Just before the holidays, Marie and I had discussed whether or not we should buy into the whole Holiday hysteria and deck our halls with holly balls, and what we should do about a tree. Our place is crowded as it is, and with the kids coming to stay for the festivities I didn’t see any sense in crowding the place with a tree. Besides, 2006 had been filled with Climate Change research, Environmental Studies and Treehugging. In light of that, cutting down a tree to use for a week just seemed a waste. The commercialism of the holidays is also disturbing – so much emphasis on one day, that ends up stretching itself over a few weeks, and drains folks’ bank accounts. All those shiny lights and glitter put up to entice and bedazzle, only to be taken down and hidden until next year- or thrown away.

No- none of that, I thought, and I started thinking of an alternative for a few things – it turns out.

I don’t like the idea of Christmas Trees. It’s just senseless. Sure they are pretty and spark warm memories of Christmasses passed – but now they just seem like one more thing we grow to use, only to throw away. Not nice at all.

I thought about making our own tree. One that didn’t have to take up too much room, didn’t shed it’s needles, and could be dismantled easily to store away, and use again next year.

But why only once a year? Why not use it for other occassions, too? A birthday? Just for decoration? You could hang your crafts on it, pictures, candy… whatever. I decided to make the motif on the top of the tree interchangeable. It’s a star now, but could just as easliy be a moon, a dove, the Hulk, a one eyed monster, robot?

The four of us threw around some names to call it. The PresentTree, ReTree, Tree-a-roo… I think Treearoo wins out.

It’s not terribly “cradle to cradle”, as they say, but you have to keep in mind that it IS only a prototype. The wood dowels were bought at the local hardware store, the paint was a bunch of small test buckets of acrylic paint from the local paint shop that we had left over, the base is a reused bamboo IKEA fruit bowl (I have an idea this is the most sustainable part of the tree so far!).

I haven’t looked for alternatives yet – as I seem to be a “try it first – figure out the details later” sort of guy. I’m sure there are better ways to paint the thing, and maybe even a better, more efficient drill (the kind with a turn handle?) – but I thought the idea of making the tree itself reuseable, and sparing the trees from a dark future would be a step in the right direction.

Here is the how-to:

You’ll need:
A personal helper / Extra set of hands (my son Sebastian was a great help)
Paintbrush
Saw
Drill / Screwdriver
Drill bits: 3cm, 1cm, 2mm
Dowels: Trunk (diameter:3cm, length:25cm), Branches (diameter:1cm; 4 x 26.5cm / 2 x 28.5cm / 4 x 39.5cm), Hooks (diameter:2mm, length:1.5cm)
Base (IKEA bamboo fruitbowl, for example)
Washer
Screw
Paint
Piece of wood (we found one left over from another project (doorframe bookcase).

Get the supplies home – I took my bike, daredevil that I am;)

Cut the dowels into the height you want the tree, and make the smaller branches in two lengths. The ones I made were roughly 4 x 39.5cm for the lower ones, 2 x28.5cm for the middle ones and 4 x 26.5 for the uppers.

Cut the tiny dowel into 19 x 1.5cm lengths.

Drill holes for the branches – we did it by eye, spacing them randomly to look like a real tree, at roughly a 45 degree angle, so the branches point upwards.

Drill a pretty deep hole at one end of the trunk – the top.

Drill a hole – or holes, depending on how much you want to hang on the tree – on each branch, and push in the tiny dowels to make the hooks.

 

 Push all the branches into the trunk check the look of it.

Take them all out and start painting. Paint the trunk and base with the wood stain / laquer.
Push the tiny dowels into the branches and paint them, but leave a few centimeters at the tips unpainted – we paint these with bright colours later.

 

Cut a motif for the top of the tree. We drew a quick freehand star on the wood piece and cut it with the handsaw. You can make more interesting shapes with a jigsaw or something. Drill a hole into the bottom of it and push in a 1cm dowel. Paint the whole thing.

Put it all somewhere to dry.

Assemble it.

 

Presto! It’s a Treearoo!

 

Dismantle and reuse as you please.

PS. Use a drill bit that fits the dowel sizes.

If you make your own “Treearoo” – send me a picture! I’ll make a little gallery of them here.

Now in Sweden and USA!
Here’s a post on how the Treearoo looked in Stockholm for the holidays, 2007.

This entry was originally posted on Wednesday, January 10th, 2007 at 5:39 pm and was filed under Tinkering, Home and Hiking, Granola / Musli. 

12 Responses to “The Treearoo – Recyclable Christmas Tree”

1. Steve Says:
   February 2nd, 2007 at 10:28 pm
   I love this. 
    
2. Luke Says:
   February 2nd, 2007 at 10:38 pm
   =) You made my day, Stevey! 
    
3. patsy Says:
   November 9th, 2007 at 8:14 am
   this is a really wonderful idea. i have kittens and the fear that they would knock down the tree and next year with the new baby who is coming this year any day what a wonderful idea and it will be used year round. i plan to get hearts with all 12 of our names it will be our family tree until a birthday holiday etc great idea sir . 
    
4. luke Says:
   November 9th, 2007 at 8:21 am
   =) It’s actually pretty sturdy, Patsy – and maybe you could make one that’s a glorified scratching pole for the kittens?
   We have a baby girl (september this year) so I’ll let you know how it goes once we put the tree up again next year;) I don’t think this tree would be any more interesting than a regular tree though – not for a baby.
   Kids will be kids. 
    
5. Lüke: Illustration and Creative Tinkering » Blog Archive » iPodaroo – iPod Case Made of Toilet Paper Roll Says:
   November 9th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
   […] The iPodaroo came into being a bit before the Treearoo. I had been bitten by the recycling bug, and being in a family of 4 – we go through a lot of toilet paper – I noticed we had stockpiles of toilet paper rolls being carried out to the recycling bin. “What if WE could reuse them?” I thought. One day I just looked at a roll, looked at the iPod, and figured the iPod could fit. I shoved it in a flattened roll; it fit. […] 
    
6. Sheryl Says:
   November 19th, 2007 at 5:11 am
   Your tree looks great–so great that I’m going to make one for myself within the next week or two! I’m wondering: Have you gotten yours up from the basement to do some measuring? Or do you want to send your helper down to the basement to do some measuring? I imagine I can figure out what size drill bits and what length dowels to use with a bit of guesswork, and I might even feel a bigger sense of accomplishment if I do without measurements. But if you feel like adding the measurements in the spaces on this page that you’ve already reserved for them, I’ll be happy to use them. 
    
7. luke Says:
   November 19th, 2007 at 9:06 am
   Hey Sheryl!
   I’m actually bringing up the Treearoo from the basement today, and taking it to Stockholm tomorrow. I’ll try to measure all the bits tonight;) 
    
8. Sheryl Says:
   November 20th, 2007 at 5:30 am
   Thank you! Gosh, I can go buy dowels now, and there’s a brand-new drill (a wedding present) in the closet, so I’m pretty much ready to go. Submitting a photo of the finished product will depend upon my perception of its aesthetic value, of course. At the least, it should be fun. 
    
9. Sheryl Says:
   December 20th, 2007 at 1:25 am
   My Treearoo (aka Snoopy Star) is done! My skill level with an electric drill was at “early beginner” when I started driving holes in the dowels, so there was a struggle or two, but I persevered and am very happy with the result. There’s a spot where it could use another branch, but isn’t that true on real trees? Anyway, I’ve run out of dowels and put the drill away. I’ll send you a photo (my husband did a couple of photo shoots with it) if you tell me where to send it. Thanks again for the good instructions.