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Thursday, October 14, 2010

Spooky Halloween Branches Tutorial

Remember, I warned you I'd be posting some Halloween projects this month!




I've been seeing these spooky potted lighted tree/branches around. I saw some at Target for $40/each and thought eh, I could make that. Well friends, not only did I make them, I made them for less than 1/2 the price! I ended up spending $20 on two. Super easy and good outside Halloween decor (or "yard crap", as my husband calls it). Here's how i did it:

You'll need the following (which you can get in one place, unless you're like me and drive to a minimum of 3 different stores to find the best deal and save a whopping couple of dollars):

black branches
floral foam
lights (i used two 50-strand boxes per tree)
black zip ties
moss
2 urns (or 4 pots that you can glue together for an urny shape + black spray paint + glue)


Since urns are expensive and I didn't have any, I decided to make my own urn-looking pot. I bought 2 small pots and 2 medium pots, spray painted them black and hot glued the bottom of a medium to the bottom of a small. Viola, urny-shaped pot! Add the floral foam to the top and then you can prepare your branches.


Cut the branches in various sizes (I used a hand pruner to cut mine) and insert into the foam in a decoratively spooky manner.


Next you just run the lights up and down the branches using the zip ties to tighten them up. I started at the bottom of one branch (remember to leave some length on the end so you can plug it in!) and went up one branch, then about 1/4way down before loosely draping it to the top of the next branch. From there, run the lights down, then up on another branch, and so on.  Once the lights are on every branch, make sure the other end of the plug is at the bottom and then cover it and the foam with moss.

They look pretty cool at night. Perfect for entrances or as pathway markers!


 

14 comments:

  1. That is so cute! Thanks for the tutorial!

    I just found your blog through a Thursday blog hop! Have a great night.

    Amanda @ www.nutritionistreviews.com

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  2. Hi Christy,

    Following you now from Buzz on By Thursday. Please follow me back!

    http://inspiredbyron.blogspot.com/

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  3. They really look fantastic, and I especially love how you made the urns.

    I would like to invite you to Fantastic Frugal Fridays. It is a great place to link up your frugal posts and meet frugal friends.

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  4. I'm loving the ingenuity of making your big pots. I've been looking all over for some cheap, big pots like that for an outdoor display. Very smart! Of course, they look even more impressive displaying your "yard crap"! Haha. I love that! So stealing that one.

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  5. I love these Christy! Where did you get the branches?

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  6. You can get the branches at Walmart & Michaels for $10. But you can use a 40%off coupon at Michaels making them only $6!

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  7. You clever, crafty, creepy chick!!! What brilliant "urns" you made! I absolutely love this! It is elegant yet creepy...what could be better?!? Very nicely done.
    Angelene
    LBT

    P.S. Thanks for stopping by LBT and leaving me some love. You rock lady!!!
    P.P.S I MISS YOUR FACE!!!!!!!
    Love you!!!

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  8. Those are awesome!!!! One question...where do you find the black zip ties? TFS ;o)

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  9. Home Depot or Lowes sells the zip ties. But I've also seen them at Walmart and Target. Sorry, I should have included a picture. I added them as an afterthought, but they really helped tighten the lights to the branches. Just zip them on tight and snip off the extra ends!

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  10. Great idea! Wonder if I can make this for our entrance? One question, did you purchase your orange string of lights at a craft store?

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  11. The lights I got from Big Lots, cause they had them on sale for $1.50 each. But you can get them anywhere that sells Halloween stuff!

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  12. Great knockoff! I love making things myself for way less than the stores are charging. Btw, I am your newest follower. :)

    - Megan

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  13. Great job.

    I'll be featuring this over at Life As Lori if you would like to stop by and grab my i was featured button please do so!

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  14. Thank you so much for this tutorial! I saw this exact thing being sold by Martha Stewart for $100! I can't wait to make this I already have half of the stuff, I just need to find some stick in the yard and paint them.

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