There are lots of easy and thrifty ideas here to inexpensively complete this DIY Black and Gold Holiday Decor for a Tiered Tray.
This tutorial is a compilation of several simple and low cost projects to style a tiered tray in black and gold for the holidays. It was fun to put together and nearly all supplies can be picked up at your local Dollar Tree making it extra budget friendly.
Video tutorial also available here on my YouTube Channel.
Ok…..Let’s Create!
Projects in this Tutorial
You can read through all of the tutorials or skip to each one individually below.
Skip to 3D Wooden Christmas Tree Here
Jump to Chalkboard Fillable Frame here
Breeze ahead to the Floating Snowflake Frame Here
Hop to Swirl Ornament Trees Here
3D Wooden Christmas Tree
Supplies List
- 3 wooden tree ornaments
- Black paint
- Gold paint
- Gold glitter
- Wooden cubes
- Twine
- Spanish Moss
- Paint brush
- Super glue
- Hot glue gun
- Elmer’s glue
- Razer blade
- Ruler
- Pencil
Instructions
- With a ruler and a pencil draw a line down the middle of two of the trees.
- Use the razer blade and slice them both in half down the line you just drew.
- Glue the sliced trees to the main tree with super glue. Let it sit up for awhile. I gave it 24 hours.
- Paint the tree your desired color. I painted the star gold and the tree black.
- I wanted the tree to stand a little taller so I glued four wooden cubes together and then with hot glue attached the tree to them. Then I used Spanish Moss around the small trunk on the trees to cover it as well as where I had glued it to the blocks. I ended up wanting the tree even taller so after looking at it for awhile, I added another row of blocks which I covered with jute twine and then more Spanish Moss.
- I tried several different things with the star but wasn’t liking it. After several failed attempts I had a mess of hot glue and fake snow that I couldn’t get off. I ended up covering it with Elmer’s glue and glitter. I think if I were to make this project again I would try wood filler once the tree was glued together and then sand it smooth before painting.
Done.
Chalkboard Fillable Frame
Supplies List
- Dollar Tree sign
- Chalkboard paint
- Faux snow
- Bottle brush tree
- Chalk
- Snowflake clings or stickers
- Gold vase filler
- Paint brushes
- Hot glue gun
- Window cleaner
- Razer blade
- Wire cutters
Instructions
- Dismantle the frame. Be sure to keep the styrofoam pieces as you will need to glue them back in.
- With glass cleaner and a razer blade remove the funtastic.
- Then you will paint the frame board with chalkboard paint.
- Next I glued the styrofoam pieces back into the frame.
- I removed the base off the small bottle brush tree with wire cutters and stuck it down into the foam.
- I wrote ‘Let it Snow’ without the ‘O’ except to draw a smuddged circle where it should go.
- Then I added a window cling on the glass over where the ‘O’ would be and another up above.
- Lastly close up the frame.
Since it is chalk paint you can change up the wording or even change it up with seasons.
Done.
Floating Snowflake Frame
Supplies List
- Snowflake ornament
- Black paint
- 2 paint sticks
- Masking tape
- Wood glue
- Paint brush
- Hot glue gun
- Pencil
- Tri-square
- Saw
Instructions
- I took the 2 paints sticks and made the cuts needed for the project.
- 2 were cut at exactly 4 inches
- 2 were cut at 4 1/8 inch
- Next, I sanded the wording off the paint sticks.
- Then construct the frame by gluing the cut paintsticks together with wood glue. This was a time consuming process as I was only able to do one corner at a time. I don’t have any corner clamps so I used a little masking tape for extra security while gluing the corners together. Then I slid it into the tri- square and placed something heavy at each end to hold it until it set up.
- Next I painted both sides of the snowflake black. I used chalkboard paint as it was what I had on hand.
- Finally I used the twine that came with the ornament and tied it to the snowflake. I created a knot at the other end and glued it onto the inside of the frame.
Done.
Swirl Ornament Trees
Supplies List
- Dollar Tree plastic bulb ornament
- Black paint
- Gold paint
- 4 Mini bottle brush trees
- Twine
- Hot glue
- Wire cutters
- Disposable cup
Instructions
- Add black and gold paint to the bulb and swirl it around until coated to your liking.
- Tip it upside down in a disposable cup to drain and dry. It will take a good long while to dry. Once I was sure it had drained enough I took it from the cup and let it finish drying that way so it could get some air.
- You will need 4 bottle brush trees to do 2 ornaments. 2 full trees for the tops of the bulb and 2 bases clipped from trees for the bottom of the bulb. You could use something else for the base but I already had a base from doing the Chalkboard Frame above and had a plan you will see below for the other base-less tree.
- Once the bulbs were good and dry, I glued a tree to the top of each one using the hot glue gun.
- Then I took twine and glued it around the seam and the neck of the bulb.
- Next, I glued a base to the bottom of each. The base still had some of the wire from the tree as I couldn’t clip it close enough. I just used lots of hot glue to fill the gap and to make sure it was level.
- Then I glued twine around the seams.
Done.
Fillers and Risers
Supplies List (For all 6 projects)
- Tower building blocks
- 3 wooden snowflake ornaments
- Small wooden blocks
- 3 small bottle brush trees
- Twine
- Letter transfers or stickers
- Small chalkboard sign
- Decorative caps
- Black paint
- Paint brush
- Hot Glue Gun
- Church decoration
All items above came from the Dollar Tree with the exception of the decorative caps that were from Walmart and the paint, paintbrush, and hot glue gun that I already had on hand.
Instructions
Risers
Out of the Dollar Tree little tower building blocks I created this little riser for the floating snowflake frame to sit up on. Simply glue them together with hot glue in the size and height wanted.
I fell in love with this little deer ornament and it was the reason I chose to do black and gold. He needed a little bed to sit up on. I used a snowflake ornament and with hot glue attached 4 wooden blocks.
Fillers
I wanted to do a sign that said ‘warm and cozy’ but I was somehow remembering my tray to be much larger when I planned my pieces. Settled on a little sign that just said ‘cozy’ instead. I took some letter transfers and applied them to two of the tower blocks which I had glued together. I then glued it to the chalkboard clothespin sign and used a small wooden block to put in the clothespin to steady it.
Using two of the wooden snowflakes and two building blocks I created this little snowflake filler. Simply glue the two snowflakes together and then glue a block on each side of the bottom one for a base.
I used the tree without a base, left from making the swirl ornaments, and filled a small cap with hot glue and put the tree in it. The other two trees were simply glued to caps with their bases still on.
When I saw this little church at the Dollar Tree I was drawn to the gold bell and just knew it needed to be black so I painted it.
DONE (almost)
How did I do? Which is your favorite?
If you would like to see the final DIY I did for the tray (tutorial here and YouTube video tutorial here) as well as how I made the tray (tutorial here and YouTube video tutorial here).
Your Turn to Create
I would love to hear if you gain inspiration from this post and use any of these ideas to make DIY Black and Gold Holiday Decor for a Tiered Tray!
