How to Make a Corner Christmas Tree Shelf

I can not build projects according to a plan, so I make mine up as I go along so if a step seems strange to you that is why. Please don't feel this project is to hard to try, it is really straight forward for someone with basic woodworking skills.

To start you will need a large piece of wood or plywood. The size on the wood will depend on the height and width of the shelf you want. If you want to duplicate this shelf all the dimensions are available on my website listed below. Add painters tape diagonally across the wood, this serves as the cut line and prevents the wood from splintering.

Lay the 2 halves side by side and draw a pencil line where you would like the shelves to be.

Using scraps of plywood cut stripes of wood, these will be your shelf supports. I left a gap at the front so the support is not so obvious once assembled.

Next, glue the supports to the sides using the pencil line as a guide. I used a nail gun to secure the glued supports so I did not have to wait for the glue to dry. It is not required for this project.

Cut a hole in the gap below the first shelf at the bottom, this is to add Christmas lights. If you don't have a hole saw, use a jig saw to cut out a small square.

Square the two sides up together and drill holes for the brackets just under the shelf supports to hide the bolts. Put your bolts through from the front and secure them to the brackets with nuts.

To make the shelves, I cut squares from plywood. Test the squares for a good fitting by putting them on the shelf supports. Because the shelf is 90 degrees and so are the squares they should fit.

Using a handy wooden compass that I made, state of the art I know. Draw a pencil line to round off the shelves.

To cut along the line I used a jig saw.

Test the shelves again for a good fit before gluing them in place. Please ignore the mess in my workshop, it is really organised chaos.

It will be a lot quicker to paint the shelf before assembly. Using a paint roller I added one coat of primer and 2 coats of white acrylic paint.

Once dry the shelf was glue together using wood glue. More detailed step by step instructions and tips for this project are available on my website.

Then the fun part, decorating the shelf to resemble a Christmas tree. I used double sided tape to add Christmas lights to the outside of the shelf, and decorated the shelves. The tutorial for the flashing Christmas shadow boxes and other Christmas decor can be found on my website if you want more inspiration.