How to make a driftwood Christmas tree

Do try this at home!! You should still have time to make one, as long as you live close to a good beach for driftwood! First off you will need to gather your driftwood.


Find long straight-ish pieces and line them up on the beach in decreasing size. You'll need pieces that are fairly wide as you will be drilling a 12mm (half inch) hole through each piece. Take a few extra pieces as spares. Treat them with borer beetle killer as you will be bringing them into the house. Alternatively, seal with diluted uvp glue or similar.


Next, find a chunky piece of wood that will act as your base. I got mine for free from the offcuts bin at a local hardware store. While at the store, buy a length of wooden dowel that is 12mm (half inch) in diameter. You'll need at least 120 cm (4 ft) of it. You will also need a Christmas tree holder that the wooden base will fit into. As you can see (above), mine has four screws to hold the base in place.

Next drill a 12mm (half inch) hole into the centre of the wooden base. Note that this is exactly the same diameter as your dowel. You need to make it as vertically straight as you can (I asked hubby to do mine as he is more experienced with a drill than me!)

Place the dowel in the hole. Don't glue it yet.


Now drill 12mm (half inch) holes in the centre of each piece of driftwood and slot them onto the dowel. You may need to throw out some that don't work, but eventually you will know how tall your tree is going to be. Mark the dowel, take the pieces off again, and trim the dowel.

Almost there! Now you can glue the dowel into the base using an epoxy resin type glue (something strong!) Patience - cos you'll have to wait overnight for the glue to set!

Finally you can assemble your tree.


Decorate as you wish!


Happy Holidays everyone!!! xxx