How to Make Lighted Outdoor Christmas Decorations
- 1). Trace the outline of a Christmas tree onto a sheet of 1/2-inch-thick treated plywood.
Cut the Christmas tree outline from the plywood with a jigsaw. Sand the raw edges smooth with medium grade sandpaper. - 2). Measure the space between the lights on a strand of outdoor twinkle lights. Lay the tree cutout on a flat work surface. Mark the tree where you would like to place the twinkle lights; don't space them farther apart than the span of wire that connects them.
- 3). Drill 1/2-inch-diameter holes through the marks you made for the twinkle lights.
- 4). Spray paint the front, back and edges of the Christmas tree cutout any color that you like with exterior spray paint. It may take more than one coat to cover the wood; let the paint dry between coats.
- 5). Fit the twinkle lights through the holes from the back side of the tree cutout. Duct tape the wires between the lights to the back of the wooden tree to hold them in place.
- 6). Unroll a three-foot section of 22-gauge colored craft wire from the spool; do not cut the wire. Attach the end of the wire to the back side of the top of the tree with duct tape. Wrap the wire in a loose spiral around the tree; secure it at the back with duct tape as you go. Unroll more wire as needed. Cut the wire when the tree is wrapped; tape the end to the back side of the tree.
- 7). Hang decorative plastic Christmas ornaments from the wire strand around the tree. Plastic holds up better outdoors than glass ornaments do.
