Wednesday, December 4, 2013

You Urned It! Potted Christmas Trees - How To & A Giveaway

Are you all decorated?  
After teaching the tablescaping at
Gatehouse No.1, hubby was
so excited and wanted to come home
and decorate.  
Now when does that happen?
I had to hold him back until
at least the middle of November!
The best part was he was so helpful
this year.  Usually he brings up the
tree and the giant nutcrackers and
a couple of boxes for the village and that is
it.  Not this year, he helped all the 
way through and we had it done
in 3 1/2 hours!  Record time!!!



I had already gotten started with the front
door and these two 
Potted Christmas Trees.




I had so much fun taking the tree
decorating and mantle decorating
classes at Gatehouse No. 1's
Open House.  They had created a beautiful
Christmas tree in a pot and
gave it as a giveaway at the
end of the week.  No, I wasn't
the lucky winner but it got me
thinking.





I happened to stop by Big Lots
to see if they had a new pink tree for
my kitchen tree as the bottom had
developed
"club feet"
over the past two winters with the
plastic feet twisting over on themselves.
They only had another thin tinsel one
and I got the bright idea to buy a second
one and wire it to the first one and since
the "clubbed feet" weren't going to
work, I bought some Plaster of Paris
and searched the house for an urn
to secure the little deformed tree in.





Well, it worked so well and I got so
excited that I went right back and bought
some aqua ones for the front door.  I already
had these iron urns and I decided to use those
instead of the feet.  The weight of the iron
urns will be great on windy days.

Big Lots had these $20 trees in pink, aqua,
purple, white and green so after making
the two aqua ones I ran back and got two 
purples and wired them together and made
this one, 




again with a found urn.


This purple one sits on my coffee table
and I created this vignette to go with it.


I love these little boots.  They
remind me of little boots I bought
my little granddaughter Jacquelyn.
She is so proud of her shoes or
boots that she bends down to
touch them so that you will notice 
them.


I was asking one of my granddaughters
what color of tree her daddy might like
and she said, "Pink!"  Then I said, "That
sounds like what you would like."  Then 
she said, "Pink and tiger (meaning leopard
print)!"  When I told him, he laughed and
said since the tree was for her, he would
be fine with that so I made this one.




I had used the leopard print ribbon
on my purple tree so I used it on
their tree.  She will love this.  It
has all kinds of girly things in "tiger".








I have to admit that about half way through
on this one, I heard a pop and the heat of
the Plaster of Paris cracked the ceramic
urn so I would recommend fiberglass or
metal.  She was so thrilled when she saw
her tree.

Instructions For Potted Christmas Trees
2 - 4 foot tinsel trees
(Big Lots and Wal Mart have
these for $20 each)
Heavy craft wire
4 lb. Plaster of Paris
(I bought mine at Michaels and Home Depot)
water to mix
Urn made of fiberglass or metal

Begin by taking the tinsel trees
out of the boxes.  Flatten one side
of each tree and place the flat
sides together.  Wire the two trees
together at the top, middle and 
bottom of the trees.  
Mix the Plaster of Paris with water
enough to make a smooth paste
and pour into the clean urn.  Let
set up a few minutes then stand 
the tree bases in the wet Plaster
of Paris.  Check from all sides
to make sure the tree is straight.
Let set up for 30 minutes to one
hour.  After this amount of time
you can begin decorating.



We learned at the class that you should
begin by decorating the top.
When you add picks or stems to the
top, leave them full length and run 
them down through the tree limbs
right next to the trunk.  This gives 
added stability to the tree.


Then place your large ornaments and
set them deep into the tree.  You don't want
everything out on the edge of the tree.
Wire them back in deep.  I just ran my 
wire through the top cap of the ornament
and didn't even use the little loop attached.


Smaller ornaments that you want to hang
on the outside edge of the tree can be
hung with the attached loop.
You want to create depths of layers
in the tree.

Finish with ribbons that you curve throughout
the tree or layer in multiples.  The ribbon can 
be wired in or just use a branch of the tree
to pinch it in place.



You can add picks or stems at the end
just tucking them into the tree.
I love these big droopy ones.

The great thing about these trees
is that they are table top trees
that you can put on the coffee
table, dining table, buffet or
in a child's room.

Have fun making some
potted Christmas trees.
Pink Silk Ruffle Waist Skirt
Don't forget my giveaway
Become a follower of 
Me oh My Couture's
blog or on Instagram 
meohmycouture
and leave me a comment.
You can win any one item
from her shop.  This is my
daughter in law's new blog shop.
The winner will be chosen randomly
and the giveaway ends
Thursday, December 5th at
Midnight.
Good luck!
She has darling little girl clothes
Darling short sleeve t-shirt
and if you are looking for something
for a little boy, she has adorable
blankets.

Sources
Trees - Big Lots and Wal Mart
Urns - Previously from Tai Pan
Ribbon - Tai Pan, Big Lots and Wal Mart
Picks and Stems - Gatehouse No. 1,
Wal Mart, Big Lot and Hobby Lobby
Ornaments - Ones I had, Wal Mart (Leopard
Print and pinks and golds), Big Lot (silver and birds)


I will be posting with








19 comments:

  1. Your home is beautifully decorated, Jacqueline. I love the front door and porch! Great color there! I adore the little gold Santa boots and the cupcake in a cloche too. Wishing you a wonderful Christmas.

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  2. My Jacqueline, you have made your home a magical Christmas feast for the eyes. I love all the pastel colours you've used and the fabulous decorations.
    I have a tabletop silver tinsel tree and I know what you mean about the legs, so hubby built me a wooden form the tree is screwed in to. The idea of 2 together for fullness is clever, but I've not seen silver in Michael's this year, our is about 5 years old.
    Your granddaughter will love her special tree.
    Judith

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  3. Such beautiful decorations, makes me want to get mine done!

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  4. Looks like you've been having lots of fun Jacqueline! All of your trees are beautiful, I love all of the bling:@)

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  5. Well, you have sure done it up big! Such a change up. I am going to have to make a special trip to see it all in person. Your photos are just stunning and so are the trees and the front porch decorations. You really are Mrs. Christmas. Love you! Joni

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  6. Dear Jacqueline,
    Your home looks beautiful... You have done such a wonderful job on the trees.
    Happy Holidays,
    Penny

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  7. This whole post made me smile.
    And I learned much too!
    Happy holidays!

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  8. Your home is beautiful. I have followed you for over a year now and I enjoy seeing all your decorations. Have a very Merry Christmas!

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  9. Hi lovely lady.
    Your home looks Beautiful for the Christmas Holidays. I also hope you have a wonderful Christmas.
    xxoo
    Diane

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  10. I love the trees! I never would have thought of that, but now I'm excited to make one for my office!

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  11. Just Stunning !!! The bright beautiful colors and the ornaments. Don't know where to begin. I love it all.The wreaths are drop dead gorgeous and the trees are over the top.I always enjoy my visits to your home.
    You are one lucky lady to have a hubby to help you Decorate.my hubby did help me this yr. so far. I still don't have my tree up. But I have not been lazy.
    I would like to invite you to Sherry and my Blog.We have a special post for you to see.
    Merry Christmas,
    Marie Antoinette

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  12. Too fabulous Jacqueline! Wow, you are definitely the Queen of Bling! I love them all, especially the pink in the kitchen! Thanks for sharing the professional tree decorating tips too~Your holiday is going to be full of fun and fancy!
    Jenna

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  13. GOOD GLORY! Jacqueline, your home is MARVELOUS! That door of yours, THAT SANTA! I am amazed tonight!

    Your colors and glitter, your kitchen and the rest of our home are just tickling my heart. Thank you for this lavish and generous display of joy and for visiting! Yes, I do believe heaven and earth blend at this time of year when giving and love merge. I wish you a FUN and festive time, and is there chocolate in the plans? I am going to make the French MENDIANTS. Are you familiar with the blog, MANGER? You might have seen Mimi in Bon Appétit magazine, but she makes the traditional French food, and Mendiants are easy to make. Go visit her blog and see that all you need is dark chocolate, nuts, and dried fruit. They are so good.

    HAVE FUN! Anita

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  14. Spectacular, Jacqueline. You really have a gift for blending colors and textures in a grand way. I could spend hours looking at all the beautiful things you have put together.

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  15. Oh my.......you have made my day with looking at your beautiful Christmas trees. You are so creative with decorating. I just love the extra little whimsy touch you add to everything.......just your signature all over it. I remember the adorable pink tree in your kitchen a few years ago. It gave me the inspiration I needed to decorate one for my kitchen. I had never used one of the colorful tinsel trees before.......I am hooked on them now! Thanks for sharing so many wonderful step by step ideas.
    Blessings, Katherine S.

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  16. Wow, Jacqueline! These are gorgeous. And, I had already planned a trip to Big Lots.

    Happy Pink Saturday.

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  17. Truly a feast for the eyes. Every time I thought I had a favorite, I glanced below and found a new favorite. Just beautiful

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  18. Hey girl, it is gorgeous! all of it!
    Love your trees!
    They are all so beautiful like you!
    hugs,
    Betsy

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  19. I just invited my husband into my office to look at your decor, and he was blown away! He really liked the kitchen tree, which surprised me since he's always dissing the color pink! Anyway, he says to tell you, "WOW!" "WOW!" from me, too! :-)

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