9 Clever—and Cheap—DIY Christmas Tree Alternatives

Rows of mini cedar wreaths wired together form a door display that departs from tradition. To make the arrangement stick, use one small 3M Command Hook per wreath. Add a bow, and finish with a trunk of twigs hot-glued together.Resources: Paint (On door) 150B-7 Poinsettia. Behr. (800) 854-0133; behr.com

A pad of sticky notes makes an oh-so-fitting office tree. Starting from the bottom, overlap notes to create uneven rows. (Reinforce any that fall off with painter's tape.)

Tiered strings of candy canes sweeten a kid's room. Cut twine to four different lengths; our longest is 26 inches. Tie on canes, spacing them 2 inches apart. Tack or tape ends to secure.

Try finger painting with a twist. Sketch a whimsical tree on a full-length mirror coated with spray snow.

Paper lace doilies with diameters of 4 to 12 inches add up to a big tree taped to a wall. Small doilies dyed with food coloring act as ornaments.Resources: Medallion white lace paper doilies. (800) 436-4919; theroyalstore.com

Cupboard doors are the perfect space to be creative! Use mini and regular cupcake liners to create this tree; we added dimension by layering the red ones. Very lightly iron the regular-size liners to flatten them, then tape mini liners in the center. For the star, cut along the folds of a liner. Once you make your cuts, your paper will automatically flatten (you will not need to iron). Secure a mini liner with a brass paper fastener. Tape the liners in a triangle formation on your cabinet door.

Place three 3M Command Hooks on your wall in a triangle. Starting at the top, wind ribbon around each hook then tie a bow at the top. String ornaments onto fishing line and secure them to your ceiling with a thumbtack. A vintage folding chair acts as the "trunk"; a cardinal is the "star."

Using two different colored sets of playing cards, start at the top and work your way down to form a tree shape. Secure the cards on the wall with Sticky Tack; it's easy to use, reusable and doesn't leave marks on the cards or the wall. If when removing the cards a bit of tack is left on the wall, simply ball up some of the unused tack and run it over what is on the wall to lift up the residue.

What makes this tree unique is positioning it in a corner. Place a 3M Command Hook at the top point in the corner where you want your tree to begin. Use a yardstick or tape measure to measure out a triangle on the wall–lightly pencil the lines of the triangle. Place hooks along the lines, then erase pencil markings. Fill the insides of the tree with more hooks. Once all the hooks are in place, wind the string around the hooks to outline the tree, and then bring the string inside to the remaining hooks to finish your design. The only rule about how to wind your yarn inside the tree is to have fun!Adding a star is optional. To create one, lightly pencil the shape the wall. Place hooks at the inside and outside points. Wrap yarn around the hooks.