D.I.Y Lighted Christmas Tree: Build Your Own 20 Foot LED Tree!

In this video I show you step by step how to create a LED mega Christmas light tree. The total height is about 23ft. but you can easily follow these steps to make it any height. Just adjust the amount of lights accordingly. Below I have listed out all the parts I used for making the exact tree in the video. The total number of lights is just under 1,600. Get creative and make yourself a beautiful DIY Christmas light tree.
5 10ft. 1/2 inch PVC
2 10ft. 1 inch black steel pipe
6 1/2 inch PVC tees
1 1 inch black threaded flange
1 1/2 inch black threaded flange
1 1 inch black steel coupling
1 pine edge glued panel round board
6 200 light LED C6 67ft. strands
1 LED Star
Zip Ties
1 Patio Umbrella Stand
6 50lb sand bags
8 screws to attach the flanges to the wood
Total cost: $400-$500. This can vary greatly depending on the type of lights you choose and the type of star you buy

[@garyhoagland3251]

Glad you had your wife to help you get it up.

[@LessThanHandy]

Brother, you just blew my mind! If this doesn't annihilate neighbors' setups, I don't know what would...👏👏👏👏

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Haha thanks for watching! That's why I wanted to take it to 20ft. 10ft would have locked nice but not mind blowing. At 20ft. it is a sight to behold. I try to have yard domination year around!haha

[@kpieleck]

I'm so glad you shared this, I was trying to come up with a way to make the base, and you solved it the easiest and most efficient way. You get this years Chevy Chase Award!!

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Haha thank you! I appreciate the nice words!

[@ShareMyMoon]

Great idea on the sand bags. These trees are heavy to lift them into place. I added 3 wires to the top that stake in the ground for stability. So windy in Indiana.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Yeah, added stability is definitely helpful. I learned that the hard way when it fell over. I definitely underestimated the wind. Thank you for watching!

[@kpieleck]

Here's a tip I came up with this year, I noticed a lot of people mentioning tape to hold stuff. I found if you get a piece of 14/2 or 16/2 (or /3) Romex and take the internal wires out, you can cut them to length and make your own twisty ties.

[@tmac3019]

hopefully i rememebr this, im gonna do a ten foot one

[@fafafabio]

great idea, thanks for sharing. looks great

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thanks for watching! I appreciate it. I just made an updated version of this tree for this year. Everything is the same except I use a different base that is much easier to set up and probably more cost effective than an umbrella base.

[@donaldhooper3064]

Looks awesome. Great job. Don Ocala, Florida

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thanks for watching! I appreciate it!!

[@geterdunn2733]

Good job and thanks for sharing.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thanks for watching!! I appreciate it!

[@stormchazer6655]

Nice job looks amazing

[@OutoftheWeeds]

I appreciate it! Thank you for watching!

[@Ourhomeschooladventures]

This is so helpful

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching! I appreciate it!

[@kentkirby8499]

I use a telescopic flagpole for my tree, although I didn't use as many lights. I think I might use your elevated tree base though!

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Yeah I really like the look of the tree I make. The biggest issue I run into is the black steel pipe is very heavy. I have had issues with the tree falling down if we get a lot of wind and rain. Is the telescopic flag pole you use pretty sturdy?

[@paulstradley9157]

My tree is only 10’ but since I use landscape staples to hold the lights down to the ground, it trips the breaker when it rains hard. I really like the elevated PVC circle. I believe it will solve my electrical problems

[@richieray2285]

awesome JOB

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching!!

[@CalebNorris16]

Awesome. Going to save up all year and nail this next year… hopefully we can still afford it by then.. old Joe ya know.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching! I appreciate it! It looks really awesome once completed. The only thing I don't love about it is using the black steel pipe because it is so heavy. It makes it much more difficult to put up and puts a lot of stress on the base when it's windy. I've thought about swit it up to using chain link fence top rail but I'm not sure if it would bend/break trying to take it to 20ft.

[@BeardedGolf22]

Where is this at? I need to come clip off the ends of those zip ties! Lol. Looks great!

[@carabs3823]

Pretty nice. I make something similar... I just haveone 400' LED string going up and down from a star that I pull up into a tree. It is nice. My only issue EVERY SINGLE YEAR is storage. I don't have a good way to store it (since I can not really take off the line from the star). More specifically, all the lines get completely tangled when I take it down. And in Dec, it takes hours to put back up. Any tips on storage? Did you just take your apart completely (removing the lines from the zip ties) and put it all back together the next year? Great vid... thank you for sharing.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

So for storage I just unscrew all the black pipe into three pieces (2 10ft sections, and the top wood and steel piece). Then for the light strings I just wrap them in a circle and zip tie each strand. Then I can just store all the lights in a tote in my basement. It worked out pretty easy and didn't really tangle doing it that way. Also this year I found a new less complicated base that seems to be working well. Overall it's pretty easy to set up now and doesn't take too much space besides the 2 10ft pipe pieces. They just sit in my shed all year.

[@theoriginalkeepercreek]

You did a great job, just beautiful! I wish you had a tutorial about making a 10 to 15 foot tall tree with the lights spiralling down around to the base. I would think that 1/2 wide strips of black duct tape would help hold them in place so the spiral doesn't sag in places. What do you think?

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you, I appreciate that! Yeah I think that would probably help keep everything held where you want it. That would be a cool looking tree!!

[@chiprhine9740]

❤ it.. happy Halladays.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching and same to you!!

[@noush4283]

Size of the star, purchased location. I was planning to section them into 5 foot for easy storage . I like the pvc idea This way I raise the lights from the snow.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

The star is 36in. and i got it off of Amazon. Yeah the biggest challenge is the weight of it and storage. It's windy here in Indy a lot of the days, so finding something that holds is critical. It looks amazing once finished though.

[@naughtynorseman4726]

Very nice looking tree. How long did you leave it up? Did it hold up to any large snow / wind storms. I lmow you had the approx 3 foot steel pipe on top, but how did you attach the star to the pipe? Any other concerns since you made the video?

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you! I posted a video a few days after because the original tree fell down in like 2 days after a big wind storm. (Here is the video kzbin.info/www/bejne/n161m2Z6aKepd80 ) The umbrella stand just snapped so I had to rebuild the whole thing. Once I pounded a thicker pipe into the ground it help perfect the whole season. I left it up until a little after new years. We get a ton of wind here at times and it was always sturdy. The biggest issue with pounding the pipe into the ground was getting it out in the spring. I had to really dig and eventually just cut the pipe below ground level. As far as attaching the star. I just used zip ties to the small black pipe at the top. The star stayed on tight. I think an umbrella stand like I used would work perfect for a 10ft. tree but if you get a lot of wind I would do something more sturdy for a 20ft. or higher tree. Hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

[@jeremyfish1975]

Curious how this set up made it thru the season? Any issues with it falling over?

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching! I made a follow up video a couple days after: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n161m2Z6aKepd80si=_em0Ems0QumJ9pYr The umbrella base was rusted and snapped. I rebuilt the tree and the solution I did in the video above held great with no issues!

[@jerrykeppler677]

Some guide wires might help if it gets windy.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Yeah, that'd definitely be a great idea. Thank you for watching!

[@user-ot8cj3zo9s]

Where did you get the star? How much was it, if you don't mind me asking?

[@OutoftheWeeds]

I ordered it off of Amazon: LIGHTSHARE 36Inch 480 Led Christmas Star Light a.co/d/goLk6XL That should be the link to it. Have a great day!

[@RobertMS1979]

Where did you get the star? I’m going to try to make something that will travel up my 25ft flag pole. Where it will travel up using the rope. But have no idea yet about the star. But looking to try to find where to get one.I live in northwest Indiana so I’m sure our weather is the same. Lol

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thanks for watching! I got the star off of Amazon. Here is a link to it: Lightshare 36Inch 480 Led Christmas Star Light, Twinkle ... a.co/d/95tBFW9 The one I use is a little expensive but it is absolutely stunning! Having a flag pole to make the Christmas tree would make things a lot easier. I always think figuring out the base is the hardest part.

[@danpavia3553]

This is awesome! Thanks so much! The wife has been asking for a tree like this for years but I have put all of my efforts on Halloween 🎃. Gonna knock this out this year. Thanks!

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thanks for watching! Look back on it, I would probably not do black steel pipe due to the weight of it. If it gets windy, it's easy to snap the base. I think maybe fence top rail may be the way to go, but I haven't tried it yet.

[@danpavia3553]

@@OutoftheWeeds Good to know! Will try that.

[@anthonyb3865]

What is the diameter of the Wooden Board up top? Is it 18in or 24 in?

[@OutoftheWeeds]

It's 15in. I got it from Menards. Thank you for watching!

[@kpieleck]

Here's a question for the author and group: If I make a smaller tree of about 8 to 10 feet, does anyone think I can make the whole thing out of PVC pipe?. I was also thinking of making the base like the author did, but adding PVC pipes as "spokes" going into the center. Then if I can use rebar to support the outer legs, maybe I wouldn't need a center support? What do you guys think? I love the lights you used, but I'm thinking of using the small led ones for cost savings. 10 foot strings are running about 1.50 each.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

I used my dad's tree as my original idea. He does a 10ft tree out of pvc. He takes a 1in. wooden dowel and pounds it into the ground. Then he uses a 10ft 1 1/2 pvc that goes over the dowel. This provides enough support and makes the whole thing much lighter. The only reason I went with black pipe is because I went up to 20ft and knew pvc wouldn't be able to do it.

[@paulstradley9157]

I use a 10’ 3/4” black steel pipe for my riser and mounted a flange to a Large pallet with a piece of 1/2” plywood screwed to it. I painted it all black. It’s very sturdy. I made my own hook top out of PVC fittings and cup hooks. I plan to replace it with longer hooks. I use a wood pole to hang the lights on it and the cup hooks are too small. Other than water issues because my lights are on the ground at the base, this design has worked well for me. I plan on using the PVC circle illusion this video to solve that next Christmas.

[@robertcolefield2083]

Where did you get the star from?

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching! Here is the star: www.amazon.com/dp/B07R4YGQL9?ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_3KKKC92E5NA1EG1CVT99&starsLeft=1&language=en-US

[@69Ford]

Can I have the link to the star please. Or store and the one you bought.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thank you for watching! Here is the link to the star I used: www.amazon.com/dp/B07R4YGQL9?ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_3KKKC92E5NA1EG1CVT99&starsLeft=1&language=en-US

[@69Ford]

@OutoftheWeeds thanks i looked at the star. How did you mount it the the pole you added just zip ties around the pole. I have a 10ft now identical to this minis the flanges and star. I used rebar into ground 2 ft then 5 feet sticking out.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

@projectplywood I just zip tied it to the smaller pole on top of the wood base. I used a good bit of zip ties and it held really good.

[@anthonyb3865]

I noticed you drilled 8 holes in tbe top, but only used 6 strands. Did you just daisy chain all 6, as opposed to using one strand per hole?

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thanks for watching. Yeah I connected all the strands together and just zip tied them at the top and bottom

[@anthonyb3865]

@@OutoftheWeeds - Mine turned out great. I used the updated in-ground, screw in anchor. I also used 7 pieces of 5ft 1/2 in PVC for the base ring, because they kept popping out with 6. I also just wound up gluing the PVC ring together and will just replace that every year.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

I'm happy to hear it turned out well for you!!!

[@adagogofila8255]

How do I plug the light

[@OutoftheWeeds]

The cord from the star hangs down about halfway. I then run an extension cord to it.

[@oldschoolisnewschool]

Mine is 22 feet.

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Awesome! What do you use a your base? Thanks for watching!

[@oldschoolisnewschool]

Plus a 3 foot star.

[@oldschoolisnewschool]

No base at all. I went in to the ground 4 feet.

[@tyson.13]

Q

[@OutoftheWeeds]

Thanks for watching! I appreciate it!