Cardboard Cutout Christmas Tree with Real Lights

 We bought this house in January, and that means,
it's never been through Christmas with us.  The biggest problem is that our home is fairly small...
I mean, perfect for us, but not for a giant 8 foot diameter Christmas tree.
So we made a wonderful solution that works great for anyone trying to budget space and money, collage kids dorm hack, newly weds or people like us!

 We got this 5 foot tall Christmas tree cutout from Oriental Trading.
They are the perfect source for all things party, wedding, holidays and toys!
You will need:
One Cardboard Cut Out Christmas Tree
A string of lights with bulb covers

These lights I got on clearance last year after Christmas.

 They have glass bulbs over the top of a regular light.
So I carefully removed all the bulb covers.

 We used a drill to put holes in the cardboard.
Then measured how far we could put the next light.
There is really only about 4 inches of cord between each light, so they had to be fairly close.
Over and over until the lights were all put in the tree and replaced the bulb covers on the right side.
Just remove the bulb cover, push light through cardboard hole, then replace the bulb cover.
The cover keeps the lights in place perfectly.

 The tricky thing is the distance of cord between the lights dictates how
 far you can drill in the next light.

 That means, that you tend to run out of lights as you get closer to the bottom of the tree.

 However, that wasn't a problem for us, because I wanted room for
 gifts to stack closely to the tree as well.

 Wrapped up and fitted close to the tree for maximum cuteness!

 Perfect and ready for the holidays!
I love it.  I can store it in the attic during the rest of the year!
We love it.  The bright lights are perfect for setting the twinkling glow atmosphere!

This post published on Doodlecraft first