How to Make Christmas Topiary Trees Outdoors

Decorate a topiary with ribbons.

Christmastime usually sees thousands of households all over the world decorated with bright lights, candles, Santa Clauses, snowmen and pine and holly wreaths. People love decorating for Christmas as much as they love celebrating it. Many stick to putting up lights and using other simple decorations while others choose to make original handmade decorations each year, like topiaries. For outdoor topiaries, use materials that can stand up to the weather and secure them well against wind and storms.

Things You'll Need

• Three strong branches
• Scissors
• Hot glue
• Craft wire
• Large terra cotta pot
• Large gravel
• 1-foot-diameter green floral foam sphere
• Pine boughs (real or fake)
• Holly branches (real or fake)
• Small pinecones
• Ribbon (red, green, metallic, patterned)
• U-pins
• String of 100 twinkle lights

Instructions

1. Remove all twigs and loose bark from your three branches and bundle them together tightly, gluing them with hot glue where they touch. Secure them together with craft wire.

2. Set your branch bundle into the terra cotta pot and fill it in with large gravel. White gravel will help reflect the twinkle lights later. Pack the gravel in around the branches, making sure they are steady and secure.

3. Push the green sphere down on top of the branches so it sits securely. Cover it with pieces of pine boughs, holly, pinecones and ribbons tied into bows. Glue down the first layer with hot glue, using the pine first and filling in the gaps with everything else. Use U-pins to secure loose ends and add top-layer decorations that don't touch the foam.

4. Wrap a string of 100 white twinkle lights around the topiary, starting with the sphere. Wrap the lights once or twice around the sphere and arrange the rest down the branches and settle them on top of the gravel. Turn on the battery pack or plug them into an outdoor plug to light them.

References

• Artificial Plants and Trees: How to Make a Topiary Tree
• Artificial Plants and Trees: How to Make Tabletop Decorations
• Better Homes and Gardens: How to Make a Fruit Topiary