This DIY Christmas tree stand is actually a knock-off of Jaime’s over at JaimeCostiglio.com, but I had to adjust it a bit to fit my larger tree base and I wanted my tree to be off of the ground – so I needed it to have a shelf insert as well.
I’m showing my building plans for those of you (like me) that found Jaime’s a bit confusing, and/or needed a DIY Christmas tree stand for a larger tree.
First off, I will admit that I built this thing twice…
Once I guesstimated the size of my tree stand – and then built a giant monstrosity that could hold two trees – and then the second time I did it right.
Please measure your tree stand before starting to make sure my plans aren’t too big or too small for your tree. (the tree stand that came with my tree is 23″ by 23″ when the legs are open in their “X” pattern – I believe this is standard for most 7.5′ trees)
This project is going to give you a little practice with the angles and bevels on your mitre saw. If you don’t have a mitre saw that can cut angles and bevels, don’t worry – I’m including measurements so you can still join in.
DIY Christmas tree stand:
- 8 pieces 2 ¾” x 19 ¼” (¾” thick)
- 4 pieces 2″x 2″ cut to 9 5/8″
- 8 pieces 2 ¾” x 21″ (¾” thick)
I made my DIY Christmas tree stand entirely out of scrap wood – so you’ll see my wood is different colours and in some cases, slightly different thicknesses.
I knew I was going to paint it, so wood type etc didn’t really matter to me – if you’re planning on staining yours, you’ll want to have nice, matching, boards.
First up, line up your 19 ¼” boards as below.
Make a 5° angle cut on your mitre saw on both short ends of the boards. To make life easier, I lined up my boards, marked the top board in ¾” on either side and then drew a straight line from the ¾” mark to the bottom corner of the base board.
See the image for a better idea:
Once you have the line drawn on all four boards, it’s easier to know where your 5° angle cuts should be.
Leave your mitre saw angled at 5° and move your bevel to 5° – again, if it’s easier to visualize, mark 3/8″ up on one side of your 2×2 and then draw a line from that mark to the bottom corner opposite.
Attach the 2×2 board to the back of your long boards with 2″ wood screws.
The 2×2 should lean back but remain upright (if it tips forwards, you’ve got it backwards. The 5° angle will keep it lined up with the angled sides of your long boards.
Repeat on both sides, lining up your 2×2 with the edge of your long boards.
See how the angled cut makes the 2×2 line up with the outside edge of your long boards and the bevel cut leans those boards inwards when standing.
Click over to Jaime’s plans if that was a mess of words and you have no idea what I’m talking about.
If you did understand what I was trying to say, you should have two pieces that look like the above photo.
Now it’s time to cut and attach the long sides of your DIY Christmas tree stand.
(Reset your mitre saw to 0) and cut 8 boards to 21″ long. Mark 3/8″ on either side of what will be your top board and draw a line from the mark down to the bottom corner of the base board. (The same as we did in step 1) This will give you your 5° angle. Set your mitre saw angle to 5° and cut.
Attach the long boards to the sides of the 2×2 posts, covering the end cuts of your shorter boards.
I believe this is the photo of my way-to-big version, but you get the idea.
Sand smooth and it’s ready for paint (or stain).
In my plans, I left a small gap between the top of the 2×2″ boards and the top of the horizontal planks – this was done in case you wanted to add a shelf to your DIY Christmas tree stand to raise it off of the ground (it gives your tree another ~18″ of height).
You can set your tree right in the base without a shelf, or you can add a couple of pieces of scrap wood (attached with pocket hole screws done with a Kreg Jig) and then topped with peg board in my case.
The peg board was just what I had lying around. It’s resting on top of both the 2×2 corner posts and a 2×4″ board that I attached across the centre.
Not that impressive without an actual tree in it is it?
Our tree has low-hanging branches, so getting it up off of the floor not only gave it a more commanding height, but it also allows me to easily tuck gifts underneath without getting stabbed and poked by branches.
You can cover it with a tree skirt if you like, or just wrap a small throw around the stand part so you can still admire your handiwork.
Our tree isn’t decorated yet (I promised Chloë I’d wait until after her November birthday), I just put it up to show you how pretty this DIY Christmas tree stand is.
After you add gifts under the tree and ornaments on it, you won’t even notice the pegboard section.
Up until now I’ve put our tree up on a blanket box, stereo speakers and even bricks to give it more height – this is a better option and it adds that touch of ‘rustic’ that Holiday decor needs.
Love it, love it, love it!
Thanks Jaime for the original plans and the inspiration!
Have a great one!
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