Wire Christmas TreesTo see or not to see. Is it there or isn't it? A tree or not a tree? It was a mystery. By night a yard filled with lighted trees. By day an empty yard.
I found the answers to this puzzling riddle when I stopped in at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Alkire of Bear Lake, Mich., to ask just how they did it. The how-to answer is as follows: Here's how to decorate if you live in an area where high winds and blizzards low temperatures are expected. An easier version for warm weather winters follows.
Materials:
nine-foot length of angle iron
eight-foot length of two-inch PVC pipe
16-gauge wire
eight metal tent stakes
short lengths of fine wire
hacksaw
MANY strands of white Christmas lights
Steps:
- Hammer the angle iron at least one foot into the ground to secure it.
- Saw eight evenly spaced slots about 1/2 inch deep around one end of the PVC pipe.
- Place PVC pipe over the angle iron.
- Pound eight tent stakes evenly spaced in a circle around the pipe. The distance from the pipe is determined by how large you want the bottom circumference of the tree to be.
- Secure one end of the wire to one of the tent stakes, pull it up to the top of the pipe, through two of the opposing slits, and down the other side to the opposite stake. Pull the wire VERY taut and secure it. Repeat with the remaining stakes so that you have eight lengths of wire surrounding the tree.
- Starting at the top of the tree, wrap the light strands around and around the wires until the entire tree shape is covered. The light strands should be secured to the wires with short lengths of wire to prevent them from sliding down during a wind. If any of the light strands are connected near a wire, the connection should be wrapped with electrical tape as a safety precaution, just in case they ever become separated.
Note: If you live in an area where high winds and bad weather are a rare occurrence, the angle iron may not be necessary. Make a stand for the PVC pipe and continue as described. The tent stakes can probably be the less expensive plastic versions.
Tree In A Pot A smaller version of the wire and light tree can be made in a large dirt-filled plastic flowerpot. Instead of using tent stakes to secure the wire, drill eight holes evenly spaced around the side of the pot. A one-inch PVC pipe can be used. The length is determined by the look you want the tree to have-tall and skinny or short and squat. Saw the slots to one end as described. As with the larger tree, the secret of success is in using MANY lights.
More Little Fakes
Another small tree in a pot was made by Janet Newell, a friend of mine. Janet, who loves finding new uses for old items, wound tree lights around a couple of old and tired pine garlands, placed four twigs in teepee fashion in a large, dirt-filled flowerpot, then wrapped the garlands around the twigs to form an small, instant Christmas tree. I did the same but used eight 1/4-inch dowels in lieu of the twigs. And, of course, using live pine garlands would make REALLY nice little trees.
Another FAKE was the tomato cage and chicken wire tree. Turning the cage upside down so that the extending wires were at the top, I tied them together and covered the entire cage with chicken wire, attaching it by pushing the extending wires around the spokes of the tomato cage. Starting at the top, she wound a glitzy gold Mylar garland around the tree. It took a bit less than two 50-foot strands. For occasions or places where sparkle and glitz are required, this works well . . . especially since I used an old tomato cage and found the garlands on sale for 50 cents. Total cost of the tree was $1. No base was required.
Using the same chicken wire wrapped tomato cage, a real tree can be made by inserting branches cut from the bottom of your large tree into the holes in the chicken wire. Any pine tree branches can be used, of course, but this way makes use of even the tossed-out ones.
Tabletop Tree
Another small tree . . . this one perfect for tabletop use in any room of the house . . . was the small chenille tree in a flowerpot. The idea and the tree were from Wimpole Street Creations and came from the book, Snowtime Chenille. Carol showed a tree approximately 12 inches high and made from one-fourth of a 24-inch chenille circle. The base was a 6-1/4-inch circle.
Materials:
1/4 of a Wimpole Street Creations 24-inch chenille cut circle
6-1/4" chenille cut circle
five inch clay pot or saucer
eight, one-inch wooden primitive stars
2-1/2 yards of 18-gauge wire
raw umber and metallic gold paint
polyester fiberfill
glue
Steps:
- Fold the chenille wedge in half lengthwise with right sides facing and take a 1/4-inch seam up the side (figure A).
- Pin the base to the tree with right sides facing and machine-stitch around, taking a 1/4-inch seam, leaving an opening for turning right side out (figure B).
- Turn tree right side out. Stuff with fiberfill and hand sew the opening closed.
- Wrap wire around the tree. Poke the wire ends into the tree and glue to secure.
- Glue painted stars to the wire and tree as desired.
- Place the tree on the painted clay pot or on the saucer.
Resources Snowtime Chenille Pattern Book - chenille tree pattern, pre-cut chenille fabric - Barrett/Wimpole
Barrett House/Wimpole Street Creations
Website:
www.barrett-house.com
Also in this Episode
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