Upcyled Chair Spindle Christmas Trees {craft fail?}
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Making an upcycled chair spindle Christmas tree seems like a great idea, right?
Upcycled Chair Spindle Christmas Tree Display
They say imitation is the best form of flattery. My good friend, Holly from Full Circle Creations, makes these great trees-not this one, that one is mine. I’m sure Holly would not want to claim it. It all sounded good when I started. I put a call out on Facebook for an unwanted Christmas tree. My cousin Lois had one she wanted to get rid of. She’s always good about tossing stuff my way. Do you remember the sewing cabinet and the crib into an easel/sandwich board?
Repurposed Christmas Tree
The tree was in great shape and probably worked just fine. Dismantling a perfect tree was difficult, but I got busy removing the lights.
Here are some of the branches with their lights removed.
Bucket of Chair Spindles
I gathered some readily available upcycled chair spindles.
Cut the Pieces to Size
I cut some of the chair spindle parts.
Then, I cut some bases out of some leftover lumber.
Add Base to Upcycled Chair Spindle
These were much like I made the pedestal stands a few months ago. I drilled a pilot hole in the base and the bottom of the spindle. By screwing the screw slightly through the base, and using some Gorilla Wood Glue, then attaching the spindle, I got a tight fit.
Spindles and Bases
I made four different ones and went looking for some taller spindles.
I found these hanging out in my shed. You can see some more bases lying on the table.
I was testing out a branch from the tree. Looks pretty good, eh?
Spindle Christmas Trees
I spray-painted the upcycled chair spindles and their bases black.
Then it goes wrong. First, let’s take a look at my inspiration photo from Holly:
Holly from Full Circle Creations does beautiful work, and her trees look great!
Mine? Not so much! I mean, the trees look okay. The plan was to take a few decorated trees to show what can be done…
Maybe I should use them to show how NOT to decorate a cute spindle Christmas tree. Craft fail? You tell me, what should I do?
gail
Check out this collection of Wooden Spindle Projects
I love them. Even in the background of a display they are perfect to add shorter things in front of them. I am definitely going to do this.
Terry,
I’m so happy you found this project helpful. I still like them but never figured out why they didn’t sell. Have fun with your project!
gail
I like the idea, i would use Smaller tinsel or Beads & you could also use Small strings of lights keep working on them… I Love them.
Ann.
You used parts of an entire, full sized tree. She used little trees, already trimmed and “cone shaped” as mentioned by others. Also, as mentioned, she used the smaller decorations that are in scale with the size of the tree. I also noted her “stands” are shorter, so they are in scale with her trees. You were on the right track, to be sure.1
Ok… I think yours are great. I don’t even think that the size of ornament matters either. Her trees have HUGE ornaments on them or NO ornaments just lights…the example in your photo up top. Looking at her blog…she has a variety of ornament sizes there too.
I think it is the style… your’s is more traditional garland and balls. Here’s is COUNTRY THEMED.
I say… as many Christmas trees as there are in the world..There are THAT MANY STYLES.
Your trees look fine. Take them and sell them!
Now repeat after me…NOT. A. CRAFT. FAIL. …NOT. A. CRAFT. FAIL. !!! LOL…:)
Pat
I don’t think those are so bad, they look pretty nice all grouped together. On a porch maybe too huh?
Bliss
They definitely need a more cone shape, with more fullness on the bottom. Otherwise they look like a lady with her skirts flying up! I bet if you sorted the branches by length before you started putting it together and then worked your way up from longest to shortest. And put them in at 90 degrees, then tweaked them later. I think it also needs more branches in each round.
Not a fail, just a proportion thing as others have pointed out. I think they’re cute!