Use An Affordable Dollar Tree Item To DIY Rustic Wooden Christmas Tree Decor

Thrifty DIYers know lots of tricks for pinching pennies while creating. Dollar Tree wooden craft supplies are a go-to for budget projects, but some decor items are based on things you wouldn't find in the crafting aisle. Dollar Tree's Tumbling Towers game, consisting of 72 two-toned wooden blocks, is a popular and affordable canvas for clever projects. Paintable and glueable, these wood pieces can morph into things either ornamental, practical, or both.

TikTok is packed with blocky, folksy holiday tutorials relying on the game pieces, but one rustic wooden Christmas tree capable of holding an LED candle caught our eye. Four stair-step sides attached diagonally to a wooden base and meeting at a peak are just the right frame for a flickering tealight. Finished with a lightly-distressed sage chalk paint and topped with a voluminous red-and white bow, all it needs is the warm light of a battery-operated candle to complete the look.

Make your own copy or slightly tweak it to your taste by heading to the Tree to stock up on one game set, jute twine, some wood glue, a pack of sandpaper, and a spool of wide wire-edged ribbon in a holiday pattern or colors. If you see a color you love — or know you could mix with another one — among their selection of acrylic paints, grab a bottle or two, as well. (Avoid using their tempera paints, since this type of water-based pigment doesn't hold up well without taking extra steps.) You can also use a bit of white, brown, or black acrylic paint for distressed detailing. Or, you could forgo the paint altogether and stain the wood or leave it in its original state.

Before beginning, keep in mind that there are many potentially fragile joints between the pieces in this project, so it's best to give the wood glue ample time to dry and cure before manipulating separate glued sections. Our guide on how long wood glue takes to dry (and how to speed up the process) will help you plan your project timeline.

Create a base for the step-shaped sides of your rustic winter pine tree. Use wood glue to connect two sets of six blocks at their long edges into rectangle shapes, then glue the two rectangles together to make a square. Let this dry and cure while you form the tree structure. The conifer shape is made up of four separate, connected sets of game pieces. Grab 28 blocks and your glue, and separate them into four groups of seven. Glue their ends in stair-step fashion, overlapping the ends of the pieces by about ¼ inch. Once you've pieced together four seven-block sections, give them ample time to dry.

While you wait, snip up some ribbon pieces for tree-top embellishments. Heat the glue gun, and cut two 10-inch lengths of ribbon and two 11-inch pieces. Cut dovetail edges on each end of the 11-inch pieces. Fold the 10-inch ribbon pieces into two loops, connecting the ends with hot glue. Flatten the loops slightly, and slide one loop perpendicularly inside the other. With even amounts of ribbon remaining on each side of their intersection, cinch the center with a bit of twine, and set it aside.

Once the wood glue has cured, paint all surfaces on each of the four stair-step pieces and the top and sides of the square base. One coat will do, since you'll be distressing the finish. For this DIY distressed paint process, gently sand the painted pieces along areas that would normally show wear, like corners and edges. If you want, lightly dry-brush on some additional paint in white, brown, or black for a more textured vintage look. A very limited amount of paint on the brush is good to start with, because you can always add more.

After the paint is dry, you'll be gluing the four stair-step pieces, one at each corner of the square base, at angles so that the four pieces meet in a point. Since there won't be much surface area touching between each piece, a combination of hot glue and wood glue can provide both short and long-term hold. Start with two "stair" pieces, and glue one on each corner of the base with a small amount of wood glue first, and secure with hot glue. Repeat with the other two pieces.

Attach the rougher side of the bow to the top of the "tree" with hot glue. Affix the two 11-inch ribbons, one on each side of the tree, so that they cascade down the sides. (Glue them as closely as you can to where you glued the bow.) Set a lighted LED tealight inside the frame, and place your creation atop your mantel or any flat surface needing some Christmas cheer.