Reclaimed Tobacco Stick Christmas Tree DIY Decor

It’s time to get into the holiday spirit and decorate your front yard! Learn how to create your own Christmas decor made with tobacco sticks that you can display outside all holiday season long!

CHRISTMAS DECOR MADE WITH TOBACCO STICKS:

Hey everybody – Don here with my annual manly blog post. Living in Kentucky and throughout the South over the last 15 years we have always known about tobacco sticks. They are readily available and usually cheap. I have seen several tobacco stick crafts but had never made anything myself. Well, a few weekends ago, we found a few bundles on sale in an antique store for about $15 and I thought it was time to give it a try. Last year I made a  Christmas tree from some old fence pickets and thought I could do the same this year out of old tobacco sticks.

{FTC disclaimer: this post contains affiliate links which means I may make a small commission if you make a purchase – at no additional cost to you.}

LET’S TALK TOBACCO STICKS: 

If you have never heard of tobacco sticks or haven’t used them before, I thought it might be good to briefly talk about them. 

Tobacco sticks are sticks used in tobacco barns to hang tobacco leaves or plants on to dry. They are usually irregular in shape, so their size can vary from 1 to 1 ½ inches wide, and ½ to 1 inch thick (more on that later). However, even though they are not perfect in shape they are great for making handmade pieces. Below are just a few projects that you can easily make using them.

• Tobacco Stick Star
• Tobacco Stick Table
• Tobacco Stick Sled
• Tobacco Stick Bench

You can also make smaller items like Christmas ornaments or Christmas trees (which is what I will be showing you today). If you are looking for more decorative uses I would recommend searching ”tobacco stick crafts” or ”tobacco sticks easy Christmas crafts ” (if you want more Christmas-themed crafts).

Finally, as I mentioned before, I found the tobacco sticks for this project at a local antique store. However, the good news, is that you can find them in a variety of places. For instance, locally, you can find them at flea markets or a thrift store. You also might be able to find unwanted tobacco sticks for free on places like Facebook Marketplace.

Now, if you have been searching for a long time, and still can’t find any in your area, you may want to try a global marketplace like Etsy. Many Etsy sellers offer tobacco sticks in bundles of 10 or 50, and you can usually get free shipping on your order. Plus, it’s always nice to support small businesses, especially during this time of the year.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

Supplies for Building the Basic Structure of the Tobacco Tree:

• 10x Tobacco Sticks
• 1 1/2″ or 1 3/4″ #8 Screws
• 1/8 Drill Bit
• Drill
• 2-3 Spring Clamps
• Large Scrap Board or Piece of Butcher Paper (to draw our template on)
• Utility Knife
• Handsaw

Optional Supplies For Decorating the Tobacco Tree: 

• Christmas Ornaments
• Brass Cup Hooks or Shorter Nails
• Nail Gun, Hot Glue Gun, etc.

NOTE: If you can’t find any tobacco sticks you could also use scrap wood pieces instead.

HOW TO MAKE CHRISTMAS DECOR MADE WITH TOBACCO STICKS:

The best part about this tobacco stick Christmas tree is that there is no measuring needed. The tobacco sticks are too irregularly shaped to get a good fit with precise measurements and angles. What I found worked best was drawing a template on a piece of scrap plywood and then marking cuts directly on the tobacco sticks.

STEP 1 – LAYOUT I got my overall template shape by laying three sticks across each other in a triangle shape until the height and angles looked good. Then make a pencil mark at all three corners of the triangle directly on your template board/paper. Remove the sticks and draw lines (or snap chalk lines) from all three corners to complete your tree’s shape.

STEP 2 – BUILD THE BASIC FRAME Build the base triangle for your tree. Clamp a stick in place along the bottom line of the tree. Place a stick along one leg of the tree from the apex to the base stick. Mark the cut at the bottom and the top of the stick. Cut the stick and clamp in place. Repeat with the other leg of the triangle. Drill pilot holes and drive screws to solidify the shape of the triangle.

STEP 3 – BUILD THE INNER TREE Lay the other sticks across the triangle until you get a spacing that is pleasing to the eye. I spaced mine about 2.5″ apart. Again make marks on the template so you can locate them again. Pick up all the sticks except the one in the middle. Just as before, mark the cuts directly on the stick and then make the cut. Place the stick, drill pilot holes, and drive the screws. Now repeat this process until all the sticks are in place. I worked from the ends in toward the middle and found I could get two cross pieces out of one stick.

STEP 4 – ATTACH THE BACK STAKE Save your longest and straightest tobacco stick to use for the back support and the stake that goes into the ground. Once more we are doing this by eye. Place the stick and drill and drive screws through it into the back of the tree in a few places. Your tree is now ready to decorate and put out in the yard.

NOTE: I chose not to paint or stain my tobacco stick tree, however, if you want to paint your tree with green or white paint, you will want to do it before step 5.

STEP 5 – DECORATE To decorate your tree you have several different options when it comes to Christmas decorations. Below I listed a few ideas that you can do when decorating your tree.

• Attach Christmas lights to the back with staples or wire nails.
• Mount small ornaments to the front using brass cup hooks or shorter nails. – This is what I did for our tree
• Attach a smaller star or handmade bow to the top of the tree. 
• Attach garland using floral wire (to each section of the tree) and add items like fake berries, pine cones, or vintage treasures using an industrial-strength hot glue gun.
• If you place the tree inside your house (like in your dining room), you could add small clothespins to hang Christmas cards.

Place it out in your yard and enjoy it as your neighbors and family members envy your custom Christmas yard decoration.

Thanks for your support of Beth (and me and the dogs) again this year. It has been a pleasure to meet so many of you during our travels and I hope 2017 will be a chance for us to meet even more of you. Merry Christmas!

Don

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