How to Make Two Pallet Wood Christmas Trees From One Pallet!

Most of us are on a budget, and those who aren't probably don't want to waste money either. So here is how we got TWO Christmas tree outdoor decorations out of ONE PALLET, at minimum cost. Because we like to DIY and upcycle, we already had most of the things we needed at the workshop. It was a fun, cheap and cheerful project and all the family got a chance to help, even our puppy handled the paint brush (you can see it on the video!)

We made this video for our BCDesign Youtube Channel. Please watch it, thumbs up, comment & subscribe ;)

What are you going to need? You don't necessarily need the power tools. Hand saw, sand paper, a crowbar and hammer will do the job. The power tools will make the job easier, though.

Here is what we used:

* ONE PALLET

* Circular saw & track (you can use also a hand saw if you don't have the power tools and a chalk line to mark it)

* Sander

* Reciprocating saw (comes in handy when pulling a pallet apart and cutting the old nails)

* Clamps (in case any of the boards split, you can glue and clamp it back together)

* Wood glue

* Hammer

* 1.5" (approx) Nails - you can also re-use the nails from your pallet if possible

* Drill & small bit appropriate to the size nails (Drilling the hole before putting in the nail should avoid the board from splitting)

* 4x 4inch screws

* Scrap plywood - approx 6 in sq ( for the star)

* 5 " long piece of dowel (drill bit to match)

* Paint brushes/poly brushes

* Acryclic paint/ Milk paint- whatever you have or like to work with

* Outdoor water based varnish

* Christmas LED Lights - we used 2x 200 led lights battery operated and 2x50 led Lights to illuminate the stars

Step 1: Time to Get to Work! CUT!

Got your pallet and your saw? Great! Now we used the middle runner edges as a guide. Outer edges of middle runner board is where the line should start.

Cut using the track saw or mark and follow a line.

Take the triangle out of the middle - That's one tree!

Now take the two leftover pieces and line the long straight sides together. Can you see another tree begging to take shape?? I sure can!

Step 2: OH Christmas Tree - Second Tree - Pull It All Apart

First we need to remove all the top deckboards from both pieces. We only need one runner board at the back and the other one will come in handy later on.

We slowly hammered the planks out. TIP: If you try to hammer the boards out to hard it will most likely split them and then you will have to waste precious time gluing boards together, clamping it and then...it's wait for glue to dry time.

Got all boards out? Now remove the old/rusty nails. We used a reciprocating saw to cut the nails off when we thought the board might split.

Now, sand the pieces!

Step 3: Second Tree - Get It Together!

We used a measuring tape to find the middle of the runner board and then a chalk line to mark it.

Once that is done, we drilled holes where the nails will go (we did this to avoid the board splitting)

Make sure you are not putting a nail where already there is an old one.

Now, align the board, get the nails and hammer it in!

Repeat process with all the boards.

Step 4: Star Bright

Using a scrollsaw or fret saw, cut a star shape out of the piece of plywood.

Glue and nail it to the dowel.

Use the drill to make a hole where the star will go. Remember the drill bit for this has to be about the same size as dowel. We drilled in about an inch.

Glue it in!

Step 5: Stand Tall!

We are now going to use the last piece left of the pallet. The third runner.

We used our mitre saw to cut the piece right in the middle. Now, you can use any other saw to this too, but make sure to avoid hitting on any nails, unless your saw, like ours safely cuts through nails and metal.

Align the runner with the middle of the tree at the bottom. Pre drill a whole at a 45 degree angle on each side to avoid wood splitting and put in the 4 in screws to hold stand into place.

Step 6: Make It Bright, Illuminate It!!

Now, here is where the children can help like ours did.

We used milk paint on the light green tree and acrylic on the dark tree and acrylic gold on the star and brown milk pain on the trunk. We used whatever we already had at hand.

When the paint was dry we applied a coat of water based outdoor varnish

When it was completely dry, we wrapped the LED lights around the trees and hot glued a small led light set to the back of each star to provide some pretty night time illumination!