Back in the day I used a lot of vintage yardsticks for projects but they can get so pricey.  It's not uncommon to see vintage sticks sell for around $7 apiece on eBay. To keep this project budget friendly I purchased a handful of wooden yardsticks from my local Lowe's. Here the hash marks are blue like the store's logo. You can also get sticks with orange marks from Home Depot. My first choice was to run to Ace Hardware to get sticks with red marks to go along with my green paint job but they were closed on that day and so blue it was! Keep an eye out at local hardware stores for other colors. You can purchase a whole bunch of colors for a more, well, colorful look!

To remove logos and unwanted words use a small power sander to carefully sand them away. When looking through the barrel at the store grab up sticks that the marks feel fairly flush. If the marks are very deep you'll need to sand much further down and change the shape of the stick from flat to angled toward the bottom. 

Now we need a pattern to work by. You might be better at drawing things symmetrically than I am so this step might be so much easier for you than it was for me... We're basically going to make a large pattern to make our Christmas tree out of using poster board.  In my case I'm using old poster board that has gotten messed up and was destined for the garbage bin.

If you can, using a ruler draw a tree shape onto your large piece of paper. Be sure to make this pattern the exact size you want your finished wooden yardstick Christmas tree.

If, like me, things tend to go wrong when trying to draft things up, you can also print the pattern above and use a projector to beam it onto your paper and trace it on. You can purchase a cheap projector with a discount coupon at craft stores or you can borrow one for free from lots of libraries.

Using a handheld saw quickly cut the pieces to the correct length and stack to make sure that the pieces overlap the pattern.

We'll be working in sections of the tree from top, middle and bottom. Keep these sections together.

Now this is why I LOVED this glue so much. One our, outside in the summer heat and this glue was SET. Boom! 

Once the glue is dry use your pattern to trace the triangular shape onto the back of each corresponding section. Use a fine tooth saw to trim away the excess wood along that line. You can also use a power mitre saw if you have one.

Set together on top of my bright red cabinet these guys look incredibly festive and they didn't break the bank. I'm kind of toying with the idea of making these guys with plain lumber and adding twinkle lights for a different kind of a look, but for now I love the kind of kitschy look I'm getting from all of my yardsticks!