Mini Mega Tree

sample

Materials List:

1/2" PVC pipe
1/2" T's
1/2" 45 degree coupler
PVC glue and cleaner
Mini Lights
Garden Staples 
Anchors
Zip Ties

 

Construction

When I decided that I wanted to make mini mega tree's I went out searching for them.  I honestly didn't really know how I was going to build them, however I knew what I wanted them to look like. I came across a picture from the Texas Christmas Lights website.  The picture was from their annual Mini Plus.

You can see in this picture that the trees they showed have 6 sides.  They also appear to be made out of metal.  I don't own a welder or know how to weld, so I decided to go the PVC route.  However, that led to a different issue, the same issue I came across when I built my Mega Tree.  PVC fittings only come in 90 degree and 45 degree angles.  Those angles would not make a hexagon, so I had to make mine an octagon.  It adds a little to the cost, however the tree will look rounder this way.   To make the tree octagon was a whole different issue.  There are formulas on the web that describe how to figure out the length of one side, but I am by no means a math wiz.  Because of that, I went the trial and error route.  I knew I wanted the tree 6ft tall, so going by the same rule I used for the mega tree, I made the base half the height, 3ft.  With the base that size, I came up with the sides of the octagon to be 15".  Each side has a "T" fitting in the middle with a 45 degree angle at the end.

Each rise of the tree is 25" long.  That then goes into a PVC cross piece.  At the 25" mark I built another octagon to go around the inside.  Then, I cut more 25" sections, and repeated the process of a cross and a smaller octagon.  On top of that there are more 25" sections, which ends the tree.  The top of the tree will be held together with a giant zip tie. The finished product looks like this.  

Now all I need to do is paint the tree a matte green, and it will be ready for lights.  I plan on putting 600 lights on the bottom section, 400 on the middle section and 200 on the top section.  Again, each section will have the 3 different colors of the display.  Basically the tree is 3 octagons with a riser in between each one.  All and all, very simple to build.

Here you can see the completed Mini Mega Tree's in action.