HOW TO: Build a Christmas Tree out of TRASH. More or less.

Howdy there, folks. Happy Holiday season to you all!
I had promised to tell you the 'ending' to my sad tale of short-fundedness of last Christmas. So, here we are...
Having found nothing but trash in my garage in the winter of 2006, and knowing, with my own and my husband's state of unemployment, that there would be no money that year, I decided to make the best seasonal decor that I could. A halfway decent live tree in Columbus was running about $50, and my tree stand was 5 hours away. I decided to take thew few dollars that I did have and put them into a few supplies:
Green Krylon spray paint- $3, felt remnant- $1, pipe cleaners- $1, pretty fabric remnant- $4, green tulle remnant- $2, all the green construction paper from my kid's multi-packs- virtually free. We collected a couple of weeks' worth of laundry soap bottles, pop bottles (no deposit or return in modern Ohio!) and steel cans, set them up in the basement, and proceeded to smoke ourselves out of our own house. (note to self for future: VENTILATION!)
Next, it was time to begin assembling an armature for the tree:
I have to apologize for the extremely poor quality of these photos. The camera has been subsequently punished by being lost in moving. So there.
Here you can see the 'trunk' shape taking place. About two days into this, the entire mess came toppling down, caused by the collapse of the box wall strength. They just don't make free Aldi boxes like they used to... {sigh}
If you are attempting this yourselves, I would like to stress to you the importance of these tips:
1.) A real tree has a rather fractal looking growth pattern. Just alternating directions of boxes will give you a kind of stiff-looking tree. If that's the look you're after- go for it! If you want something a tad more realistic, try angling layers by 30º as you go up.
2.) If you are going to decorate with ornaments and lights, make sure to leave spots open under protrusions, or you will have a hard time fitting stuff on.
3.) Make sure you have lots of glue sticks before beginning!
Here you can see how we ran the extension cord up into the middle of the tree. This allowed for better positioning of lights than if we just started them at the bottom.

Finished armature below: Now, on to the fun part!If this had been planned just a little further in advance, we could have had a better selection of bottles and can for shape. Here you can see the 'topper' pop bottle, as well as the beginnings of the pretty fabric. Glue, twist, press...

Having the extension cord coming out of the center was also wonderfully useful for wielding a hot glue gun at eye level.
Various green things being added on flat surfaces. Also utilization of child labor. Don't let the serious face fool you, this kid had a blast!
The green plates came from someone's party. I knew that this tree was a project, so instead of plain paper plates, we bought the 'holiday' green ones, washed the cake off (nasty grocery store frosting preferred to bond with the styrofoam) and glued them upside-down on open flat surfaces.

Green cups were from same party- can't remember whose or what for now. Here you can also see where some leftover green tissue worked its way into the design. Tissue is cheap, versatile, and makes a cool crinkly sound when you scrunch it.
Felt wrapped monster coffee can second from top. There's no evidence in this photo that I like plaid or anything...


Getting there. For ornament hangers, we twisted 2 pipe cleaners together (1 just wasn't strong enough for much weight) and formed it into a rather open figure eight. One end glued to the the tree at some point, the other end curled away from the tree to allow for ornament positioning.Varying the textures and shades of green gave it a nice feel and look, in our opinion. With the possibilities open, you could make just about any color or theme that you could dream up! I would love to do a pastel and shimmer one next year for my daughters' room.
Lights, ornaments, action! Finished tree. Height: 7' 10". Base width: 4'. Total cost: $22. Total time: (including that of my children) appx 14 hrs. Hot glue sticks used: 44 extra longs.
Oh Tannebaum.... how ever cheap your trash is...

This year both Michael and I have real jobs. We are also in Michigan, where you can get a respectable tree for $20, $10 if you want to cut it yourself. We have more time than money, and miss the wonderful smell of pine in our home, so we will be buying a tree and vacuuming needles. I haven't had a chance to stockpile trash, but next year I'm going to plan ahead, and we're doing this again. It'll be bigger. It'll be better. And it will be here again for you to see.

Merry Christmas!!