, hooks, and fixings.

How to Make a Wire Rustic Christmas Tree

  1. First, strip all covers on the lampshades. You just want the bare wireframes.
Stripped lampshades

2. My wooden pole was a bit light in colour for my liking so I stained with some dark wood stain. I then placed the lampshades one by one on the pole starting with the widest lampshade at the bottom.

Top tip: It is easier if you stick the wooden pole in an umbrella stand to hold it upright whilst you attach the lampshade frames.

The wire fixings on each lampshade were different. I attached the lampshades to the pole by creating somewhere for the shades’ inner wire to rest.

This involved hammering nails, hooks, and other fixings into the wooden pole. I used old fixings as I wanted to keep with the upcycled feel with this rustic Christmas tree DIY.

3. Once I was happy with the fixing of the lampshade wires, it was time to make a more permanent stand for the rustic Christmas tree. To do this I mixed up about 2.5kg of Plaster of Paris until it was the consistency of thick cream. (Approximately 750ml of water per 1kg of powder).

Make sure you always add the powder to the water and not the other way around.

3. Working quickly, pour the plaster into the Christmas tin and then place the base of the wooden pole into the mixture. The plaster will start setting within 20mins.

Instead of standing there holding the pole upright whilst waiting for the plaster set, I wedged the tree between 2 chairs whilst it set.

Plaster in tin
Holding tree whilst plaster sets

4. Once the plaster has set your tree is ready. You can either leave it undecorated if you are going for that industrial rustic simplistic vibe.

As you can see I went a bit mad with my decorations. So perhaps somewhere in between the 2 styles would be good.

Upcycled lampshade wire christmas tree
repurposed lamp wire rustic Christmas tree

This wire Christmas tree is perfect for hanging decorations from and so it’s so tempting to put them all on. It’s a great showcase for all my homemade Christmas decorations. Such as the repurposed sweater felt garlands, Christmas pudding wood slice ornaments and my many heart map ornaments, to just name a few.

decorated wire rustic Christmas tree
Lampshade wire Christmas tree upclose
rustic christmas tree up close

I think that this rustic Christmas tree would also look great decorated with Christmas cards. It would be easy to peg them to the wireframe. There is a collection of antique Scandinavian Christmas cards here which I think would look fabulous on this tree.

Yield: Lamshade Wire Christmas Tree

How To Make A Wire Rustic Christmas Tree

repurposed lamp wire rustic Christmas tree

This upcycled wire rustic Christmas tree is so simple and cheap to make. It looks great bare for a minimalist farmhouse/industrial look. Or you can go made with decorations for a more colourful Boho vibe.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Active Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $5

Materials

  • Old wire scalloped lampshdes in various sizes
  • Wooden broom handle
  • Wood stain
  • Cookie tin
  • Plaster of Paris
  • Screws and hooks

Tools

  • Screwdriver

Instructions

  1. Stain the broom handle a dark wood colour
  2. Using screws and hooks attach the wire lampshades to the handle
  3. Mix up the plaster of Paris in the cookie tin
  4. Stand the broom handle in the plaster of Paris until it sets.

Notes

You can make this as big or as small as you like. It will all depend on the number and size of lampshades you use.

© Pillarboxblue
Project Type: Upcycle / Category: christmas

If you like to make your own upcycled Christmas trees then you should check out some of my other DIY Christmas trees.

  • Branch DIY Christmas Tree
  • Unique DIY Wooden Christmas Tree With Knobs On
  • Stylish Scandinavian Christmas Tree

This post featured in the A to Z of clever upcycling ideas and resources.

Filed Under: christmas, DIY Upcycling Tagged With: boho christmas tree, Christmas tree, industrial, lampshade, lampshade wire, rustic, rustic christmas tree, upcycled chrismtas tree, wire, wire frame

Previous Post: « Super Easy to Make Cute Norwegian Christmas Gnomes
Next Post: How To Upcycle Packaging Into A Gingerbread Garland »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Marcia

    11th July 2020 at 4:00 pm

    Love this. It could also be painted white for the shabby chic people. It makes a great boho tree when decorated. Also thought of covering the lampshades by wrapping some coloured crepe paper around them. Ideas are endless.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      11th July 2020 at 6:02 pm

      Thank you, yes lots of possibilities depending on your decor style.

      Reply
  2. Kathy Allen

    18th November 2019 at 6:18 pm

    Although this is not the style I want for home, I think it would make a great display for Christmas ornaments in my vintage booth. Gotta be on the hunt now! Clothespinning larger items like hankies, potholders, etc. would be great, too! Thanx so much for the idea.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      19th November 2019 at 7:00 am

      Thank you. I think that is a great idea for a Christmas store display.

      Reply
  3. Darlene

    9th November 2019 at 3:38 pm

    This would make a great display piece for a Christmas craft show!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      9th November 2019 at 8:31 pm

      I think that’s a great idea. Thank you.

      Reply
  4. Lins @ Boo & Maddie

    7th January 2019 at 12:37 pm

    I think I need to go exploring around my local second hand stores and see if I can find some of these to stockpile. Thank you for linking up to #HomeEtc X

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      7th January 2019 at 8:23 pm

      Thank you! I love scouring junk shops for interesting bits and pieces to upcycle.

      Reply
  5. Pieta

    12th December 2018 at 8:37 pm

    The tree was quite nice before all the goodwill decorations were thrown on it.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      13th December 2018 at 11:36 am

      Thank you. I do like my homemade ornaments everyone to their own!

      Reply
  6. Suzanne

    7th December 2018 at 12:53 am

    What a great idea! Would you mind telling me what font you use. So easy on the eye. Thank you in advance.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      7th December 2018 at 7:27 am

      Thank you. The font I use is called Pompiere.

      Reply
  7. Cecilia

    25th November 2018 at 2:27 pm

    So clever and fun! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      25th November 2018 at 3:55 pm

      Thank you, Cecilia

      Reply
  8. Jane Clelland

    17th November 2018 at 10:34 pm

    It just so happens that I have a few lampshades that I’m not using. Guess what I’m gonna do? Thanks for the inspiration! Also, I’m going to put an old wooden step ladder on my porch and top it with a shade. My hubby does not appreciate my decorating skills, but the neighbors love it!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      18th November 2018 at 7:30 am

      Ooh I love the step ladder idea! Thank you!

      Reply
  9. T'onna | Sew Crafty Crochet

    17th November 2018 at 5:33 pm

    OMG! I am amazed! I am so in love with this tree, and it looks amazing plain and with the ornaments. I’m pinning this and selecting it as one of my features for Snickerdoodle Create Bake Make! Love it!!! Genius!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      18th November 2018 at 7:27 am

      Thank you T’onna I bet you have some fabulous crochet ornaments that would look great on a tree like this.

      Reply
  10. b

    15th November 2018 at 3:40 pm

    super creative idea. i even like it plain, show off the true rustic nature of it.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      15th November 2018 at 9:28 pm

      Thank you. I like the plain too but I also like ornaments so I’m torn between them both.

      Reply
  11. Kim

    14th November 2018 at 11:30 pm

    Oh how fabulous is your Christmas tree!! Love, love, love the idea of stringing together a bevy of pretty undressed lampshades in the shape of a tree. I think I am most definitely going to have to fashion one of these pretties. Thank you so much for the tutorial!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      15th November 2018 at 2:32 pm

      Thank you so much. It’s a great tree for showing off ornaments.

      Reply
  12. Sandi Magle

    14th November 2018 at 4:54 pm

    This is Brilliant…and a great tutorial!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      14th November 2018 at 5:40 pm

      Thank you so much!

      Reply
  13. Jo (A Rose Tinted World)

    14th November 2018 at 10:39 am

    Love it. This is an absolutely fabulous idea! Pinned! And shared.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      14th November 2018 at 2:17 pm

      Thank you so much and thanks for the share!

      Reply
  14. Kathy

    12th November 2018 at 11:02 pm

    Yes, very clever. I like it. How do you even think of these ideas?

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      13th November 2018 at 6:57 am

      Thank you Kathy, I’m not sure the ideas just seem to pop into my head.

      Reply
      • Alma nelson

        25th October 2020 at 3:08 pm

        Would be pretty with doilies!

        Reply
        • Claire Armstrong

          25th October 2020 at 4:11 pm

          Thank you, that is a lovely idea too.

          Reply
  15. Donna Wojdacz

    12th November 2018 at 8:47 pm

    Too weird for me.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      13th November 2018 at 6:56 am

      Ok!

      Reply
  16. Debrashoppeno5

    11th November 2018 at 3:15 pm

    This is so clever. Who needs a real tree when you can make this! Love it! Thanks for sharing at the Snickerdoodle Create Bake Make Party.

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      12th November 2018 at 7:17 am

      Thank you Debra. I more a fan of DIY trees than real trees.

      Reply
  17. Linda at Mixed Kreations

    11th November 2018 at 1:10 pm

    What a fun idea! The wire shades are the perfect shaped for a Christmas tree. Love it!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      12th November 2018 at 7:11 am

      Thank you Linda. They are great for hanging decorations from too!

      Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      12th November 2018 at 7:19 am

      Thank you Linda. It’s great for hanging decorations from too!

      Reply
  18. Michelle | Thistle Key Lane

    11th November 2018 at 12:41 pm

    Claire, I love love love this idea! I may try to make one in a mini size but first I’ll have to look for some old lamp shades when I go junking. Pinning!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      11th November 2018 at 12:53 pm

      Thank you. Hopefully, you should find the lampshades easily as they don’t need to be in good condition as you only need the frame. There are normally loads in my local junk and charity shops.

      Reply
  19. Velvet

    7th November 2018 at 4:01 pm

    That’s such a cute idea – a real alternative Xmas tree!

    Reply
    • Claire Armstrong

      7th November 2018 at 5:01 pm

      Thank you, I do like a DIY Christmas tree.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Choosing Your ‘Forever Tree’: The Best Artificial Christmas Trees says:
    29th November 2019 at 1:36 pm

    […] a tree – before returning the building blocks to their regular places after. For example, this tutorial explains how to make a Christmas tree from old lamp shades, but the same principle could be applied […]

    Reply

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