Repurposed/Upcycled Quilled Cardboard Christmas Tree

Backstory: I moved into my house just a few days before Christmas years ago. I didn't have any furniture, let alone a tree for Christmas. So I wrapped all our moving boxes and stacked them up in a pyramid... and that was our tree that year. That sorta started a tradition. Each year since I've built our tree out of recycled or upcycled materials that I either salvage or already have on hand. I love the idea of giving stuff destined for the landfill some new life before sending them on its way.

This year, 2022, I made the tree from cardboard boxes. I picked up discarded boxes from behind a retail store. I made frames from some furring strips. I sliced the cardboard into thin strips, coiled the strips using a drill, and then quilled the strips to the frames with hot glue. The result is a pyramid-shaped tree with clean lines on the outside, and roughened, geometric and organic patterns on the inside.

The only new item for this year's construction was the pine furring strips and some hinges. Every other item I either already had in my possession or rescued from a refuse pile.

You can watch the full build video here

Cheers!

Here are some links to previous trees:

• 2021's Citrus Slices Garland Tree
• 2020's soup can and mason jar tree
• 2018's staircase riser tree
• 2017's cotton ball tree
• 2016's magazine tree
• 2015's cardboard cutout tree
• 2014 and earlier trees in a gallery post (no instructions)

Supplies

• Materials:
• You're gonna need cardboard. Lots of it. This time of year, the big box stores always have empty boxes lying around the back of their lots. I just helped myself to some discarded kids' bicycle boxes. These worked well because the cardboard was thick.
• I recommend "clean" cardboard boxes. Meaning, boxes that contained dry goods. I don't recommend boxes that contained food, harsh chemicals, etc. These will be ugly at a minimum. Moreover, they'll stink up your home, attract pests, or be potentially toxic.
• Wood glue
• Wood for frames
• Hinges
• Hot glue sticks
• Brads
• Scrap wood
• Dowel
• Tools:
• Utility knife
• Miter saw (can use a hand saw, too)
• Clamps
• Drill
• Screwdrivers
• Hot glue gun
• Gloves
• Split pin

Step 1: Make Your Frames

1. Decide how tall you want your frames. The furring strips I used were 8' long. So I thought that would make a great dimension for the longer sides of an isosceles triangle. The base on mine is 4'.
2. Calculate your angles. I used calculator.net to quickly get the angles. Divide each angle in half and cut that angle so that you can have angles that marry up on your frames.
3. I jigged up my miter saw to help me make these cuts on the thin furring strips. If you don't have a miter saw, you could draw your lines on the strips with an old-fashioned compass and straight edge, then cut by hand saw.
4. For glue up, I cut a clamping block. I clamped the frame to my work table, then the corners to the block. I applied glue and tapped in a few brads just to hold it in place while the glue cured.
5. Repeat for each frame.

Step 2: Render Cardboard Into Strips

This is pure tedium. LOL.

• Cut the boxes apart. You want a single thickness. Get rid of any tape, glue gunk, straps, or staples.
• The longer the strips, the better. So, consider cutting the box along one short side so it will unfold into a single long rectangle.
• Cut off the flaps
• Plan on cutting along the corrugation of the cardboard. Your coils will hold their shape better if the corrugation runs the length of your strip rather than across it.
• I just created a cutting jig on my work table by clamping one of the furring strip scraps down across the cardboard box and using it as a straight edge. Running a box cutter along it a few swipes results in a clean cut.
• The strip should be no wider than the width of your frame material so that it will sit completely within the frame.
• Wash, rinse, repeat. It's boring. You'll need a lot of these.

Step 3: Make Your Coils, Scrolls, or Shapes

1. Get a drill for this. Coiling by hand is slow and hard on your hands.
2. I tried cutting a slot lengthwise in an oak dowel and placing it in the drill chuck. Alas, it wasn't nearly strong enough and broke right away.
3. I found a 3/8" tension pin at a hardware store. Made of steel and durable, it fits neatly in a drill chuck. The seam is just wide enough to fit the cardboard strip. Get one that's 2.5" or longer.
4. Fit one end of the cardboard in the seam, perpendicular to the pin, and then slowly wind it up with your drill.
5. Use the drill to really cinch up the coil. This will break down the fibers in the cardboard a little and make it easier to work.
6. Let the coil unspool and then remove it from the pin.
7. I made my coils by pinching the layers together at one end and then hot gluing them. I like the slight asymmetry.
8. For ideas about what sort of shapes are possible, try searching youtube for "quilling."
9. Save some of your strips for repairs and for making your tree topper.

Step 4: Fill Out the Frames

1. Once your coils are made, start filling out the frames
2. I just started in one corner and filled in trying to avoid any obvious pattern.
3. Hot glue them to the wood frame for strength and then glue them to one another as you go.
4. I got seriously bored doing the small coils and they took far longer than I thought they would. So I switched to other patterns like swooping coils and then large coils.

Step 5: Make a Tree Topper

• For this, I made 5 small coils.
• I crushed down one end of each to make a teardrop shape. Then I hot-glued them at the rounded ends.
• I sharpened the remaining dowel, put it in my drill, and literally drilled the dowel into the star.
• I hot-glued the dowel in place.
• You could make angel wings, a wreath, a flower, a 6 pointed star, etc. Just get inventive with the coils.

Step 6: Join the Frames

1. Carry the individual frames into your display space.
2. Set them up where each corner of the bottom of each frame touches the one next to it. I have three frames so they make a triangle on the floor.
3. An easy way to secure them is with a hinge on each vertical side. The hinges adjust to whatever the angle is, so you don't have to guess.
4. If you don't have hinges, you could hot-glue cardboard strips in the corners to hold them in place.

Step 7: Decorate

1. I wanted an overall simple, rustic look. So I elected to keep the ornaments and decor to a minimum
2. I put red ribbons at the top of each of the frames
3. I inserted the dowel for the tree topper into the apex where the frames all met. It's just a friction fit.
4. You could also paint the tree, flock the edges to look like frost, hang string lights, hang ornaments, etc. The cardboard coils are remarkably strong.
5. I placed a small light globe inside on the floor. It has a moving-water effect. This is nice because it's easy and lights the tree from the inside.

Step 8: Have a Happy Holiday!