Christmas Tree Centerpiece with Vintage Style

I’ve been imagining this vintage style Christmas tree centerpiece for weeks, and finally found time to try out the idea! You’ll love these cool trees.

Skills Required: Intermediate. You’ll be cutting wood, cutting paper for decoupage, and then attaching the pieces to each other. It helps to have experience with tools and Mod Podge to complete this project.

Hey! It’s David from Cheltenham Road – I hope everyone is having a great holiday season.

My Etsy shop goes a bit berserk around the holiday, which is awesome and very satisfying. BUT it leaves very little time for other holiday themed projects.

DIY Christmas Centerpiece

I’ve been imagining these dimensional Christmas trees for weeks and finally found a little time to try out the idea. You could use them on a table, but they would also look great on a Christmas mantel. They’re actually quite versatile as holiday decor goes.

To make this easy wood Christmas craft I used:

• Craft sticks from Home Depot measuring 1/2″ thick by 2″ wide ($1.77 for 36″ in the lumber department)
• Scans of vintage Christmas wrapping paper (you can also use actual wrapping paper, scrapbook paper, or tissue paper)
• Mod Podge Matte
• White paint
• Saw
• Glue
• Sandpaper
• Scissors
• Hand saw or chop saw
• Protective eyewear
• Paintbrush
• Pencil
• Ruler

Begin by laying out the wood slats, one on top of the other, on your work surface. Draw basic triangles (tree shapes) using the ruler and pencil.

Then cut each slat to length (at an angle) using a saw.

You can do this with a regular hand saw as pictured, but a chop saw makes faster work of it. Just be careful with the smaller “tops” of the trees – you’ll want to go back to the handsaw for those for safety sake.

I cut the wrapping paper scans down into 2″ wide strips using a ruler and craft knife. You’ll want enough to cover both sides of all trees.

Mod Podge your Christmas paper into place on both sides of the slats. After they dry thoroughly, trim away any excess paper. Give the trees a second and third coat of Mod Podge, letting dry between coats.

Paint the edges of the slats white and let dry.

If you desire a slightly distressed look like I did, sand a bit of the edges down. Your Christmas centerpiece is almost done.

The next step in the process is simply stack the pieces together on top of each other and attach with hot glue. You’ll twist each piece slightly as you glue it down.

Hot glue each tree to a small scrap wood piece from the cuts for stability. Place in a large tray and add Christmas embellishments like faux snow, small ornaments, and small packages.

I like that my Christmas centerpiece is dimensional and two-sided – it looks great in the center of the table!

I also tried one where I glue the tree flat, but reversed each slat for a kind of vintage paper collage look.

Have a great Holiday everyone! Thank you so much for all your comments on my projects and trips over to my blog and Etsy shop. I wish you all the very best for the new year!

Tips and Further Thoughts on this Project:

• I used scans of vintage paper but you could use anything – wrapping paper, Christmas napkins, scrapbook paper, etc.
• I did find they needed a little base to keep them super stable – I just glued the bottom to some scrap wood and covered it with snow.
• If you’re not into sawing and power tools, you could do the same thing with popsicle sticks or balsa wood and a sharp craft knife.
• I decided (after I was done, of course) that I liked the paper that used designs or patterns a bit more than the ones that had Santa faces. There is something a bit “unchristmassy” about cutting St. Nick’s face in half!

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If you like this Christmas craft for adults, I’d love for to you check out these other holiday craft ideas:

• Photo Christmas Ornaments
• Rustic Themed Christmas Printables
• DIY Christmas Village for Holiday Decor
• Night Light Bulb Christmas Ornaments
• Chalkboard Christmas Trees
• Vintage Christmas Card Magnets