Can I say I LOVE WOOD SCRAPS?! You can get pretty creative with a pile of unused wood. I was actually inspired by a picture that I saw on Pinterest, although I made mine very different than the picture I saw. A friend had some wood scraps in his shed that he was going to toss, but gave them to me instead. The back post is about 6.5' tall, then using my jigsaw, I cut the front pieces to the size I wanted, tapering them to form the tree shape. 

I didn't use a formula or anything to measure the pieces out - I just marked them to my taste (which ended up being: 53", 48", 36", 29", 23", 18", & 9"). I spaced the pieces out just enough to be able to hang ornaments (which ended up being about 5" apart). I nailed the scraps to the back post, then drilled holes where I wanted to hang the ornaments and screwed some 5/8" brass plated cup hooks in the holes. 

It now leans in the corner of our living room, with beautiful presents under it, all ready for Christmas. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...