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How to make a 3D wooden Christmas tree with your Cricut Maker and basswood.
One of my favorite things about Christmas is an excuse to craft. This year I am making a lot of my own decorations with cutting basswood and veneer with my Cricut Maker. Today I am going to show you how to make these 3D wooden Christmas trees with your Cricut Maker. They make perfect small table top decorations or add a string and hang it as an ornament.
Read all about how to cut basswood with your Cricut Maker here. Looking for other Christmas decor ideas? How about an embroidery hoop wreath or a mason jar Christmas tree.
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Here’s what you’ll need
Grab your Design
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Set Material
Click continue and let’s set our material. Click browse all materials and you are going to want to type in chipboard. If you are not seeing it come up and you are on your ipad go onto your computer. Basswood takes longer to cut so I suggest plugging your Cricut Maker into your computer that way you don’t lose connection. This can happen with cuts that take over an hour.
Tape Basswood To Mat
Ok now we are ready to load our mats. Normally we would just put our materials on to the mat and we are ready to go but because we are cutting a thicker material you are going to want to get out some painters tape.
Place your basswood lined up on the right side and tape around securing to the mat.
Knife Blade
Before you load your mat you are going to want to load your knife blade. The knife blade cuts extra deep and it allows you to cut basswood. To load the knife blade remove the plastic cap over the blade and open slot b on your maker. Place the blade in so the flat open part of the gear is against the machine. Now if you haven’t calibrated your knife blade follow these instructions here.
Cut Basswood
Now you are ready to load your mat. Place your mat within the groves and press your lit up arrow buttons. Once your mat is loaded the Cricut “C” should also be lit up. Press this and your Maker should begin to cut.
Because we are cutting through a thick material the maker makes multiple passes on your design. The more intricate the design the longer it takes to cut. These cuts took about 45 minutes.
Remove the painters tape from your mat. Flip mat upside down and remove the basswood.
Pop your cut pieces out. If there is resistance you may need the assistance of an exacto knife. If your knife blade is dull and needs to replaced it may not cut all the way through your basswood. Not to worry trace along the likes with your exacto knife. I suggest doing this on a self healing cutting mat.
Assemble
You will want to grab your glue gun for this one. Holding your basswood tree pieces perpendicular slide the piece with the star down the middle of you tree without the point.
To hold everything together take your basswood circle and add a dab of hot glue. Place the trunk of your tree down on the hot glue. Hold it tight for about 30 seconds. It’s as easy to assemble as that.
Optionally you can add a hook or string to your tree to make it an ornament. I suggest just adding a dab of hot glue on the back side and attaching jute or bakers twine.
I am very impressed with how these came out. You would never know that they are homemade! Looking for less of a natural wood look? Grab wood stain or a paint and make them your own. They are a blank slate and can be customized to whatever your decor style might be.
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