Vintage Inspired Chenille Stem DIY Tree
Make a vintage looking tree using fluffy chenille stems and antiqued beads for a nostalgic display.
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Hey friend, if you love the nostalgia of retro or vintage Christmas decorations, you're going to love this sweet DIY tree made from fluffy chenille stems and decorated with antiqued baubles.
I'm excited to show you how to make your own vintage inspired chenille stem tree today. My tree is inspired by my friend Janis on Instagram. Tap HERE to see the tree that I tried to replicate.
Let's make a vintage chenille stem tree!
How to make a vintage inspired chenille stem Christmas tree
You can use any chenille stems for your tree but if you're going for a vintage look, try to find ones in an ivory color. Mine are from JoAnn, which is now gone. I could only find white, so I resorted to tea stain to get more of a vintage color from my bright white stems. I'll link a few options in the supplies list below and tell you how to tea stain the stems.
Supplies
- ivory pipe cleaners (I used around 50) - THESE ones are a great color but thin, so consider a smaller tree, and HERE's a bundle of white ones that you could stain like I did, and if you want to go 'old school', you can try THESE cotton stems used for cleaning pipes (they have a great vintage look!)
- 3/8" wood dowel
- white paint and brush - I used this white chalk paint
- styrofoam
- drill and small drill bit slightly bigger than the chenille stem wire
- tea bags for stain
- small wood beads
- paints
- rub n buff ( this color is my favorite for adding an antiqued finish)
These are the supplies that I used to make my tree. Read the tutorial and then make your tree anyway you'd like!
Step 1 - tea stain
If you purchase white pipe cleaners, giving them a short bath in some steeped tea can give them more of that vintage ivory color. I filled my sink with several inches of hot water and steeped 2 tea bags. Then I soaked the chenille stems until I liked the color, removed them and let them dry. I tried drying them in a low temp oven, but they got a little crispy on the ends, so I removed them and finished air drying. They do need a little light fluffing after they dry so they don't look like a wet dog 😄
Step 2 - prepare dowel
The dowel will act as the trunk of the vintage tree. Once you cut it to the height you want, you'll need to drill several tiny holes along the stem to give a space to insert the pipe cleaners. The easiest way is to lay the dowel flat on a piece of scrap wood. Start drilling holes about 6" of the way up from the bottom of the dowel. Drill a hole every 1/4", turning the dowel so holes are on different sides all the way up. Be sure to drill all the way through the dowel.
Another way
If this sounds too complicated for you, or you don't have access to a drill, you can simply twist the chenille stems around the dowel, working your way to the top and then trimming the stems into the shape of a tree with scissors. Keep in mind you will need a lot more chenille stems to make a full looking tree.
Step 3 - paint dowel white
Use any craft paint to give the dowel a couple coats of paint. As you can see, my drilled holes are far from perfect!
Step 4 - build the tree
Assembling the vintage tree goes pretty quickly. Start by wrapping a chenille stem around the bottom of the dowel leaving about 3" of exposed dowel. This part of the dowel will be used to stand the tree up. Next, poke a chenille stem through the bottom hole, pulling it through to the other side. If you are having trouble getting the stem through the hole, you can trim a little of the fluff from the end so it's more pointed.
Finishing the tree is up to you and your preferences. You can trim the stems into more of a tree shape, or leave it kind of loose and wonky like I did.
Step 5 - prepare the antique baubles
Here is the easiest way I found to paint a bunch of wood beads without them flying everywhere!
- Use a piece of pipe cleaner to load the wood beads.
- Paint the wood beads with black acrylic paint.
- Dab a little silver paint onto the beads.
- Brush beads with some rub n buff in antique gold.
I love how each bead looks slightly different and they have that antique look that will be perfect for our vintage inspired chenille tree!
Attach a bead to the end of every chenille stem. It should be a tight fit, no need for glue.
Finish tree
I knew that I wanted my tree standing up in a vintage ironstone creamer, so I had Mr DIY cut a 1x2" piece of wood into small squares. He drilled a hole through the middle of them. Once I poked the dowel through the stacked pieces of wood, it rests nicely in the creamer and also stands on its own.
Of course, this is just a suggestion! You can use whatever you want for your tree stand!
The finished tree looks so cute, I am really happy with how it turned out. Really, it doesn't scream Christmas, so a neutral tree like this can be added to your decor in the Fall, and stay out all winter long.
You might enjoy these additional tree tutorials:
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