DIY Christmas Pallet Tree by Justin Scholl

So a good friend of mine from high school posted a Christmas tree pallet on his Facebook page. I immediately contacted him and asked him to write something up so I could post it here and share it with all of you! He has made a lot of pallet furniture and this tree was cute.

1. Fine a pallet in good shape.  You do not want one that is all cracked or broken boards.  This will make the project much harder than necessary.  

2. Once you have a pallet start by cutting down the side of the pallet runner.  Best bet is either a chainsaw, reciprocating saw or circular saw. Make sure to cut both sides of the pallet

3. Flip the pallet over and make the same cut. Cut against the pallet runner.  This will allow the sides to be cut off

4. The side of the pallet that has the least amount of boards is the side we will cut again.  Cut the reaming boards off this side of the pallet.

5. Your pallet should now look like the picture below

6. Now lay the pallet on the ground.  Mark your pallet so that there is a triangle on the boards.  This can be any size and will be up to what size tree you want or need to make. 

 7. Take one of the sides that was cut off and place it under the side of the pallet you are going to cut first.  This allows for some stability when cutting. Again a chainsaw or circular saw works great.  This step I like to use a circular saw.  Once the pallet runner is placed underneath begin to make your cut.  Once one side is cut switch to the other side.  Just repeat this step.

8. Now with the Pallet sides we want to remove any leftover wood that is attached to the nails.  I just use the claw end of a hammer.  It takes a little bit but doesn’t damage the wood. Once the wood is off remove or hammer in all nails.

 9. Since we have a clean pallet side now.  Take one and cut it in half.  This is going to act as the base support.  Once cut attach with 3 in" deck or drywall screws.  Or anything you have laying around that will work. I had 3 inch deck screws laying around, so that’s what I use

10. Cut the other pallet side in half.  Place this half in between the base support that we just made and attached. Screw this board fast.

11. This step has a couple options.  You can use regular lumber if you want.  I have found that if you double up the slats on a pallet they usually equal the depth of the indention for the forks on the pallet side.  This is what I do mostly because I want to try and use as much as I can from the pallet.  Once this is doubled up attach it to the base.

 12. Flip the tree over and construction is complete.

13. You can now paint, light and decorate your tree as much or as little as you like.

Here's a little note from Justin himself:

I have been working with pallets for around 3 years now. I have done a backsplash, picnic table, love seat, chairs, bar stools, head board, shed, and now pallet trees.  My next project is making a bed with storage drawers out of pallets.  In the pictures you can see some of the things I have created.  Take time to appreciate the pallet and use some creativity.  Everything I have done has had the blueprints drawn up in my mind.  Take some time and some pride and you can do tons of things with pallets that look absolutely gorgeous.
Scholl38boarder@yahoo.com  for tree requests.  Will only do Lehigh valley area.  Please use pallet xmas tree as the email subject
$40 for tree made
$50 for a tree made and painted.
$65 for tree made, painted, and lights attached