How To Make A Classic Wooden Christmas Tree Collar

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Every year, I try to change up our Christmas décor in some way. In years past, that change has looked like dried orange or cranberry garlands, fresh evergreen wreaths or bright red candlesticks. While we haven’t decorated our home just yet, I have been working on a few fun DIY Christmas adventures that will spruce up our home once we do. Like last week’s Anthropologie hand towel to holiday pillow creation, this week’s DIY was originally inspired by a Crate & Barrel tree collar. Typically, we have just used a white blanket as our tree base, but this year I was hoping for something a little more unique and easier to clean when our tree starts to drop its needles. It was in this mindset that I stumbled upon a gorgeous natural wooden tree collar by Crate & Barrel. Despite its on sale Black Friday price, I set out to make one similar but slightly more budget friendly. So, if you are looking for a new way to change up your Christmas décor and tree skirt, I hope this classic wooden Christmas tree collar might inspire you to make your own.

Tree Collar Inspiration

When first finding the Skei Wood Natural Christmas Tree Collar 24″, I fell in love with the clean lines and simplicity shown in the wooden strips. Coming in both natural and black colors, I loved the aesthetic that it provides to a Christmas tree. While this tree collar is gorgeous, my only hold up was the slight gaps between the slats. Seeing this (and the price!), I set out to make an alternative that had the sticks slightly overlapping to prevent any gaps while providing the same clean simple design.

How To Make A Classic Wooden Christmas Tree Collar

Supplies For A Classic Wooden Christmas Tree Collar

These materials make a 20” tree collar, however you could scale the supplies as needed should you want a bigger final product.

8 – 10 pack 12” Wooden Paint Sticks
Hot Glue or Super Glue
Varathane Clear Satin Oil-Based Interior Polyurethane
Foam Brush
Cardboard
Saw
Xacto Knife

How To Make A Classic Wooden Christmas Tree Collar

Step 1: The first step to making your tree collar is to cut all the wooden paint sticks down to the same size without the tiny handle lip. Clamp half of your paint sticks together at the base and draw a line directly underneath the handle lip. Cut along that line and repeat until all your paint sticks are the same size. They should all be about 9” tall. I liked the natural appearance of the sticks, but if you wish, feel free to stain the sticks a darker wood color or even black like the Crate & Barrel tree collar.

Step 2: Outline your tree stand onto the cardboard and/or draw a circle large enough to fit your tree. That circle will be the minimum interior size it can be to properly fit around your stand. Next, draw a circle on the outside of that circle about 1” larger.

*** Note: We got such a large Christmas tree this year that it cracked our tree stand and started pouring water onto our floor, so we had to buy a new tree stand. That being said, the new stand is slightly bigger, so I now have a small gap at the back of our tree collar. You can’t see the gap from the front, however once you outline your tree stand, I would highly recommend making your interior circle measurement at least an inch or two bigger to accommodate other tree stands in the future should you have to change it out. ***

Step 3: Using an Xacto knife, cut out this large circle and then cut the smaller circle from its interior. From the smaller circle, cut out a 1” circle as well. The smaller this internal circle is, the steeper your walls will be. These cardboard circles will be your base and top form pieces for the tree collar.

Step 4: Next, set your larger circle around your tree base to ensure it fits. Then, tape the smaller circle to the tree prongs to ensure it is a mostly even distance around the tree collar. This will help start the pieces but may not be necessarily towards the end.

Step 5: Cut the top circle and bottom circle at the same place to allow for semi circle pieces. Tape the cardboard together to keep it one circle at this point.

Step 6: Use hot glue or super glue to attach each wooden stick to the form. Glue at the base, top and on the sides to attach the slightly overlapped portion. This will make the form more sturdy.

Step 7: Continue attaching all of the wooden pieces. Be sure to not glue the stick sides that are near the cardboard cuts to ensure the two semicircles will pull apart easily.

Step 8: Once all the pieces are finished, if the top cardboard circle is not attached to many of the sticks, you can take this piece out. My circle was not drawn perfect enough, so it provided a great form at the beginning, but later on the sticks did not touch it, so I removed it. The bottom cardboard circle and wooden sticks attached to one another will provide enough strength. If the cardboard is thoroughly attached though, feel free to leave it.

Step 9: Cut the tape holding the circles together and separate the two semi circle pieces. Use the foam brush to apply the polyurethane coating to the circle interior and exterior. This will provide greater durability and waterproofness over the years.

Step 10: Let the poly dry. Feel free to apply more layers if you wish, but I kept with just one. Viola you have finished!

Final Thoughts

While not perfect, I am so excited for our new classic wooden tree collar! I can’t wait to see the tree all adorned and set up once we have finished decorating. We already had the polyurethane on hand, but even if you didn’t, for about $20 you can have a fabulous new look for your Christmas décor. Who knew paint sticks could be made so attractive! Sometimes it’s the small things that make our Christmas season so special and little projects like this provide a fun afternoon activity that also transforms our décor. Do you have a favorite DIY project you have tried recently?

Happy making!