My first attempt at a Mini-Mega-Tree

[Guest guest]

So i've built some very small light trees in the past, nothing more than about 8 feet, with lights draped from a pvc pipe to the ground. This year I wanted to do a "mega-tree" but didn't have the time and patience to do the traditional ones that I've seen online. So I went to Lowe's and came up with what I think is a pretty clever and inexpensive mini-mega-tree! It's 10 feet tall, and I'm pretty sure I could go higher with some reinforcements throughout. This has no inner reinforcements and no guide wires to the ground. The biggest advantage is I'm able to do spirals very easily.

This is a test video I did tonight. It's not good quality, but you'll get the idea. I see that I need to do some more spacing of the lights.

I was originally going to buy 10' pieces of rebar and hook them together like a teepee at the top. But in that same area, I saw these 10' pieces of, I'm not sure what it's called, but you use it for drywalling corners. It's wire that has been swirled together to form a corner piece. There's a link to photos below.

I marked a circle on the ground and laid 10 pieces around the circle (next time I'll do 12 for more equal spacing of the light sections). I wired the center together (which became the top). This stuff is really light. So then I just lifted it from the center and all the end pieces slid themselves across the ground and helped lift it up. Then I just placed each end piece evenly around the circle and used a long garden staple to hold it to the ground. It is amazingly strong!

I would think if you wanted it taller, you could take 2 of the 10' pieces and hook them together with wire. But I'm pretty sure you'd have to use some cross pieces in a couple of places down the length of the tree to stabilize it from collapsing in on itself. I think even if I were to do more lights on the 10' tree, I'd have to stabilize it some.

So then you have a skeleton tree that actually looks pretty cool and architectural on its own! I ran some of the lights up and down, some I did in sections going around the tree and then I did red and green in spirals, from the bottom to the top. It was very easy. I did have to use some twisty-ties to hold some of the strings in place, especially on the spirals. Thankfully I kept all the twisties from all the light sets I bought!

Oh, and I also used some garden stakes at the bottom, about a foot off the ground, that I ran through each piece of the wire corner stuff. That way I had a bar along the bottom to wrap the lights around instead of trying to attach them right to the ground. I was lazy and didn't cut them off, but you can't see them at night.

Here are some photos of the tree in daylight.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6175977...373821/detail/

[shfr26]

It maybe me but all I get is oops this page is private, would like to see your creation.

Edit: the flickr one that is

[Guest guest]

shfr26 wrote:

It maybe me but all I get is oops this page is private, would like to see your creation.

Edit: the flickr one that is

Hmmm...I clicked on it and it came up. Try this one:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/61759776@N00/sets/72157622875373821/detail/

[shfr26]

That worked thanks, now I will have add more stuff next year. Looks good, nice job.

I also do not remember what the corner bead is called. Getting to old to think I guess. I want to say it is for stucco but am not sure.

[Guest guest]

shfr26 wrote:

That worked thanks, now I will have add more stuff next year. Looks good, nice job.

I also do not remember what the corner bead is called. Getting to old to think I guess. I want to say it is for stucco but am not sure.

Thanks Pete. I think the great thing is that it's cheap and easy. Each 10' piece was less than $3. It was cheaper if you bought 10 (?) or more. Also, being that they have the 90º shape, they'll nest inside each other for much easier storage.