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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Easter Egg Topiary Tree Inspired by PB


I was laying on the couch DYING  recuperating from strep throat a couple of weeks ago when my Pottery Barn Catalogs came in the mail. My sweet hubby brought them over to me on my deathbed  couch and as I turned through the pages, drooling over all the pretties, these caught my eye BIG TIME!


But even though I was delirious with fever I knew I  would never pay $89.00 for an Easter decoration. I don't pay $89.00 for anything. Cuz I am cheap frugal! However all that couch laying paid off for me because the wheels starting turning on how I could make my own! And if you love it as much as I do I have made up a little tutorial. But first  just for a little comparison - The total cost for this project was around $15.00 and my topiary is 40" tall, Pottery Barn's is only 30" tall for $89.00.

Supply List:

Tomato Cage
Hanging Basket
Newspaper
Glue
Green Paint
Plastic Easter Eggs (the kind that split in half long-wise) I used about 40 whole eggs so 80 halves
Moss (I got mine from the dollar store)
Glue Gun - with lots of hot glue sticks
Craft Paint in Pastel Colors (optional)
Ribbon or Twine



Step 1: Using hotglue, glue your tomato cage upside down on top of your hanging basket pot. The reason to use a hanging basket pot is that it has slits in it for the hangers to go in and they come in very handy to tie your tomato basket to. After the glue has set up. Tie the tomato basket to the planter pot for added stability.



Step 2: Tie the pointy ends of the tomato basket together very tightly and securely.



Step 3: Mix some white glue with water until the thickness is just a little thinner than milk. I use a big dishpan to mix mine in. You only need 1/2" or so in the bottom of your dishpan.

Step 4: Cut your newspaper into strips about 4" wide works well.

Step 5: Get your newspaper strips wet, just one at a time, and then drain the extra water/ glue mixture off. Wrap the wet newspaper around your tomato cage starting from the bottom and working your way up. You will want to make sure you overlap the edge of your planter pot just a little bit because the  newspaper shrinks up as it dries. I used clothespins to help hold the wet newspaper onto the tomato cage. 


Step 6: Let this dry and repeat until you have a nice hard shape. I let mine dry overnight between layers and I put on about 4 layers.

Step 7: After all the layers are dry you will need to paint the entire newspaper form green. This will help you when you are glueing the moss on so that you can't see any newspaper through it.

Step 8: If you are painting your plastic eggs you will want to do that now. I couldn't find any that opened the right way except for these lovely camo ones from the dollar store so I used acrylic craft paint to paint them. I did three coats to make sure they were covered really well.

Step 9: Using hotglue attatch your eggs to your topiary form covering as closely as you want. I didn't space mine as closely as the PB picture.

Step 10: Now it is time to fill all those spaces in with moss. This step takes a while and it takes alot of hotglue! I worked on mine in spurts.

I  am so pleased with how it turned out. It is not a carbon copy but it is so awesome to find something you love and use it as inspiration for a project of your very own. The Pottery Barn picture was just a jumping off point. Something to get me thinking, and I LOVE the results.

25 comments:

  1. Those camo eggs had me a little scared when I first saw them...hahaha...but I absolutely love how your tree came out...fabulous!

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  2. Gorgeous !! This is inspiring and I can't wait to try it! I also was wondering on your to do and done cans...(that I'm dieing to make!!), can you tell me where you got your art of the pictures of the chores? I am just starting out crafting so I don't know where to look for this, I checked out pat catans and Joanns but couldn't find them! And also the To Do and All Done...!!?? Thank you so much!!! Love your crafts!! You are the first blog I am following!! So really thank you!
    Danielle

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  3. Great thinking! It turned out very cute.

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  4. Turned out fantastic! Little tip? Next time with the moss, try spray adhesive first, then glue clumps in to fill in space. It'll save you a lot of time on glue gun duty. ;)

    Please feel free to link your project up with my Talented Tuesday Link party on My Frugal Family, found at http://theherberfamily.blogspot.com/2010/03/welcome-to-talented-tuesday.html!

    Hope to see you there!

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  5. I love how you transformed the camo eggs. This looks great on your porch!

    Feel free to stop by my blog and enter my jewelry giveaway!

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  6. It's LOVELY! And I agree...I could never pay that for a decoration for a holiday!

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  7. ok! tHAT is too cute and HUGE! I love it! It would look amazing next to my front door! Thanks for the inspiration.

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  8. Thanks for showing us how you made this great Easter tree! A tomato cage- who'd of thought!?

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  9. That is so cute! Great tute!
    thanks for visiting and commenting on the jute balls(wiffle) and the album tray.
    gail

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  10. Yours is so much better! And I like the price a whole lot more than PB!
    Sarah

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  11. Oh I love this!! And I love the price.

    I love the name of your blog.... I love all things sparkly! I host a party every Thursday called Get Your Craft on Thursday and would love for you to join.

    Lori
    http://lifeaslori.blogspot.com

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  12. Fantastic! I wouldn't have ever thought of a tomato cage. I Love a PB inspired frugal version of holiday decor!
    I have a a thrift/dollar store version of PB's Birdbath dish here:
    http://keeninspirations.blogspot.com/2010/03/pb-inspired-bird-bath-candy-dish.html
    If you have a mintute to stop by and take a look!

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  13. This turned out so cute! I included a link to your tutorial on my blog today for fun Easter Crafts. I found you on Today's Creative Blog. Thanks for sharing!!

    - Michele

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  14. It's okay to admit being cheap! LOL! Love the PB one but your's came out amazing!

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  15. great re-do...and I am sorry I would not pay 89.00 for that either. Its cute and would love to have it ...but come on... do people really spend that kind of money?

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  16. Genius! Great PB knockoff. Thanks for sharing at the POPP.

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  17. So cute! Pottery barn watch out! :)

    Thanks for sharing!
    Rachelle

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  18. This is just fantastic - such a creative use of each element!

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  19. So cute! I have been wanting to make one of these, and I really never thought about the fact that you only use half of the egg! I was worried about the eggs sticking out too far!?!

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  20. That is precious!!!! I love how you took the expensive Pottery Barn version and re-made it to fit the normal people's budget! :) PS: Hope your strep throat gets better.

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  21. I love this!! I respect a good Pottery Barn knockoff!! Way to go!

    Alison
    http://oopsey-daisy.blogspot.com/

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