Recycle your Christmas tree

Here is a useful product and fun woodwork project you can make if you choose your Christmas tree carefully !

    
To make one of these choose your tree so that it has a good run of healthy size branches sticking out all around it. Then after the ritual yearly sacrifice of the tree, rough cut it to size and leave it to season somewhere you can find it, somewhere reasonably dry outside.

After a year or so the bark comes off quite easily and there is no sticky sap left. With your penknife strip off the bark, trying not to chip into the wood too much. Trim the branches back with a hacksaw and carve notches if you are hanging cups.

You can treat the wood in several ways. Start with sanding and shaping. An initial bleaching lightens the wood and brings out the grain but you will need to let it dry before coating in wax or varnish. You can either hang this ‘hanger’ from the ceiling or make a base stand for it.

Keep an eye out in the woods for a longer version. My current coat rack is a single branch of wood, jammed between the floor and ceiling in my cottage. It holds all of the hats and coats and can easily be moved nearer to the stove when they need a bit of drying out. Wild wood can be used for all sorts of functional furniture, such as the uprights for shelves or even rough looking frames that bring a bit of nature into the home. It is great fun working with 'wild wood' , it saves money and it it looks beautiful once it is treated.

A perfect bit of recycling !

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