Archives for November 2019

This post will show you how to make an easy DIY macrame Christmas tree decoration – perfect for decorating your mantel or bookshelves.

I just love this time of year.

And, there’s something so fun about making your own holiday decor.

You get to be creative, save money, and do something you love.

This week, our theme is 2-hour holiday decor. If you’re just joining us, every week for the month a talented group of DIY crafters and bloggers are sharing weekly themed projects.

Last year, I made this buffalo check wooden Christmas tree decor, and this year I’m sharing how to make this easy macrame holiday tree decoration.

Be sure to scroll to the end of the post to see all of the amazing holiday decorations that everyone made. I know you’ll be inspired 🙂

 

How to Make a Macrame Christmas Tree

This is a super simple DIY that anyone can make. You don’t need any fancy skills to do this – just a desire to make something.

If you like working with your hands, it’s the perfect craft for you, and it’s wonderful to create something from nothing using your hands.

If you don’t want to make this into a stand, you can make this into a wall hanging or even an ornament.

And stay tuned to the end – I have a fun modification for kids!

Materials for the Macrame Christmas Tree

• Macrame cord
• Thin wooden dowels (mine were 1/8” x 12”)
• Popsicle stick
• String of rhinestones
• 1 wood round for the stand
• Wooden star
• Optional: more embellishments
• Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
• Scissors

Making the Macrame Tree

First, take two wooden dowels and place them together at a point (think top of a triangle).

Take a popsicle stick and place it at the bottom to make the bottom of the triangle.

Then you’ll want to hot glue the bottom of the wooden dowels to the popsicle stick with a drop of glue on each side.

Make sure the dowels are still keeping the triangle shape at the top as the glue sets.

Then place a drop of hot glue and between the top two dowels.

You don’t want to glue one dowel on top of the other – you want the dowels to come to a point. Gently hold the dowels while the glue dries.

Next you’ll take one more wooden dowel and you’ll glue this to the middle of the triangle. You’ll want to have some stick out at the bottom to be your tree trunk.

Wrapping the Macrame

Next, you’ll start wrapping the macrame around the wooden dowels to make the DIY Christmas tree.

You can just wrap the macrame around and around, or you can do a pattern, like I did. Play around with the macrame and see what you like best.

To begin, I unwrapped a portion of my macrame ball and cut it, in order to work with a smaller ball of macrame. This way I could loop it better.

If you look at the materials picture at the beginning of the post, you can get a feel for the amount I used.

First, I just wrapped the macrame around the top inch or so of the tree. You can use a drop of hot glue to hold the string at the top.

After that, I started looping the macrame in a pattern.

Here’s the pattern I made:

Once your macrame is on the right side, take your ball of macrame over and place it through the left side of the triangle.

Then, pull the ball of macrame from the back.

Now, your macrame will be on the left side. That’s one loop.

Next, take the ball of macrame and place it through the right side of the triangle.

Pull it from the back. Continue this pattern.

The pattern should look like this (before you tighten it up):

Here’s what the pattern looks like a little farther down:

 

Once I got to the end of the tree, I needed to supplement with a little hot glue to hold the macrame in place, especially as I went around the popsicle stick.

I just did a simple loop here to hide the popsicle stick. 

Embellishing and Adding the Tree Stand

With the macrame finished, I just had to decorate the tree and add the tree stand. I found this little wooden star I added to the top. 

Of course, I adorned it with some rhinestones first. 

Once the tree was done, I added strands of gemstones to act as holiday lights. I spaced these out evenly and alternated pearls and light pink rhinestones.

Then, I added a drop of hot glue to the middle of a wood round. I held the tree in place until the glue dried.

 

I love how simple but elegant it looks.

You can make a whole bunch of these in different sizes and patterns to create some fun holiday mantel decor for cheap!

Time and Cost of the Macrame Christmas Tree

I spent under $10 on the materials, and it took me about 2 hours to make.

Alternative for Kids

My son loves doing crafts together, and he always wants to make something similar all on his own.

So while I was working on this macrame craft, I set him up with a popsicle stick tree along with green yarn. He went to town and made this cute little Christmas tree. We glued it down to a little wooden stand and now he and his sister have a Christmas tree for their dollhouse. 🙂

I love giving my kids opportunities to be creative – and this was a fun one for him!

Be sure to check out the other DIY holiday decor projects this week! And, I’ll be back next week sharing another fun holiday project.

See More Holiday 2-Hour Decor Projects

More Projects You’ll Love

• If you missed last week’s project, check out this easy no-sew holiday embroidery hoop.
• Like working with macrame? Try DIY string art with this simple holiday scene. 
• Need some homemade gift ideas? Check out these fun gift ideas you can make!