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!
This post contains Amazon affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to see my disclosure policy.
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.
- 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).
- Plaster of Paris – approx 2.5kg
- An assortment of old nails, hooks, and fixings.
How to Make a Wire Rustic Christmas Tree
- First, strip all covers on the lampshades. You just want the bare wireframes.
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.
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.
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.
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.
How To Make A 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.
Materials
- Old wire scalloped lampshdes in various sizes
- Wooden broom handle
- Wood stain
- Cookie tin
- Plaster of Paris
- Screws and hooks
Tools
- Screwdriver
Instructions
- Stain the broom handle a dark wood colour
- Using screws and hooks attach the wire lampshades to the handle
- Mix up the plaster of Paris in the cookie tin
- 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.
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.
Marcia
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.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, yes lots of possibilities depending on your decor style.
Kathy Allen
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.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you. I think that is a great idea for a Christmas store display.
Darlene
This would make a great display piece for a Christmas craft show!
Claire Armstrong
I think that’s a great idea. Thank you.
Lins @ Boo & Maddie
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
Claire Armstrong
Thank you! I love scouring junk shops for interesting bits and pieces to upcycle.
Pieta
The tree was quite nice before all the goodwill decorations were thrown on it.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you. I do like my homemade ornaments everyone to their own!
Suzanne
What a great idea! Would you mind telling me what font you use. So easy on the eye. Thank you in advance.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you. The font I use is called Pompiere.
Cecilia
So clever and fun! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Cecilia
Jane Clelland
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!
Claire Armstrong
Ooh I love the step ladder idea! Thank you!
T'onna | Sew Crafty Crochet
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!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you T’onna I bet you have some fabulous crochet ornaments that would look great on a tree like this.
b
super creative idea. i even like it plain, show off the true rustic nature of it.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you. I like the plain too but I also like ornaments so I’m torn between them both.
Kim
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!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much. It’s a great tree for showing off ornaments.
Sandi Magle
This is Brilliant…and a great tutorial!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much!
Jo (A Rose Tinted World)
Love it. This is an absolutely fabulous idea! Pinned! And shared.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much and thanks for the share!
Kathy
Yes, very clever. I like it. How do you even think of these ideas?
Claire Armstrong
Thank you Kathy, I’m not sure the ideas just seem to pop into my head.
Alma nelson
Would be pretty with doilies!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, that is a lovely idea too.
Donna Wojdacz
Too weird for me.
Claire Armstrong
Ok!
Debrashoppeno5
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.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you Debra. I more a fan of DIY trees than real trees.
Linda at Mixed Kreations
What a fun idea! The wire shades are the perfect shaped for a Christmas tree. Love it!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you Linda. They are great for hanging decorations from too!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you Linda. It’s great for hanging decorations from too!
Michelle | Thistle Key Lane
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!
Claire Armstrong
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.
Velvet
That’s such a cute idea – a real alternative Xmas tree!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, I do like a DIY Christmas tree.