How to Paint a Christmas Tree

I’ve been hinting at how I painted a Christmas tree (and it worked!) on social media for a while, so I wanted to cover all my tips and tricks so you too can have a tree the exact color of your dreams 😉 . Yes!!  I am here to tell you How to Paint a Christmas Tree – it totally worked!

 

I had some leftover Behr Marquee in Caicos Turquoise from when I painted our front door, and I thought to myself, that would make an awesome color for a Christmas Tree.  And so one thing led to another, and bam, I painted the tree.  And it’s awesome.  This post may contail affiliate links.

How to Paint a Christmas Tree

• cover the lights
• prime the tree
• paint with color
• (I used a paint sprayer to paint the white and the color)

When Painting a PreLit Christmas Tree

So let’s dive right in.  My biggest hurdle – my tree was prelit.  Which is awesome, but it means that the lights are already on the tree, and paint would cover them.  So, I cut straws in tiny bits – some of the straws I had were too skinny, but some weren’t, so be aware that you’ll need a non-skinny straw.  Maybe 20 straws worth?  That’s a guess.

 

Then you’ll use the straw bits to cover your lights.  Yes, it takes awhile, but it is a lot faster than actually trying to remove ever single light bulb.  I thought I did a pretty good job of finding all the lights.

Then disaster struck – I was outside (because you don’t want to spray paint inside) and it turned windy.  I went inside to get the sprayer and paint, and my tree blew over.  Which would have been okay, except all the straws got knocked off, ugh!!!  So I started over, but I wasn’t near as careful and I know I missed a bunch of lights, but oh well.  They got paint on them, and it still turned out just fine.

When Painting a Christmas Tree – Primer

So, to get the color to really show true, I started with a base of white.  I would have used a primer, but I didn’t have any  on hand.  Basically you’re just getting a little coverage on the green.

When Painting a Christmas Tree – COLOR!!

I really didn’t let it dry (cause I was lazy, and it was too windy – the tree kept trying to blow over!), I moved straight into color.  That’s where the fun starts!!  You’ll want a stepladder handy if you’re short like me.  You’ll want to work in sections and spray at all angles – getting the sides and underneath of the branches, etc.  And then just work your way around the tree.  And then go around again.

It actually goes pretty fast (way faster than putting the straws on!) and I was super excited to see my vision actually working!  It looks so good in real life, great coverage and color.  I wish I could invite you all over to come check it out.

If you’ve been following the blog recently, you’ll know that I’m obsessed with our paint sprayer.  I really love – it’s easy enough to use that it doesn’t intimate me, and it works great, and it’s super easy to clean.  It works kind of like those bottles with the drop-in liner, where the air squeezes out, so there aren’t any hoses to clean etc, and it can spray all angles (even upside down).  Trevor did a lot of research and reading customer reviews before we took the plunge to buy a paint sprayer, but we finally settled on this one and bought it on Amazon, and love it.

See, the color just turned out so awesome!!  And once you pull the straws off, the lights are ready to go.

I just love how it turned out!!!

If you want to read all about the decor and how I pulled the tree decorating together, check out: Rustic Modern Christmas Tree