DIY Decorative Topiary Christmas Trees

As a part of the Lowe’s Cre­ative Ideas Blog­ger team, this month’s chal­lenge was to cre­ate some sort of Hol­i­day décor. I had SO many ideas, but couldn’t decide which one to actu­ally do. Then, while brows­ing through the Hol­i­day décor sec­tion of Lowe’s, inspi­ra­tion struck! I love those dec­o­ra­tive front entry top­i­ary Christ­mas trees (Lowe’s has a great selec­tion), but the price tags can be a bit steep–often cost­ing $80 or more for one. So, for this month’s #Lowe­sCre­ator chal­lenge, I decided to “DIY” some and make a set myself! I LOVE the way they turned out! They look SO much more expen­sive than what they actu­ally cost! In fact, my neigh­bor was out while I was set­ting them up (every­one was out hang­ing Christ­mas lights) and she com­mented on how pretty they looked. When I told her that I made them, she was shocked! So, with­out fur­ther ado, here’s the “how-to”:

Sup­plies (per tree):

• 1 tomato cage
• 4 strands of 9 ft. gar­land (you’ll want the kind with wire branches that you can posi­tion & “fluff”)
• 1 strand of 100 mini lights
• duct tape
• décor
• planter

I got the tomato cage for just under $2, the lights for just over $2, and 4 strands of gar­land for $20 (all at Lowe’s). So, really, you can do the tree for $25 or less. The planters of course add cost (though you wouldn’t have to have them), but the beauty about doing this your­self instead of buy­ing the already made ones is that you can use the planters for other things. The pre-made ones are typ­i­cally attached to the pots. I already had the urn planters & thought they’d be per­fect for this (they were pur­chased pre­vi­ously at Lowe’s for my fall front entry and are $24.99 each). To make, start by tap­ing together the open ends of the tomato cage (to make a point & tree shape). Then, start wind­ing the gar­land around the tomato cage. I started at the top and con­tin­ued work­ing my way down the cage. Make sure to wrap it tightly–you can even wrap a few of the indi­vid­ual pine gar­land arms around the cage in a few places to help. Once all the gar­land is wrapped, then wrap the strand of lights around just like a nor­mal tree. Once again, I started at the top and worked me way down. Once the lights are on, place on/in the planter (if you’re going to use one). To help secure it, I just used a lit­tle duct tape. At this point, you’ll want to fluff the branches & move things around to fill in any open spots. Then, dec­o­rate how­ever you like! I went with a bow and some mini orna­ments.So there you go… dec­o­ra­tive Christ­mas top­i­ary trees for much less than the ones in the store! I’m super pleased with the results and love the way our front entry looks this year! The trees add such a pretty twin­kle to our front door! For even more ideas, visit Lowes Cre­ative Ideas. While you’re there, you can sign up to receive their free Cre­ative Ideas Mag­a­zine, which is full of all kinds of ideas & inspiration!

Dis­clo­sure:  I am a mem­ber of the Lowe’s Cre­ative Ideas Cre­ators & Influ­encers Net­work and received a Lowe’s gift card to com­plete my projects. As always, all opin­ions and expe­ri­ences are my own.

Linked to: *Tater­tots & Jello, *Flamingo Toes, *Today’s Cre­ative, *SNAP Show & Tell