How To DIY A Stunning Floating Christmas Tree

For those who want to decorate for Christmas without purchasing a real tree or setting up a traditional faux version, a floating tree is a fun project that will put a unique spin on your Christmas decor. A video posted on Instagram by @want.zamora shows how to create a spiral hanging Christmas tree using chicken wire, fishing line, three tension rods, and faux greenery and flowers. This DIY works by bending the chicken wire into a spiral shape and suspending it from the ceiling using fishing line anchored to tension rods placed between beams on the ceiling. If there are no beams in the area where you wish to hang your tree, you could try using several adhesive hooks, like Command ceiling hooks from Amazon, or drilling a hook into your ceiling, depending on the weight of your tree.

Floating Christmas trees can also be constructed with painted cardboard circles. Once you've hung up the tree's shape, you can decorate it with garlands, tinsel, ornaments, fake snow, or lights. Or, you can even suspend ornaments from the ceiling in the shape of a tree using fishing line for a more minimalistic aesthetic. These options are likely more cost-effective and simple but will still create an interesting tree.

Before you begin making your floating Christmas tree, decide exactly where you plan to hang it and whether you'll need tension rods – like these $19 spring utility rods from Home Depot — adhesive hooks, or a regular ceiling hook that will need to be mounted. After you've determined how and where to hang your Christmas tree, take the chicken wire – which can be found for about $17 at Home Depot — roll it from the corner to create a tube shape, and bend it into a spiral. Then, attach pieces of your fishing line to the top of the spiral and at each bend, which will allow the chicken wire to keep its shape while suspended. You can find 185 yards of clear fishing line at Ace Hardware for $3. Finally, connect the lines to your tension rods or hooks. 

Once your spiral-shaped wire is hanging properly, you can decorate it with various faux pine greenery, like an Ashland snowy juniper bush from Michaels or an Ashland pine and pine cone bush also from Michaels. Red florals add a contrast of holiday color, such as Bloom Room red glitter lavender bushes from Joann Fabrics and poinsettia bushes also available at Joann Fabrics. Purchasing enough artificial plants to fill your entire tree could end up being expensive, so you may want to consider using simple pine garlands, as they will take up more space. Grab 9-foot Canadian pine garlands from Micheals for $3.

If you don't want to fiddle with chicken wire and are looking for more inexpensive DIY Christmas Tree options, you can use cardboard, paint, fishing line, and ornaments to create your floating tree. One method is to cut out several cardboard rings, starting with a 10-inch ring and making each one slightly smaller in diameter than the one before. Though they need to be different sizes to create the cone shape of a Christmas tree, each ring should be only 2 inches in width. 

You can paint your rings green for a traditional look or go for another holiday color, such as red, gold, silver, or blue. To hang the rings, poke holes around the cardboard circles and thread your pieces of fishing line through, starting at the top and tying knots to hold each ring in place. They should be at least several inches apart, with more space between rings at the base of the tree. Suspend the cardboard tree from your ceiling and decorate it with ornaments and lights.

Additionally, you can cut out a cardboard circle and draw eight smaller circles inside of it that are the same distance from each other. Then, make holes two inches apart around every circle and put fishing line through each one, tying a knot at the top, above the cardboard. Tie ornaments onto the lines, making a cone shape as you go down, for an invisible floating tree. With so many variations, your floating tree is sure to be truly unique.