How to make a Christmas Tree Shelf

Christmas tree shelf

I was looking for a project to make for a Christmas Decoration competition on one of the sites I create for. I did well with my Christmas Santa stop here sign so I thought I would enter again. I wanted to try and make something different but also something I could use.  With our children all grown up and out of the house, I don’t put up all the Christmas decorations anymore for just me and my Husband.  But I don’t want to be a Grinch either.  Instead of putting up my big Christmas tree I thought I would just make a Christmas shelf. My first thought was a triangle with a back on and ornaments on the shelf but I just kept building once I got started.

Christmas tree shelf

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How to make a Christmas tree shelf

This was supposed to be a step by step tutorial and I was taking photos all along but I did not check my camera, and later I when I looked at the pictures I just had lots of unflattering selfies.  I also do not build from a plan, I just make it up as I go along.  This project turned out so cute I drew up a drawing which is very basic as a guideline, to give you an idea of how to build it. You can round off the measurements, I just measured mine after I made my project.

How to make a Christmas Tree Shelf

I used offcuts of 1cm thick and 10cm width plywood for this shelf, you can use any wood this was what I had at home. I cut my pieces as I went along. I cut my first two pieces and used a table saw to cut the 45 degree angle at both ends. If you do not have a table saw you can use a mitre box and handsaw. 

How to make a Christmas Tree Shelf

I glued the first two pieces together using wood glue and used a corner clamp to hold them in place while the glue dried. I found I was waiting so long for the glue to dry I was losing interest.  I swapped my clamps for a nail gun to hold them so I could carry on.  If you don’t have a nail gun you can use nails which can be hidden later with wood filler. If you don”t have any of these, enjoy watching the glue dry. After I made the first shelf I kept the rest of the shelves the same to keep it easy to make. I kept repeating the same steps of glueing and nailing all the pieces together.

How to make a Christmas Tree Shelf

When all my shelf was all put together I wanted to add a board to the back to stop the ornaments from falling out the back. For the backing, I used a thin piece of MDF.  I put the shelf on top of the MDF and used a pencil to trace the outline of the shelf.  I used a jigsaw to cut out the MDF.  To attach the back to the shelf I used wood glue and secured it with a nail gun so I could carry on.

Most popular Christmas toys 2019

 

Because the plywood looked ugly I wanted to paint my shelf white so that the Christmas decoration stand out more.  I used a white unicorn spit stain and glaze which is what I had at home. Once the Unicorn spit dried it became translucent so I added a layer of clear glitter paint. I would recommend a primer and acrylic paint if you want a bright white shelf. Then it was time to decorate the tree. I started by adding ornaments and characters that sit on the shelves.

How to make a Christmas Tree Shelf

But the back looked boring and every time I tried to move them around to fill in the back everything kept falling down. I thought I would be clever and used a hot glue gun to glue them to the shelves. And ended up glueing ornaments all over the back as well as the shelves. Which I loved. To hide the plywood edge I glued Christmas beads around all the shelves which just finished the shelf off. If you want a Christmas tree that lights up you can add lights instead of beads.

How to make a Christmas Tree Shelf

I think this is such a great idea for people who don’t want to have a Christmas tree. It is so simple and after Christmas, you can just pop it in a bin bag and put it under a bed until next year. Or if you wanted to you can change the Christmas decorations inside every year.

How to make a Christmas Tree Shelf

To see more great projects for Christmas check out these Unicorn spit baubles and this great Santa stop her sign.


How to make a Christmas Tree Shelf

A closer look at the decorations

How to make a Christmas Tree Shelf

This is the latest upgraded corner Christmas tree shelf that I built.

Christmas tree shelf

Please feel free to leave a comment and share this post. If you are in need of any of the products in this post please can you use my links to buy them at no extra cost to yourself?  

Christmas Tree
Christmas Tree
Christmas Tree

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12 Comments

  • Reply
    Kirstie
    November 16, 2018 at 7:50 am

    Beautiful idea I may try have a go at this as we don’t have alot of room for a tree, if we use a tree our youngest cat either climbs it or attacks the baubles so I love this idea thanks for sharing xx

    • Reply
      Anita Holland
      November 20, 2018 at 4:47 am

      Thank you very much and you are welcome. It is a great idea when you are short on space.

  • Reply
    Rynn
    November 23, 2018 at 10:47 pm

    Cute idea! Merry Christmas!

    • Reply
      Anita Holland
      December 7, 2018 at 2:42 am

      Thank you, I loved it and it looks good.

  • Reply
    Dee | Grammy's Grid
    December 1, 2019 at 10:21 pm

    How cute!! Thanks so much for linking up at #AThemedLinkup 6 for All Things Christmas. Shared.

  • Reply
    m
    December 4, 2019 at 4:13 am

    I’m curious why the sides of the very top section aren’t parallel to the other sides, as it appears. Must be my OCD that keeps wanting it to match the rest of the ‘tree’!

    • Reply
      Anita Holland
      December 4, 2019 at 11:54 pm

      Because I had to use a much smaller bracket and to holes did not line up when I screwed it in. Screwing in the screw pulled it slightly out. 😂🤭

  • Reply
    Teresa
    December 6, 2019 at 3:25 pm

    My kids would love something like this! Thank you for sharing at The Really Crafty Link Party. Pinned.

  • Reply
    Lisa L Lombardo
    December 8, 2019 at 3:58 pm

    This is adorable! Thank you for sharing on Farm Fresh Tuesdays!

  • Reply
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