My son has a vehicular obsession. We have delved the deepest depths of streaming services to find every possible anthropomorphized car, truck, or trailer. Our living room is a parking lot for Hot Wheels, and I know more Monster Truck names than I ever imagined existed. So, I wanted to give him the construction Christmas tree of his dreams.
When I started to look around for inspiration for my boy’s Christmas tree, there’s not a ton of options. There are some clever car Christmas trees and gorgeous camping themed Christmas trees, but none were made in a way that was little boy durable. I wanted my son to have a super cool Christmas tree in his room that would be safe for him and from him.
After finding a depressing lack of Christmas decorating ideas for kids’ rooms, I made a Pinterest Board of the best ones!
Construction Christmas Tree Blueprint
Trees full to bursting is a lovely look, but not great in a four year old’s bedroom. I wanted a tree that would pack a punch design-wise, but not be a pain for me to put back together five hundred times. My kiddo is so good at leaving our big trees alone, but I knew if he was left alone with a tree (especially a construction Christmas tree) he wouldn’t be able to help himself.
So my parameters for this tree were: car/construction themed, easy to put back together, kid-safe, and relatively inexpensive. I love how the end product turned out!
A CHILD-FRIENDLY TREE
I started with a sparse, 2.5 foot tree I bought from Hobby Lobby. With minimal ornaments, I needed a minimal tree; otherwise, the ornaments I chose were going to get totally lost in the branches. This tree originally came with a burlap wrapped concrete base. If you’re tabletop tree shopping, always uncover the base. These smaller-footprint trees are a steal so long as they’re sturdy. I love having options when it comes to what I’ll put my tree in or how I’ll cover it.
Tree Base
This was my flash of genius, and I’m pretty proud of it! We have acquired many a construction vehicle, and the largest is an approximately 18-24 inch Caterpillar dump truck. My sweet baby got it for his first birthday. He would fit inside the hopper and we could push him around the house. It was adorable, and it’s wild to even think now that he used to fit inside of it.
Anyway, I placed my small tree inside the hopper. But to enhance the theme and cover the mechanics of the tree base, I wanted some rocks. It would’ve been so easy to simply fill with river rocks from Home Depot, but I did not want those dumped or thrown around his bedroom. Instead, I spent a nap time making paper mâché rocks. I painted them various shades of brown and dropped them around the tree. They’re totally harmless and easy to pick up!
Ornaments
A round of applause for grandma, everyone! I decided simple orange cones would go perfectly with this kid-friendly construction Christmas tree. And to keep it safe, I asked my mom (who is a creative seamstress among other things) if she would make some small traffic cones from felt. She happily obliged, and the outcome is so freaking cute. It’s simple, kid-safe, and a vehicle Christmas dream.
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Make merrie with this little freebie
Download this bow SVG cut file - on me! Perfect for ornaments, garlands, or gift tags.
