Christmas Crafts: Christmas Tree Decorations and Wrapping Paper

With Christmas being right around the corner, and people decorating there homes, this is a great time to make a few last minute Christmas crafts!! This article will have 'how to' directions, as well as a couple photos, of some easy and inexpensive ideas for Christmas crafts.

The first project is a light up Christmas tree.

For this project you will need the following materials, and tools: 3/4 inch piece of plywood, (1/2 a sheet will be enough), a jigsaw, a drill, screws (4), paint, sand paper, a clear top coat, (such as a spray on polyurethane), and a water sealant if you are going to put this decoration outdoors. The first thing you will need to do is draw out your Christmas tree on your plywood. You also need to make a base for the tree. I drew out two rectangular pieces of my plywood, cut those out, sanded, and screwed them together.

After that, use you jigsaw to cut your tree out. Remember, if you want a star on top of the tree, you will have to draw that at the top, at the same time. Next take your sandpaper and smooth out all the ruff spots. You will need to go around the entire edge where you cut, and make sure it is very smooth.

Now you will need your drill. You are going to drill holes for the Christmas lights to go through. Make sure the drill bit you use, is about the same size as a Christmas light, so that the lights will sit in the hole nicely, but not too big either, or they will fall through. Drill holes all around the edge of the tree, I spaced the holes out first, putting a pencil mark where I wanted them.

You can find light sets that have twenty five lights, or fifty if you ant a lot of lights. Dust your tree off after you have drilled the holes, and apply your water sealant, (if you are planning to put this decoration outside). Let that dry according to the directions on the package. Apply your second coat, and after this is dry you are ready to paint. I used acrylic craft paint, but since my decoration goes outside, I used the outdoor craft paint. I painted my entire tree green.