Light Up Holiday Tree

By RYOBI Nation

SKILL
intermediate

Every holiday season, I have the urge to come up with another wood tree. This year’s version is an easy DIY tree with a light up feature. The only lumber involved was a 1" x 10" x 6’ board, and there's enough leftover scrap to make more than one! 🎄 Created by My Altered State

Tools

  • 18V ONE+ HP Brushless 1/2" Drill/Driver
  • 18V ONE+ Corner Cat Finish Sander
  • 18V ONE+ HP Brushless Air Strike 18 GA Brad Nailer
  • 18V ONE+ 7-1/4" Sliding Compound Miter Saw

Accessories

  • 7 PC. SMALL DRILL BIT SET

Materials

  • 1"x10"x6' Wood
  • Acrylic Paint
  • Mini String Lights
  • Paint Brush
  • Wood Glue

Steps

STEP 1

To make all the cuts for this double layer tree, I set my miter saw to 10°.

Tools

Miter Saw
cutting wood to size

STEP 2

After each cut, I flipped the board over. No need to change the angle on the saw.

Tools

Miter Saw
flipping wood board

STEP 3

The top and bottom parts of the tree are basically two 4-sided boxes. This means there are 2 sides to each box that are wider than the other two. Here is a photo of the bottom section, with measurements.

Wood cuts

STEP 4

Measurements for the top section.

top portion of tree

STEP 5

I decided to do a layer of paint before I drilled the holes. (I wanted to avoid having paint collect in the holes, which is what would have happened if I painted it after the holes were drilled.)

Tools

Drill/Driver
Drilling holes into the wood

STEP 6

Next, I drilled some random holes. I left some space to add smaller holes once I assembled it. I wanted to see it in “tree form” before I committed to all the hole placement.

Tools

Drill/Driver
Drilling holes

STEP 7

I used wood glue and my Airstrike nailer to assemble the two “boxes”.

Tools

Brad Nailer
Nailing boxes

STEP 8

Here’s a look at the bottom section after I nailed it together.

assembled bottom of the tree

STEP 9

There was a tiny lip on the top edge thanks to the taper, so I just sanded it down.

Tools

Corner Cat Sander
Sanding top of tree

STEP 10

Next, I added some smaller holes.

Tools

Drill/Driver
Drilling smaller holes

STEP 11

Then, I added some lighter green paint to give the illusion of distressing.

painting the tree

STEP 12

To incorporate the light up feature, I simply added a strand of LED Christmas lights inside, then placed the top onto the tree. (I used LED lights, because they do not get hot like the traditional ones.) Now I have a little light up holiday tree!

Adding lights