All Christmas trees are perfect!"
Making and decorating a Christmas Tree brings warmth, joy, and Christmas cheer to everyone! It's a wonderful feeling everyone would love to do as preparation for the coming Christmas Celebration!
Never in a year, do I miss the chance of decorating mine no matter how simple and small my Christmas Tree is. But this time it's different, I have to make a 12-feet tall Christmas tree with very limited resources and budget. The tight budget is already a challenge for me, but what makes it more challenging is the quality and the criteria I have to meet in making one!
I have to make a strong, durable, and very tall outdoor Christmas Tree! Hearing this, I knew then that I needed quality materials, but where will I get those materials on a tight budget? I have no choice but to check what's available around and utilize it. I then planned our desired Christmas tree, A Bamboo Christmas Tree 🎄 since we have plenty of these in the neighborhood.
As much as I want to be hands-on with the whole process of making the Christmas tree, I couldn't because of my work, what I did was leave instructions to my father on what to do and what to prepare so I could make it at night and during on my vacant time.
The crafting and the making begin:
- 🎄 I had my father gathered at least 10 feet-sized of not less than 20 Bamboo poles. The bamboo is cut into the desired measurement from longest( as the base) to shortest (top) to form a triangle shape. The cut bamboo will serve as the branches of the Christmas Tree.
- 🎄 With holes at the center of the bamboo, we then painted it with white paint( Quick dry paint)first, when it was all dry, we applied the second coat which is Gold Color. I choose the Gold Color as I wanted to have a glittery Christmas Tree.😁
🎄When everything was painted and dried. It's time to put all the bamboo poles in the 12 feet metal pipe we prepared. The metal pipe was my sister's unused Metal Pole for her Wifi.
🎄The Extra Decorations.We recycled some of our plastic bottles, beautified and painted Styrofoam balls, and made a box out of the insulation foam as our hanging ornaments for the Christmas tree.
TRYING THE DIFFERENT ANGLES OF OUR CHRISTMAS TREE!
Hence we used bamboo and put holes at the center, it's easy to try many angles of the Christmas Tree to check which angle or face our Christmas Tree looks best. We need to do trial and error in changing the position of the bamboo to get the best outcome and its unique look!
I also tried rearranging the decorations to get the best match and balance. This was a trial and error too. After the tries, we decided to not include the recycled plastic bottles, because we needed plenty of it. And also it demands more time to prepare and collect more of it.
The design we loved!🎄
After trying different angles and positions of the bamboo poles, we finally came to this design. A spiral design of our Christmas Tree!
🎄Of course, any Christmas Tree would not be complete without the star on the top! And here's ours!
I placed the Star LED light inside the bamboo lantern. I covered some parts of the lantern with the cloth-like sheath of the coconut to add beauty while still emphasizing the LED LIGHT.
We made the Christmas Tree for about 4 days.
ANOTHER CHALLENGE HAS COME!
I thought that was the end of our DIY Christmas Tree, but I was informed that we have to put the Christmas Tree in the Town Center together with the other Christmas tree of the Local Government Units! In short, our DIY Christmas Tree is one of the entries of the Christmas Show of our Municipality.
I was torn between panic and pride. I felt pride because, people will see our craft and I am happy that our Christmas Tree will add joy to the people watching it, but at the same time I felt panicked and pressured because I know, If only we have the appropriate budget, We could have done better!
But it's here already, so I have to enjoy the experience.
- 🎄To add beauty, I asked my students to make me 30 bamboo lanterns for decorations of the fences. We only used yarn and glue sticks in making the lanterns.
THE MOST EXCITING PART: INSTALLATION TIME AT THE TOWN CENTER!
A lovely bright day to install our Christmas Tree at the Plaza. Who would have thought that our DIY Christmas Tree will reach and be installed at the town center?
I am grateful to my siblings, my parents, and my students who helped me install and set everything in the plaza. We transport all the materials we needed yesterday, December 7, 2022. We made sure to bring everything we needed. We have to set everything because the next day December 8 will be the official lighting of all the Christmas Trees! I honestly could feel my bones trembling because of excitement!
I am happy and proud of our Christmas Tree. It may not be as big as the others, but I am happy that it's one of the displays there! It's an achievement already.
My students helped each other install the lanterns for the arc.
In the background is my sister almost climbing the Christmas Tree to install the Christmas Light!
Charaan! Behold, our simple DIY Christmas Tree!
Very simple right? Amazing Christmas Tree on a budget!
We tried the lights to check if everything is working and it is! I almost want to cry seeing our Christmas Tree lighting!
The view in the daytime.
Our Christmas Tree may not be the grandest among the displays but for us, it is the best Christmas Tree this year that we ever see and the best Christmas Tree I've made! Oh, I'm crying!😥. We made it with so much joy and love without getting anything in return. It's a pure labor of love!
May our Christmas Tree brings hope and cheers to you and the townspeople! Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you for reading. Hope you are all safe and healthy.
