Wall Tree
Hang this long-lasting Christmas tree, decorated with fruit and glittering lights, on the wall like a picture, where it will not take up much space. The frame and its chicken-wire covering are easy to assemble and can be kept to reuse from year to year, replacing the moss and foliage. Suspend nuts, chocolates, and store-bought decorations on the tree, too.
Materials
3 Pieces of bamboo (2 the same length, one shorter)
Florists' wire
Chicken wire
Sphagnum moss
Sprigs of conifer or fir
Fruit (lime, tree tomatoes, white eggplant)
Pencil
Fairy lights
Instructions
- Make a triangular frame from three pieces of bamboo, two the same length and one slightly shorter, wired together with florists' wires. Cover the frame with a double layer of chicken wire.
- Twist the open ends of the chicken wire together to secure it around the frame, leaving a gap through which to fill with sphagnum moss. Pack the frame with moss, then close the gap.
- Poke sprigs of conifer - here fir because it does not drop its needles - into the moss-filled frame. Start at the bottom with larger pieces, overlapping to cover as you work up.
- Thread a wire through each fruit, hooking one end and pulling it back gently into the fruit. Poke the free wire end through the frame from the front; bend at the back to secure.
- Make holes for the fairy lights with a pencil. Starting at the top with the nonplug end, push each bulb through from the back, keeping the cord at the back and finishing with the plug near the tree's base.
- Attach a hanging hook at top & wire on a piece of bark for the trunk