Pixel Trees

The pixel trees I use in my display are 100% hand crafted. I built these based on designs I've seen in the Holiday Lighting Think Tank forum on Facebook.

Materials needed:

  • Eye bolts

  • Boscoyo strips; I used the huge roll of megatree strips

  • SteelTek structural pipe fittings (available from Lowes)

  • Marine plywood; I used marine plywood for outdoor resistance

  • Rustoleum gloss black marine topside paint; used for ultimate weather resistance

  • Pixels

The tree toppers are made from foamed PVC board. I printed templates for these stars using the software I created for star design. The templates were printed on paper and adhered with removable spray adhesive. I then drilled all holes using a 12mm drill bit.
The supports were 3D printed (todo: add thingiverse link).
I also 3-d printed little caps for the top of the conduit to prevent water from getting into the conduit.

The tops are just plywood discs with a hole drilled in the center to pass over the 3/4" conduit. I used a SteelTek fitting that tightens onto the 3/4" conduit using a hex key as a "stop" to keep the top disc from sliding down the conduit. The fitting I found for that has a 1/2" hole so I used a bolt to keep the top disc from rotating freely. It's not perfect but it works.

You can see how I put eye bolts in to attach the strips. The eyebolts are longer than needed so I can tighten the nuts on top to tension the strips.

The bases are two layers of 3/4" marine plywood. I cut out holes with a jigsaw to let more light in. I used 1/2" galvanized threaded rod (get the stuff sold in the electrical section at Home Depot) cut to 12" lengths and bolted on to make feet that press into the lawn. This helps prevent crop circles.

The trips are folded under the bottom of the base and bolted down using machine screws.

A SteelTek Floor Flange supports the central 3/4" conduit.
Here you can see how open to light the tree bases are. My original design was closed at the bottom and killed the lawn.

Any holes were filled with black acrylic caulk while pushing in screws and bolts to prevent water infiltration.