Simple Up-cycled Paper Christmas Tree🌲

This is a paper Christmas tree using only 1 material - ad circulars.

You also don't need many tools, just something to cut, something to glue and a pen and that's it.

It makes a cheap and cheerful Christmas tree and as it is up-cycled, good for the planet, too!

I first made it as a last minute decoration for a Christmas dinner as I had nothing at hand apart from these supplies and it worked out pretty well. I've since made some tweaks to make it better so here you go, have a try :)

Supplies

1. Magazine style ad circulars (several sheets stapled or glued together in the middle, not a single sheet).

2. Cutting tools - scissors or craft knife with cutting mat.

3. Glue - any that would glue papers together but ones that are less watery (like glue stick) is better.

4. Pen

Step 1: Getting the Right Supplies

To make the tree you will need several ad flyer booklets.

40 pages+ would work but the more pages you have the tree will be stronger and look nicer.

I've got 5 of them here which is about 110 pages. They normally have page numbers in them so look out for that and save yourself from counting!

For cutting it is quicker to cut with scissors but using a craft knife and mat will give you nicer edges.

Glue: It is better to use glue that is not too watery such as glue stick but if you don't have it, just remember not to use too much glue on the paper as they are generally pretty thin (more on that later).

Step 2: Mark

As the booklets are most likely not all the same sizes, mark the height of the shortest booklet on the narrowest one.

Draw half of a Christmas tree within the height mark and the width of the narrowest booklet.

Note that the middle of the tree should be the binding edge of the booklet.

You also want to make sure the connection between the star and the tree is not too narrow (5mm+).

I've included a tree template here for you to use :)

Step 3: Cut

Cut the half tree out from the first booklet using your chosen cutting method.

You can adjust it as you cut since you won't really notice/see the pen marks when its done.

Once you've got the first half tree that you're happy with, trace it on the other booklets and cut them out.

Step 4: Glue

Now that you've cut out all the half trees, it's time to glue!

Apply glue on the marked area of the top sheet of a half tree all the way to the bottom and stick another half tree on it. If you use a more watery type of glue like PVA, apply thinly and quickly as the pages are absorbent and you don't want to get several pages wet.

After sticking two half trees together, clean off excess glue on the edge and check that only the two connecting pages are glued together.

Once all the half trees are glued together, open it half way and lay it flat with the first and last page of the jointed booklet facing upwards as shown in the picture above.

Apply glue on the first page on the right hand side and flip the first page of the left side to the right to join them together.

Step 5: Set

After the glue is dry, sit the tree up and loosen the pages.

Now you have a up-cycled Christmas tree 🌲♻

Thanks for reading my first Instructable. Hope you enjoyed it.

Comments

[Micalpickle7]

i like the style

[mambo417]

Thanks!

[Barbie world all in 1]

Wow!!! Loved it.. I will try it soon..thank you for the Idea

[mambo417]

No problem! Thanks!

[Barbie world all in 1]

I have tried it please see

[mambo417]

Just saw it, thank you for sharing your tree!!

[artteachernc]

I LOVE THIS. I am an elementary art teacher and I am scrambling to get lots of circulars for my student to do this! Otherwise, we shall do this NEXT holiday season! Thank you for this lovely idea.

[mambo417]

That's great, thank you and good luck with collecting the circulars!

[offseid]

Really nice work, both the craft and the Instructable. :)

[mambo417]

Thank you :)

[christian.pramuk]

I used these instructions to make a star for the top of our tree

[mambo417]

Niiiiice!! Thanks for sharing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[GabrieleM29]

Just my 2 cents. The attention goes to the text written on the fliers pages, distracting from the good idea of a Christmas tree. Capsize the fliers and the text will be less important.
Good work, ciao.

[mambo417]

Thanks for the good suggestion!

[All4ond]

Thank you for such generous instructions! Really well done. I am inspired. May try it with a road atlas, too.

[mambo417]

Thank you and have fun with it!

[bethasfranz]

I want to try this with old Christmas cards... Have any suggestions?

[mambo417]

Cards are much sturdier so I reckon you won't need a lot a 'pages' for it to stand up but it would look nicer if there are more.
I've not used cards before but I guess the main difference would be that as you will be sticking a card with another card and no inner pages, you might want to make the glued area thinner so when you set/spread the pages in the end, glued pages will can open almost as much as the un-glued pages (which is just the fold of the card) if that makes any sense? Or alternatively just glue the whole pages with the other but you will then need more pages for it to look as full as the other option.
Good luck!

[beautifulbc58]

Adorable, when I was a little girl we use to use the Sears catalogues and Christmas wish book, Eaton's also, 500 pages folded in half the split the binder to open it up and spray paint or paint. Fabulous fun on a budget way back is those Olden days. Thanks for the memories.

[mambo417]

Oh that's so cool, 500 pages will certainly make it very full and pretty!! Thanks for sharing :)