DIY Network

Festive Spiral Christmas Topiary More Christmas Crafts

By Michele Beschen

Greet your visitors this holiday season with a festive spiral topiary you can create yourself. With a few small tools and a bundle of creativity, you will have a beautiful, spiral topiary to add holiday magic to your home!

Fill foam planter with soil or sand for weight.

Materials:

18" x 54" round tapered garden trellis or tomato cage
18" diameter foam planter (or the same diameter of the trellis)
soil or sand for weight
20-gauge wire
drill and drill bit
12-foot strand of outdoor rope lighting
small cable ties
artificial or fresh greenery (evergreens)
hot glue gun and glue sticks
spray paint - optional

Steps:

Figure A

• Turn the trellis upside down so that the tapered end is upright. Leave the trellis its natural color or spray paint it to coordinate with your planter.

• Wire the tapered end closed by weaving the wire in and around the trellis (figure A). Place the trellis on top of the planter with the tapered end upright.

• Drill four small holes through the side of the planter near the rim using a 1/8-inch drill bit or awl, making sure the holes are evenly spaced around the pot and are near the cross bars.

• Place the wire through the holes in the side of the planter using 20-gauge wire. Twist the wire around the cross bars. This will secure the trellis.
  

  Figure B

• Wrap the rope lighting around the trellis, securing the end at the top (not the plug end) and working your way down. Wrap the lights in a spiral fashion.

• Secure the lighting loosely with cable ties (figure B), adjusting for spacing as you go. If you pull the lighting too tightly, it will have harsh bends that are square looking as opposed to rounded.

• Wrap additional strands of rope lighting to cover the entire trellis for a solid spiral.

• Add loose evergreen branches to dress up your spiral tree. Start by fanning a variety of loose evergreen branches around the rim of the planter to conceal where the trellis and planter meet. Make sure the branches hang over the rim of the pot. Secure branches with hot glue and/or wire.

• Bundle full, loose branches with wire. Bundles should be long enough to extend out from your pot several inches.
  

  Figure C

• Bury the stems of the bundle into the soil or sand in the planter, and secure them to the trellis using wire.

• Fill the lower portion of the planter until you have a full arrangement.

• Create a topper by securing additional evergreen bundles to the top of your trellis (figure C) with wire.