Sunday, September 6, 2015

Easy DIY Fall Leaves Potted Topiary Tree from a Tomato Cage


This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure policy for more info.

Now that it's September, fall decorating is in full swing at my house. While I'm not happy about the cooler temperatures I do love decorating for the fall season. I'm sure I have enough decorations to keep any decor enthusiast happy but I just couldn't help myself when I saw a picture of a tomato cage fall tree on Judy's wonderful crafty Facebook page, My Heart Beats.


I'd been brainstorming how to use two urn planters in front of my fireplace for a fall decoration project. I was pretty set on using some kind of pumpkins and fake leaves but really this crafty project looked way too easy to pass up. Plus I already had almost everything I needed. 

Fall Leaves Tree Supplies



First I brought in 2 tomato cages from outside. I have about 10 tomato cages outside to protect newly planted shrubs and trees from our (apparently starving) dogs who have a taste for any kind of greenery that is invading their yard. Last year I planted 6 infant arborvitae bushes and used the tomato cages to protect them from our ravenous dogs. They worked for the dogs but my black thumb struck again and only one lonely fellow made it through the winter. So now I have a ton of tomato cages being neglected in the corner of the yard just waiting for me to use for some crafty project or to try killing growing another bush or two.

I set the cages on the urn planters and noticed they were super tall and the bottom hoop was a little too large and slid past the lip of the urn. I immediately came up with an easy fix. I knew these tomato cages weren't the highest quality because a couple of the hoops had come off just from me pushing them in the ground. I brought in one cage that already had a missing hoop and asked Cory to pull one off the other cage. He bent it and pulled on it but couldn't get the hoop off. So I set it on the floor and stepped on it and pulled on the top and the hoop popped right off :). I then bent the bottom spokes in to rest on the planters because they were so tall that I would have had to spend a small fortune on fake leaves to cover them sufficiently. I also bent the spokes together at the top to help create a tree shape.


After all the bending and breaking I set the tomato cages on the urns to see how they would work. They did indeed resemble topiary trees which was the look I was going for.



I then gathered up some fall fake leaves garland. This was the only part of the project that I didn't have on hand. I have a ton of fake leaves garland, just none to spare for my the sake of my new decoration. So I splurged a little and bought 12 sets at Walmart for $36. Totally more than I wanted to spend but I figured if I didn't use them all I could return them and I really wanted to have full leaf coverage on my trees.


I then started wrapping the garland around the tomato cage.


This is how it looked after wrapping one garland. I tucked the ends in so the leaves would not unravel.


I kept wrapping and tucking...


When I was finally done I trudged on down to the basement and stole a couple of strands of clear lights from the Christmas lights tote, grabbed my assistant for encouragement and snacks, (all this wrapping was making us hungry) and started winding lights around my leafy trees.


After I was done winding lights I decided to tuck them under the leaves to create a softer look and to hide the wires.


Here's a few pictures of the finished trees.




Since I had most of the supplies I ended up spending less than $20 a tree. I could have spent even less but I didn't want any open space in my trees.


I just love how they turned out! They have created a wonderful, warm autumn atmosphere in my home :). Hope this has inspired you all to get to your fall decorating!!

Until the next time,
*Update: I have a lot of people ask me why I didn't put the lights on first and then the leaves. Well, I'm so used to decorating Christmas trees and positioning the lights where I want them so I naturally put them on last, plus the leaves don't hide the lights when you do it this way. I also did find that when the strand of lights goes out it, is so much easier to take it off if you have the lights on the outside. 


32 comments:

  1. so pretty. Could easily be adapted for christmas too. Looks magical.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Hil D :) this is definitely my new favorite fall decoration!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh wow! I have one of these made with pine garland for Christmas, but I never thought to do it with Autumn leaves! What a brilliant idea!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks Kelli! It does give me some of that cozy "Christmas" feeling having the lit up trees in my living room ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Really pretty and cozy looking. Your assistant is pretty cute too!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I almost bought these exact same fall decorations through Macy's. Awesome job...they look great! Gotta see them for myself. See you around.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ha ha John! You'll see them on Thanksgiving :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. BEAUTIFUL...WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!! I think I'm going to make 2 Christmas trees using your idea as I don't have room for a traditional tree...THANKS AGAIN!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thanks Ann! I think the Christmas tree idea is a great one ;)!!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I wonder if there is a reason you didn't put the lights on first ?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Honestly I didn't even think of it! I'm so used to decorating Christmas trees ;). I'm glad I didn't though because it would have been harder to position the lights exactly how I wanted them. If you try it let me know how it works out :)!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love it. I was going to make topiary trees for my front porch for Christmas time but oh my gosh, I have tons of greenery and wouldn't that just look so great? I do love you ladies who have such creative minds.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks Jordan!! :) The greenery idea sounds great!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I did this inverted Tomato cage idea with an indoor vine house plant and though it is taking its time filling in it is turning out good. I love your idea and am buying 2 more cages so I can make these for my covered porch - thanks for the inspiration they are gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Thanks so much Kari! Your inverted tomato cage with vines sounds beautiful :) I just love climbing plants!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Sherri, how are you? These Diy Fall Trees are so pretty and love the ambiance you created. Thank you for sharing at our Something to Talk about Link Party and I'll be featuring them on my blog tomorrow at the party as well as all social media so I hope you can stop by then. Happy Sunday, Lisa at Concord Cottage

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm doing great, thanks so much Lisa :) I'll be sure to stop by!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thanks for sharing on Monday Madness link party :) I loved these so much they are one of the features this week. Hope to see you again this week :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. Thanks Shellie I couldn't agree more about the sparkling lights ;)!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. How did you attach the tomato cage to the urn? I've been trying different ideas and have come across an idea the holds well, and is still removable. Ideas, please!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I didn't attach them at all Jessica ;) the tomato cage just rests on top of the edges of the urn. You can kind of see in the picture of the tomato cage and urn before I started putting leaves on. This way I can still use the planters for other seasons and projects :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. What is the size of the opening on the urns?

    ReplyDelete
  23. The outer diameter is 15", hope that helps! :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  25. How long is the fall leaves garland? Your demonstration says 12 pieces. So, can you please tell me how long a garland to get?

    ReplyDelete
  26. Gail; garlands are normally 5-6 feet long and yet some are 72 inches long. I would shop around and buy the longest you can find and ones that have lots of leaves on them. Some garlands are pretty skimpy of the foliage.
    I have found the best garlands at Hobby Lobby or Michaels and always using my coupons

    ReplyDelete
  27. How tall are your urns? Super cute!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. These are Beautiful. I’ve taught floral design for a long time but never anything like this. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Beautiful thanks for sharing. I have taught floral design for a long time nothing like this.

    ReplyDelete
  30. These are so pretty, thank you for the idea!

    ReplyDelete

Blogger template designed By Sherri.