My Flat Couldn't Afford a Christmas Tree, so I Made One - General

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1G1IiH2JFs[/media] We got together as a flat earlier in the week and figured we had no money for Christmas decorations. Not wanting to see university students cry like children as the holiday season falls upon us, I spent 9-10 hours making a tree out of old bottles, tape and some wires. I've left it in the kitchen just now, waiting their reactions in the morning. I always knew Santa liked to drink.

very creative.

That's seriously super cute dude. It's people like you that inject people with nearly lethal and awesome doses of Christmas spirit.

Fire hazard

now this is the true meaning of christmas

Now make a How to guide and publish it.

How god damn expensive are Christmas trees in whichever country you live in?

[QUOTE=Crazy;43121114]How god damn expensive are Christmas trees in whichever country you live in?[/QUOTE] How god damn poor are students? Very.

[QUOTE=The Janitor;43121145]How god damn poor are students? Very.[/QUOTE] Full sized trees cost only $15 - $20 here, and I'm sure that a small one would cost much less. Plus the cost of the beer (although I'm sure you already had bottles on hand), plus the lights and whatever timer you are using, the difference in cost isn't all that much, until you start putting lights and other things on a real tree. Either way, really cool and very resourceful.

[QUOTE=monkey11;43121249]Full sized trees cost only $15 - $20 here, and I'm sure that a small one would cost much less. Plus the cost of the beer (although I'm sure you already had bottles on hand), plus the lights and whatever timer you are using, the difference in cost isn't all that much, until you start putting lights and other things on a real tree. Either way, really cool and very resourceful.[/QUOTE] I think we probably, if we actually pulled together, could afford it. But one of my flatmates has been eating only store brand cereal for about 2-3 weeks now because he's out of money at the moment and as such we decided against it. Anyway because I've had a couple of hours sleep now and it's day time, some up close pictures: [thumb]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2692549/GC/IMAG0376.jpg[/thumb] The bottom two layers are wooden spoons, held up with sellotape and a few layers of cardboard attached to the main stem bottles. It's surprisingly sturdy. [thumb]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2692549/GC/IMAG0377.jpg[/thumb] My masterful parallel wiring of the led's, all done through a little arudino uno I had sitting around (so it shouldn't be much of a fire hazard). Also yes I just stuck a breadboard onto the back, didn't want to waste the wires and you can't see it from the front. [thumb]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2692549/GC/IMAG0379.jpg[/thumb] The bottom bottles, although not attached so well, are filled with water to stop the tree from falling. I forgot to fill the main middle bottle with water but eh, it has a cardboard tube inside it to give it some sturdiness too. With these tips, even you can enjoy Christmas this year. Also my flatmates got to witness it this morning, left all the curtains closed and the lights on, they loved it. The guy who takes our kitchen bins out however just looked deadpan across the room, not even acknowledging its existence.

That's super awesome of you dude, right on.

What were the reactions?

[QUOTE=nick_9_8;43121676]What were the reactions?[/QUOTE] Surprised and good, but one of my flatmates described it as "mega" which I assume is positive. Nah its good, appreciative. I like doing shit like this for the flat, it'd be boring if nothing happened. During Halloween I rigged up the flat with a bunch of raspberry pi's, IR Sensors and speakers which played spooky sounds and "Spooky Scary Skeletons".

This is what Max Payne does for christmas.