Wall Christmas Tree Project

I have completed the Wall Christmas Tree I envisioned back in January 2021.

I made a plan, sourced and purchased materials and supplies, and recruited help. 

It's been just under 9 months for the vision to come to life.  

My plan was for the branches to start at 4" and increase by 4" for 8 rows.  That would bring my tree to 4 feet tall and 40 inches wide.

I decided it needed to have some bling so I would include some crystal faceted beads.

I was going to make holes in the branches so I could thread my cord through rather than have the cord on the outside where it would show.

I investigated cording and consulted with my aunt  who does jewelry and we decided on nylon cord - C-Lon Bead Cord which has a tensile strength of 36 pounds. She was kind enough to lend me a spool so I could take what I needed. The color is flax.

Now that I had the cord I was able to do some testing about how I would thread it and the size of beads I could use.  I decided that I would put crystal beads above and below the branch and wrap around each of these.  I then would use crimp beads on the top and bottom of the sandwich to keep them in place when I stored it after the holiday.  The idea is that I just roll it up and put it in it's own bag (which I will make).  Easy peasy!

I needed to source branches so I made a visit to the country and had a friend help me cut some birch tree branches.  I wanted them no bigger than 1/2 inch and started at 1/4 inches.  I did not need a lot because some branches made 2 rows.  My helper drilled holes in the ends as well.

I visited my local arts and crafts store for the crystal faceted beads and crimp beads and they were on sale! Yeah.

Yesterday, I decided it was the day to get started.  I assembled my tools and supplies.

A saw to cut any bits off, drill to make new holes if needed, nylon cord, crimp beads, crystal beads, an awl to make the holes bigger, scissors to cut thread, the S hook was the one I used to test branch size, and crimp pliers I borrowed from my aunt. 

I cut 2 lengths of C-Lon nylon bead cord double of 12 feet to ensure they were long enough to go around all these beads and branches.  

I decided to start with a ring so that I would have a definite point on my tree. 

I chose a gold split ring because it was what I had and it turned out to be a good idea.  When I was stringing the lights on I was able to engage the wire into the ring because it was split. 

Cords added to the ring with hatch hitch knot.  

To keep the cords together at the top and start the bling I added a crystal bead.

Then I put an over hand knot with all 4 threads and tucked it just below the glass bead.

I then figured out which cord was which because one had been cut just a bit shorter than the other.  Now I had one cut length on the right with the center on the ring and another on the left.

I now could start to string beads on each side.  It took strict paying attention to make sure I got the beads in the right order. A crimp bead, a crystal bead, through the crystal again, then through the branch and around again, then a crystal bead and through again and finish with a crimp bead. 

This is the first row of the 4" branch.

I would not crimp the beads until the end.

I continued the process doing these steps on the right hand side then the left hand side of each branch.  I averaged between 5.5 to 6 inches between each row. 

Sometimes I had to adjust the distance because the branch was not exactly level.  Having not crimped my beads I could just adjust as I needed.

Repeated the process for all 8 rows, left and right it they were all in place.

I put the last of be beads in place late last night and decided I would only crimp the beads today after a good night sleep.

I made my final adjustments to the beads and the branches, etc this morning.

Once I was happy with the overall look I use the blue handled pliers and crimped all the silver beads above and below each set of branches both right and left.  

There is no going back now.  Things are securely held in place and no way to adjust or replace any of the beads.

This allows me to take down and store the tree with out my branches moving up and down the threads.  It was very good when hanging when gravity was doing its thing to keep the branches in place.

I dug through my bin of photography props to find the metal star.   

It is about 8 inches which which may be a bit on the big side.   Here is is hanging as a test to see what the final tree may look like.

I think this works for now.

Next, came the lights.  I had purchased the lights in January while they were on 50% clearance after Christmas.   A string of fairy starry lights.  Very tiny lights on a silver gold wire.  

I wanted them to be plug in type rather than battery operated so I had to go with a longer string.  At 50 feet of lights I thought it would be more than enough to do the job.

I measured my pattern which indicated I would need 44 feet so I left a few at the top for the star.   I hung the tree in my patio door on the first curtain rod so I had space behind the tree to move the string back and forth with ease.

The first time I went down the left side wrapping an the cord, then across the bottom wrapping around the longest branch then up the right hand side wrapping on the cord between the branches.  The second wrap was down from the top on the right cord across the first branch down the next cord across the branch till I got to the bottom. The third wrap was coming back up to the top catching the cords on the opposite sides and again every branch which left me at the top.  I then just wrapped them around the cord again on the right hand side and along the bottom branch to leave my plug hanging down in the middle of the bottom branch.   That was perfect!

It has turned out exactly how I wanted.  I have put a picture nail in the wall to hand for now but I will need a different hook so it will hang away from the wall a bit so I can hang dimensional ornaments as well.  I will have to check my supply of SHooks as well.  The next step is a bag to store it safely when it is not hung.