Judy Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 I had a great idea on how to create mini trees. Purchase the wire cages used to protect tomatoe plants ($1.29 ea) Turn upside down. Wire the three loose ends together and you have a perfect shape for a mini tree.Load on as many as 5 strings of lights and use electrical tape to secure to wire frame. They are awesome. Already created 16 trees this past month.Judy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman A. Gurule Jr. Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Judy,While it's a great idea, we have all been doing that for years.Now keep the good ideas coming.Roman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponddude Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 I do this as well Judy. Another good idea, which I do, is wrap the frames with garland and add the lights. I helps use less lights and the trees look great during the day too.http://www.freewebs.com/manorchristmas/minitrees.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judy Posted February 5, 2009 Author Share Posted February 5, 2009 Well excuse me. One of the more popular sites discussed using easels for the base. Then having to make swivel bases to turn the easel to apply lites. Just thought I would share my own idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roman A. Gurule Jr. Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Judy,Sorry, I was not trying to be rude. Just pointing out that a lot of us do that.I was also serious about keeping the ideas coming.ThanksRoman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strgzr Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 Yes, please keep the ideas coming!We new folk are terribly ignorant on how to do things like that!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny christmas Posted February 13, 2009 Share Posted February 13, 2009 and you could add chicken wire around it like i did last year to round it out a lil better600 lights200 clear200 red200 greenhttp://johnnychristmas.com/mini.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TGabriel Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Yes I used tomatoes cages to make my mini trees also. But I used 2 cages to get the round effect staggering the horizonal wires. I cut the ends at the top even, then bend the top 1 to 1 1/2 inches straight up. Then insert a 3/8 inside copper tube around 2 inches long. One end of the tube is flat with 3/8 hole drilled into it. The tube is then solder into place. This gives me a way to hang the tree up for storage. Thinging about installing a hook inside the tree on my next ones, so I can hang a tree inside a tree cutting down on storage space. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrChristmas2000 Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Ponddude,FYISome of your how to links are broken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponddude Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 Thanks Mr....I deleted some stuff off the site and never got ride of the links. I will update it later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doublea Posted March 25, 2009 Share Posted March 25, 2009 I purchased 40 tomato cages last month great minds think alike, though I didn't think of the idea, hehe i found it in several others videos, and on these forms.No longer do we need to pay the 19.99 for the stores mini trees hehe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friskybri Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 What height of the mini trees do most people use. Looking to buy tomato cages this week and chicken wire. I plan on putting two hundred R, G,WH on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Simmons Posted March 27, 2009 Share Posted March 27, 2009 I used the 32" tall cages. I used 200 clearminis , 50 C6 red LED's and 7.5' of green rope light spiraled on each tree. Fortunately, where I use the trees I don't need any more light from either the red or green. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgardner518 Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 True Value in my area has tomato cages for .79 cents each, on sale until the 30th! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiggyHD Posted October 2, 2011 Share Posted October 2, 2011 Just picked up 12 at .99 ea. I never thought of using 2 to round it out a bit. Now I need to go get more, and maybe chicken wire, and a boat load of lights....Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caniac Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 WiggyHD wrote: Just picked up 12 at .99 ea. I never thought of using 2 to round it out a bit. Now I need to go get more, and maybe chicken wire, and a boat load of lights....MarkIf you use to cages together you may not need the chicken wire. Did the two cage method this spring, liked the result and didn't need chicken wire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CKSedg Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Same here. No chicken wire and they look great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Rise Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 Here ya go Judy. Some pictures.http://forums.lightorama.com/forum80/26517-6.htmlI tried PVC pipe at first. Went with the tomatoe cages.Version 6 was the lucky number for me. Used zip ties to hold everything in place.Oh BTW....they come in different sizes. I had no idea...LOLSo I have some giant cages to add into my show next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBullard Posted October 3, 2011 Share Posted October 3, 2011 David Rise wrote:Here ya go Judy. Some pictures.http://forums.lightorama.com/forum80/26517-6.htmlI tried PVC pipe at first. Went with the tomatoe cages.Version 6 was the lucky number for me. Used zip ties to hold everything in place.Oh BTW....they come in different sizes. I had no idea...LOLSo I have some giant cages to add into my show next year.I'm not sure if Judy will see your reply. The last time she logged onto the forums was Sunday June 22, 2008, the same day she started the thread. Over 3 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meadmkr Posted October 16, 2011 Share Posted October 16, 2011 My first batch of mini-trees started rusting after one season, especially around the spot welds so I now give them a good coat (or three) of outdoor paint. Since I've been doing this I haven't tripped a GFI as a side benefit(knock wood). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts