So I learned how to do this when I spent the weekend with a friend my first semester at college. I then showed my mom how to do it, but I haven't done it since, and so if my instructions are a little off, feel free to mention how it should be done. But my tree turned out pretty great so, I'm not worried too much about my methods.
Any way, to start, this is what you need.
6 Wire hangers - It is Crucial that they are either Exactly alike or very similar in size... I learned that the hard way and had to jimmy rig a solution to my lopsided tree. When I made these the first time, they had wire hangers at the Dollar Tree in perfect bunches of 6. When I went looking the other night none were found. Luckily I raided my closet. Another source is dry cleaners. Just tear out that paper middle and you're good to go.
(Free!)Approx 30 feet of green garland - Dollar Tree again! I went with two different types this year and while it was a pain it was worth it. The coiled stuff in the right hand corner is from the dollar store the stuff on the left, from Walmart.
In the past I've just used tinsel and thats a fun way to make an unusual tree that is still cute. I went with traditional this year.
(Total: $4)Wire - I used green floral wire, the thickest I could find. You'll see why in a bit.
($2 at JoAnn's)A box of 100 lights - (Walmart, $2)And of course, my handy dandy wire cutters...okay....scissors, don't tell dave...First things first, group the hangers into groups of two and arrange them like so:
Attach the hooks at the tops to the middle of the bottoms with green wire. They will slip around a lot but just make it so they won't fall off and it'll be okay.
Do all three sets of hangers this way. Do NOT attach the tops.
Next you are going to take the sets and place them inside each other.
I wish I could've gotten a better picture but... this was the best I could do.
Are you starting to see it?
Once all three are put through each other like a giant tripod with 6 legs, you attach them all together by weaving green wire through the top a gazillion times so everything stays the way you want it to.
Next is more wire. Start at by securing some at the top and just start winding you way down, occasionally wrapping the wire around one of the hangers for more strength and support.
This provides a base for the lights and garland so they don't just slip off. You may think I'm weird but it works.
Now start with the lights.
Obviously you want to tuck the RIGHT END in to the inside of the tree. You can secure its place with more wire and then just start winding.
I like putting one up there at the top, especially because I didn't get a star.
While you may see 100 lights and think thats a lot, trust me, its perfect. You want go kinda sparse on top and save your lights for the bottom. You'll see later that i didn't really do that with my tree and while I didn't take pictures, my husband can attest to the fact that I unwound the lights several times because I put too many up top and didn't save enough for the bottom.
This was obviously one of my not so good attempts.
Next is the garland. Just stuff an end in somewhere and start wrapping.
Next, plug it in and admire. But then flip it over and look inside while it is still plugged in before you start moving things around. There will be tons of lights that need to be redirected to the light. Just grab and poke through and I promise your tree will start looking a TON better.
Then, when thats done, decorate to your hearts content and you are done!
ENJOY!!!
