Diy Ornament Topiaries

2 Materials
$20
1 Hour
Medium

Inexpensive plastic ornaments plus a dowel plus plaster of paris equals a great ornament topiary to add some bling to your Christmas mantle

I have started to get my Christmas planning in gear. For the most part, our favorite decorations make an appearance every year, but I do like to mix things up a little. Since forever, my Santa collection has adorned our mantle with greenery and lights. But this year, I was compelled to paint Santa's portrait to hang over our mantle, which has prompted me to rethink that whole space. The wall above my mantel is tall, so Santa's portrait is 4 feet tall. But I also needed something tall to flank Santa. I didn't have anything on hand that would work, so...RATS...I had to create something! (picture Snoopy doing his happy dance!)

I am lucky to have these 2 white milk glass urns that belonged to my Grandma. I remember her having pots of African violets and ivy growing in them. I figured I'd use them as a base for something tall. I considered making a tall ornament tree by attaching smallish ornaments on a conical styrofoam base, but in the end opted to make these topiaries for ease of assembly and because I thought they'd make more of a statement. I've got to be honest, I'm pretty tickled with them! They were easy to make, relatively inexpensive and do exactly what I needed them to do!

Here's What You Will Need to Make Ornament Topiaries

My topiaries are 27 tall, from the bottom of bottom ornament to the top of the top ornament. The supplies listed will make topiaries approximately that size. Plastic ornaments of differing shapes, sizes and decoration, I used a total of 6 ornaments for each topiary. My bottom ornaments are 5 in diameter The next biggest ornament is 4 in diameter. The top ornament is 7 long The remaining 3 are approximately 3, give or take. Dowel, mine was 1/4 diameter Heavy duty wire cutters Drill and drill bits. I used one slightly bigger than 1/4 and one about 1/16 Pot of sand or dirt (or something similar) to hold ornament while you're drilling Urn or Pot Empty can or container that will fit in your urn or pot Plaster of Paris. I used 4LB Plaster Of Paris. I used 1/2 of the 4lb container for both topiaries. Level Duct tape

How to Make Your Ornament Topiaries

Remove all the little hanger parts from your ornaments Mark, to the best of your ability, the top of your ornament with a pencil or pen. I put the dowel in the bottom once I remove gold hanger part and bumped it on the top of the ornament from inside and then just felt where it was bumping and put my mark there. If your ornament has a little nib where the gold hanger part went, I found it easier to clip those away with the wire cutters. Some just cut right off, while others I rather 'nibbled away on' with the wire cutters.

Once I got as much off with the wire cutters, I used my drill bit to 'sand' the rough edges down and make it as flush as possible to the ornament. I'm sure the Tool Gods are trembling with how I was using the drill, but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do. And it worked just fine and no tools were hurt during the filming.

Now comes the fun part...drilling the holes. I needed something to hold the ornaments while I drilled them. While walking to the garage pondering this dilemna I spied a pot of dirt that the sad remains of a begonia occupied. Here we go again...Crafting Kismet! It worked perfectly! Sand would probably work better, but I just wiped the dirt off when I was done with the drilling.

I used the smaller, 1/16 drill bit first to make a 'guide hole' otherwise the larger bit wanted to move around before it caught hold. That worked perfectly for me. Once I drilled the smaller hole in each ornament, I followed up with the larger drill bit. I found that you want to go slow and not use too much pressure...just let the drill do the work slowly. If the openings where the gold hanger was on each ornaments needed to bigger, I just worked my bigger drill bit into each of those openings.

I practiced on some spare ornaments just to get the hang of what I needed to do, but I did not have one ornament crack! I was quite surprised. You only need one hole for your top ornament Once all the holes were drilled, I need to make my base pots. I used these cans which fit perfectly into my urns and filled them with plaster of paris according to the directions on the package. I let the plaster of paris set up a bit before I put my dowel in. The package indicates that it has a working time of 6-10 minutes and sets firm in 1/2 an hour. While it was setting, I put a piece of duct tape over the top and marked the center of the can, once again to the best of my ability, by measuring the middle of a ruler placed over the can, at a couple different angles. (Complete non sequitur alert! Did you know that Kirkland Brand, sold by Costco, will never have BPA in their can liners!? I used to can my own tomatoes to avoid that, but don't feel the need ever since Costco came to the rescue!)

Once the plaster of paris began setting up, I placed my dowel in and used my level on a couple different sides to determine that it was straight. I checked every couple of minutes for about 20 minutes. I also placed the jar up against my cabinets...which I assume are perfectly straight and eye-checked them too. Just to be sure, I let the plaster of paris dry overnight before I put my ornaments on. I placed the ornaments in a couple different configurations before I decided on this one. I did need to take about 4-5 off of the top of each wood dowel after I placed all the ornaments on it.

My mantle is high, so I'm not worried about people looking in and seeing my can, but if I was I'd add some greenery or something around the base of the topiary.

Suggested materials:
  • .
  • .
Lynn @ Nourish and Nestle
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
Go
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
3 of 8 questions
  • Har7439374 Har7439374 on Nov 08, 2016
    Could you use glass ornaments and glue them together.
  • Janice Smith Janice Smith on Nov 14, 2016
    This question is not about the project, it is about the Santa picture in the background? I LOVE this picture and would love to buy one, can you please tell me where you bought it? Thank you very much, Janice Smith
  • Nan9554510 Nan9554510 on Nov 16, 2016
    Couldn't you just glue them all together? I don't have a drill.
Comments
Join the conversation
3 of 227 comments
  • Robin Robin on Mar 05, 2017
    No question,your post inspired me to do this same design with easter eggs! I think I will wrap the tiny fairy lights around mine.
    • What a fantastic idea! Easter eggs! I love it. Would you be willing to share an image once you are done? I'd love to see it.
  • Sherri Roll Sherri Roll on Dec 26, 2018

    I love this idea and the Easter egg idea as well. That being said, you can find various sizes paper mache eggs and Mod Podge fabric, paper, foil etc. Great inspiration Thank you for sharing

Next