Hi Friends!
How are you enjoying fall? Well, I got my 1st cold of the season Tuesday night; unfortunately passed it on to my 5 year old. We’re doing much better now. We had lots of rain over the weekend and our first fireplace use, in almost 2 years! That beautiful, warm fire, had 2 colorful fall scenes and these cute mini birch trees on the mantle; truly making it feel like fall indoors. Hubby agreed, he commented how much he liked them :)
It was last week’s paintings that inspired this week’s project. Naomi had added a few birch trees to her fall scene, bringing nice contrast to her richer colors. Why didn’t I add any? My longing for birch led to these cute mini’s. If you didn’t know it yet, fall is in full swing here friends and we love it! Check out the mini’s below, so easy and inexpensive.
*Click on photos for closer look
What You'll Need
Small Twigs & Branches (10-12”)
Craft Paint & Brushes
Recycled Wide Bottle Caps
Glue Gun & Plenty of Glue Sticks (adult assistance suggested)
Rinse Jar & Wash Rag
Paint Tray/Plastic Plate
optional: Table Cover, Wipes/Cleaning Rag
The Steps
We’re super fortunate to have different trees around the house, one being a Japanese Maple right out front. These tree trimmings looked like mini trees, so they were perfect for our project.
Carefully remove all the leaves, then set aside.
*Optional- cover work space before painting.
2. Use black, tan, or a mixture of both to paint the stands.
We mixed both colors; dry time is very short.
3. Paint all the branches white, tan or light grey. It doesn’t have to be perfect and wider brushes are WAY faster.
We opted for white. Dry time is minimal.
4. Add markings with black or tan and let dry.
We used the leftover paint from the stands.
*This is the most time consuming part, about a 5 minute dry time for each tree.
5. Add a large dab of hot glue to center of cap.
6. Snap ends a bit to create a flatter bottom(leave any lingering/hanging piece attached) and insert into glue.
7. Carefully hold tree with one hand while continuing to add glue from an inch above cap and all around. It will slowly roll down, cooling as it goes, and creating a wider base.
If glue spreads out too much, use an extra twig or toothpick to spread glue back up.
HOLD until just set or glue turns opaque, then lean against a wall or something tall so you can continue.
That’s it!
If you need or want a larger tree, “graft” 2 smaller pieces like we did here in the bottom photo.
What do you think friends!?
Cute, recycled and pretty much free! I’d LOVE to see how you use your mini birch trees, so get to sharing.
Happy crafting!
Amanda and Naomi
To share: take a photo of your craft click on photo submission and submit the photo
