Bringing the Beauty of Nature Indoors
1 Material
$50
3 Hours
Medium
My husband and I went and collected birch trees to decorate outdoors for the holidays... the birch was so beautiful it made its way indoors.
I was creating a rustic bedroom downstairs and I pondered how could I incorporate the birch.... so I did it in a big way.
The first step was to cut the birch tree to height. Make sure that your cut is even and level. I chose the height of 70 inches.
I went and picked up a wooden crate, the ones you see everywhere. Mine is 9 1/2 x 9 /2. Purchased 8 bags of stones from the local dollar store and a roll of burlap. Lastly, chose 5 antique hooks, 3 rust and two white.
To the inside of the crate, I nailed 2 pieces of 1× 6 cut 9 inches long and to strengthen the bottom. I then primed with a latex primer and painted the crate using chalk paint. I used a bone colour and grey blue to give it that barnboard look. You can also rub it with a dark wax to highlight the wood grain.
I then screwed the antique hooks to the tree using an electric screw drive. I put them about 12 inches apart in height We flipped the tree upside down and placed the box on the end of the tree. Make sure it centered. We then nails the box to the bottom of the tree. It is wise to pre-drill whole in the crate where the nails will got to prevent the thin wood from cracking. We used a hiltey gun. You can also use an air nailer and good old fashion hammer. Make sure you use at least 3 inch nails to get threw the two pieces of lumber and securely in the tree
Finally I added the stones and voila. A beautiful rustic coat stand. Already I am thinking I could decorate it for Christmas. Lol
Antique hooks screwed in.
Wooden crate painted with chalk paint.
Burlap stapled to the inside
Voila.
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