Tiny Trees on a Tray

I've seen similar trees in one of my favorite catalogues for years at quite exhorbant pricing and had a little leftover oasis this year and decided What The Hey!

The most worrysome part of this project is cutting the oasis, it's dusty and messy (wet or dry) but it is so worth it in the end. I was going to Just Do It and have my kids oh and ahh and that be the end of it. But I put my 5 1/2 yr old daughter in charge and it was just the right kind of project for her.
I cut the stems (branches) all the right size and just let her go at it, and it's one of the most perfect decorations in our house. (both to look at & for fragrance)
And will be as much as a tradition in the future as making Gingerbread houses.

The oasis I had was in a square portion but you may be able to purchase cones and spheres as well.
So I recycled the old Oasis and cut it down into triangular shaped forms. (Shown here)Soaking in a bowl of water.

Arborvitae required quite a bit of branches. But was fun all the more.
We started from the bottom & worked our way up. We had to have longer stems for the damaged parts of the oasis.



Fraiser Fir was quite sappy & sticky
I plan to let my youngest finish up the boxwood tree tomorrow whilst I start the Holiday Baking.

Watch for homemade Grasshopper Cookies Recipe

Tomato Cage Topiary

This thought came to me all of a sudden this week as I was looking over the prices of live trees to put into my pots.
I had some extra greenery cut so I put my mind to work how to use it up
Repurpose your Tomato cages from the garden

This is a daytime and a nighttime view of my finished trees, They are large enough to make a statement in daylight or nighttime and the design can be more elaborate if you wish adding ornaments or garlands. I was simply using what I had around (the least expensive options)

Materials Needed:
Tomato Cages
Floral wire
Fresh Cut Greenery (16" pieces are optimal)
Embellishments (lights, Ornaments, Toppers)
one wire hanger cut into 6" pieces and bent into a U-shape to hold down tree into soil)

I started with an assortment of Tomato cages, and chose the least damaged of what I had.
I wired the tops to make a sort of teepee form

Then I started adding my greenery it was already cut into about 16" pieces since I was putting together wreaths and garland(Check out past blog posts from 2012). More pieces can be put into a bucket and cut into to make those. (it takes about 1/2 -3/4 a five gallon bucket to make each tree)
I used Sea Green Junipers for the ones pictured.

Wrapping once across the branch, under the first rung in the cage and back around is enough to hold on your branches.
If it seems thin push branches to one side and add a couple more.
You are really just creating an illusion, so unless you're going to have a professional checking out your work, the imperfections are what actually give this project its charm.
I topped off my Tree Creations with what ever red flowers I had around (they were inexpensive Dollar Store finds)
I also topped the very top with just a little fraiser fir branches. Just because.
We added a strand of solar led lights to each tree.

I'm thinking you could make a thin taller tree if you wired two cages together, and smaller one with cones of chicken wire. (Or even other topiary shapes it's only limited by the imagination)

Christmas decoration don't have to be costly or fancy to make the season special. Family & Friends and never forgetting the True Meaning of Christmas makes for a much more memorable & fulfilling Time.

Living Simpler is goof for you and good for the planet.


Here is a Sneak Peek of the next installation of our Christmas Decorating with the Kids.
Tiny Trees on a Tray