DIY Driftwood Christmas Tree
Easy Eco-Friendly Holiday Project
My family likes to go for walks on the beach. Sometimes we collect sea shells, sometimes we go and pick up all the trash on the beach, and sometimes we forage cool looking driftwood.
I collected this small collection of driftwood to make some holiday decoration for our home. Here are the steps I took to make this miniature driftwood tree.
The items you will need for this project are:
- Driftwood in different sizes building up into a tree shape
- 5 gallon bucket
- Clorox Bleach (To clean the driftwood)
- A Rock or some weighted item to keep the driftwood down
- A drill and drill bit the size of the rod/dowling you are going to use
- Some Glue or wood glue
- A Rod or dowling to hold up the tree. (I picked these up from Ace Hardware store)
- Pliers (To help bend the end of the Brass Rod at the top)
Optional:
- Christmas ornaments for decorating the tree
Before I started assembling the tree, I needed to wash and clean all the pieces of driftwood. To do this, I used my 5 gallon bucket and filled it halfway with water. Next, I added a cup of Clorox bleach to the bucket and mixed well.
Place the driftwood pieces into the bucket and put a rock or (something heavy) on top of the wood to hold them under the water for approximately 2-3 days.
You will need to dry your driftwood for about another 2-3 days depending on your home climate.
Once all the pieces of driftwood dried, I assembled my tree in the order I wanted. As shown here.
Next step is to grab your drill and a drill bit size based on the rod you are using. The rod I purchased from Ace Hardware was made by Precision Metals #8162 1/16 (1.57 mm). The drill bit I used was 1/16 inch.
Double check the size of the bit to the size of the rod to ensure you are using the correct drill bit size.
I drilled the holes in the center of each driftwood outside as it could get a bit dusty. I used the edge of a piece of wood board to raise the drift wood so the drill bit would not hit the ground.
I eyeballed the center. You can use a ruler to mark the center of the driftwood, if you’d like to me more precise.
Once, all the holes were drilled through, I started to assemble the tree. I started with the base. I used the wood glue to connect the base and the rod first. I let that dry for 15 minutes. Then I worked on stacking the driftwood to make my tree.
Once I got to the top with the last piece of driftwood, I used the wire cutter portion of the pilers to snip off the extra tip. Then I used the wood glue to place the final top piece.
Once all the glue is dry, you are welcome to decorate your tree! I found some lights from an old project that I used. I also made some mini ornaments out of sea shells that I found on the beach.
I am so happy with how my mini Christmas tree came out. I hope you enjoyed this project.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!
With Love and Aloha,
Kris Wong
