3-Step Sparse Tree DIY

When we found an old Christmas tree in the attic, I knew I had nothing to lose! I had been swooning over all the beautiful sparse trees on Pinterest since last Christmas and loved the way they looked. To me, sparse trees are whimsical and vintage, but also feel updated.

With a free tree, and my inspiration pictures, I decided to take my chances and create a sparse tree from an ordinary Christmas tree. The tree we found was left by the previous owners, and was in great shape. Most of the lights were out, but we knew they would have to come off anyway. The transformation ended up surpassing my expectations and I’m so excited to share the three easy steps with you!

Step 1 Remove Lights

My husband, Adam started by cutting the plastic light clips off of each individual branch, but quickly realized that was too tedious of a process. Although extremely messy, pulling and jerking the light wires worked very well and made the process go quickly. The plastic light clips broke off very easily. I recommend you do this part outside!

Step 2 Remove Branches

Some trees have removable branches… that type of tree is ideal for this project. However, our tree did not have removable branches, they were hinged, like most trees these days.

To create a sparse look, I removed every other branch on each row all the way up the tree using bolt cutters. Once I got closer to the top, I could remove the smaller branches with tin snips. I cut as close to the trunk as possible to minimize the hardware leftover from the missing branches.

I kept the bottom row of branches intact to create a thicker look toward the bottom. It also helped to “ground” the tree and look more natural.

Step 3 Hide the Hardware

You might’ve already wondered about the look of the Christmas tree’s trunk. Obviously, this tree wasn’t made to have the trunk part seen, so it had parts that needed to be hidden, especially after removing half of the branches.

I knew that once the tree was decorated, your eye wouldn’t “see” the trunk, but it still needed to be somewhat camoflauged. I used dark brown burlap ribbon to hide the hardware and was pleased with how it turned out!

Tip: I also used the dark brown burlap ribbon to hide the light plugs once I began decorating.

Jamie

How you decorate your sparse tree is totally up to you, but I kept it really simple. I love how you can see all the ornaments and how the garland “floats” on the branches. Less is more when it comes to these types of trees.

I’d love to know if you try this with a tree in your home! Be sure to comment below or send me a message on Instagram!

Thanks for stopping by, Jamie xo