I made this tree for a VBS (Vacation Bible School). This tree stands nearly 12 feet tall and is nearly that wide.
I had to make it in a shop that has a ceiling of 8 foot and it had to be transportable.
I started off making about a 7 foot tall frame from 2x4s. I wanted the bottom to curve in some and not be a square tree. So the I cut 45 degree angles on two of the pieces.
I then cut a weird shape out plywood for the bottom of the tree. I screwed this through the plywood onto the bottom of the frame.
I got a large box. I opened it up and crumpled it. I started stapling the cardboard to the frame.
Here is the side.
Front
On a few spots I had to put screws in to hold the cardboard flat. I screwed a scrap piece of board onto it just to give it a wider surface area. These scrap boards will be covered up later so there wasn't any worry. I used thinner boards because they are easier to cover up.
The back
I screwed 2x4s into the frame. These are going to be the supports for the branches. (I should have made them longer because once I got everything on them I thought they weren't going to hold. They did though.)
I then added more cardboard on the sides and taped up gaps. I also shoved chunks of scrap styrofoam in areas to make it more organic.
To add in the ease of transporting, (and to make it look more professional) I added a piece of cardboard to the back. This is relatively light and the cardboard will be able to rest on the dolly (two wheeled cart).
Now the fun part. I took Great Stuf foam and lightly ran it in vertical lines up and down the trunk. On the spots where I had the boards I made knots and clumps of the foam.
This took several cans of Great Stuf. After it hardened I stood it up and touched up some spots.
To Be Continued.....