Wood Shim Christmas Tree (Elizabeth Joan Designs)

Hello! Welcome to Day 11 of The 12 Post of Christmas, where 12 blogs have come together to bring you a variety of amazing Christmas projects for $24 or less. So if you like to spend hundreds of dollars on each of your holiday decor items, then this post isn’t for you. But if you like cute, cheap, and easy projects then stick around and I will show you how I created an adorable wood shim Christmas Tree for less than $2.00.

Supplies
– Wood Shims – (I used Nelson Wood Shims, 1.25-in x 7.75-in.)
– White Paint
– Paint Brush
– Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks

First, lay out all of the shims and brush them with one nice coat of white wash.

I mixed up a solution of equal parts water and white paint. This seemed to give the wood a whitish look, but I loved how you could still see the wood grains through it.

Once the paint dries, it’s time to assemble the tree. This process may sound a bit confusing, but trust me. It’s a breeze.

1. Start by hot gluing a few of the wood shims flat on top of one another. Make sure to line up the narrow ends, which this will be at the top. For the trunk piece. you will want to glue it about 1 1/2 inches down from the top of the other glued pieces. It should stick out a little bit from the rest.

2. After the trunk is in place, glue the next shim on top of the trunk. Line up the narrow end with the top of your tree, not the trunk piece you just placed. Continue to glue shims directly on top of each other. For balance, you will want an equal number of wood pieces on both sides of trunk. (I went with 5 on each side.)

3.For the base, take two shims and glue them together. You will want the narrow end to line up with the thick end. This will create an even foundation for your tree to stand on. (A leaning tree might not be quite as cute in the end.)

4. Finally, attach the tree trunk to the base with a dab of hot glue and you’re done! Yay!