Jumbling Tower Blocks Christmas Trees

In today’s post: Learn how to turn a box of Jumbling Tower blocks into cute wooden Christmas trees you can decorate and display a part of your holiday decor. This is a fun Christmas craft idea for adults.

Turns out playing with blocks is just as much fun when you’re adult as it is when you’re a kid! I used a box of Jumbling Tower blocks (which is the Walmart version of Jenga) to make these Christmas trees, then decorated them with a mini tree topper star, bells, and some faux Christmas greenery.

Supplies

To make a set of two trees, you will need:

• A box of Jumbling Tower blocks: This is the Walmart version of Jenga blocks and they work much better for crafting because Jenga blocks often have the word “jenga” printed or even carved on the side. You could also use the “Tumbling Tower” blocks from Dollar Tree, just be aware those are quite a bit smaller so you will end up with smaller trees.
• Hot Glue Gun: This must be a high temp hot glue gun, low temp glue won’t work here.
• E6000 Glue: You really do need to use both of these adhesives to make these trees. Hot glue is great because it adheres very quickly, making it easy to put these together, but it does not create a lasting bond on wood. E6000 will create a lasting bond, but it takes a couple of hours to set, so using a combination of both glues works best.

Once you have built the trees, you can decorate them however you’d like. This is what I used:

• Mini Star Tree Topper: this is for a mini tree and was purchased at Hobby Lobby. You can use any type of star for the top of the tree.
• Bells: these came from an ornament purchased at Walmart. You can use any type of ornament or decoration to suspend inside the tree.
• Red Ribbon
• Faux Christmas Greenery
• White Spray Paint: I decided to paint my trees white, but the natural wood of the blocks is very pretty so you could leave them unpainted if you prefer.

How to Make Block Christmas Trees

This is a Christmas craft idea for adults. The hands-on time for making and decorating each tree is probably less than an hour. But be aware that you will need to work on this project in a couple of installments; you’ll need to let the glue dry before painting, then let the paint dry between coats, and then decorate.

Repeat this process, gluing on overlapping blocks until you have a 5-6 block section. Repeat the entire process again to make another matching section. These will be the sides of your tree.

Now you need to create the base of your tree. First, glue three blocks together end to end for the bottom of the tree, again using both glues. Next, glue two blocks together side to side for the base. These are all the parts you need for your tree.

Glue the Tree Together

At this point it’s a good idea to let the E6000 glue cure for 30-60 minutes before continuing. Once the pieces feel solidly adhered, you can lay the tree sides and bottom on a work surface in front of you. *You may get glue on this work surface so cover it if needed.* Tip the bottom piece down, making note of where the corners of the sides will touch it, and add a line of E6000 glue on both sides. Flip the bottom piece back up, touching it to the side pieces. Remember, this won’t adhere immediately. Holding the pieces together, squeeze hot glue into the opening to help secure the sides to the bottom. Do this on both sides.

Very carefully pick up the entire tree so that it’s standing up. Place a good amount of hot glue at the top where the sides touch each other. Hold the top in place for a minute until the hot glue cools. Then add more hot glue in each of the corners where the sides and bottom touch, on both the outside and inside. Finally add more glue on the inside of the tree where the sides come together at the top.

The last construction step is to glue the bottom of the tree to the base piece you made, which is two blocks glued side by side. Again, use both glues.

Decorate

At this point it’s best to let the glue cure for at least 4 hours – overnight is even better. That will give the E6000 time to create a very solid bond, meaning you won’t accidentally pull anything apart while you are decorating.

Paint the tree if desired. Spray paint is MUCH easier than using a paintbrush. Just be sure to remove any hot glue strings first, as those will be very noticeable if you paint over them. Because this is raw wood it will take 3-4 light coats of spray paint. Be sure to let the paint dry for 10-15 minutes in between coats.

Once the tree is dry, you can decide what decorations you’d like to add. I like to lay everything out and decide whether I like it before I glue anything down.

Adhere all of the decorations using hot glue, and then your tree is finished.