Fun Do It Yourself Projects ~ How to make a boxwood tree

Looking for a fun project to make for Christmas? Why not make your own Boxwood Tree? During the holiday we sell tons and tons of the cute, mini Christmas trees for our customers. What's fun about them is that they last so long and if someone you know doesn't have the room for a traditional full size tree, it's a nice way to help decorate their house. They also make wonderful centerpieces for the dining room or kitchen table. 

Take this one for example that Designer Holly made for a customer who wanted to send her husband a cute Anniversary arrangement, something that would last through the holiday season. Decorated with tiny cardinal birds, curly willow, cinnamon sticks, pine cones and red burlap ribbon ~ it has a very "woodsy" feel, perfect for a mans office, don't you think? Want to make your own Boxwood Tree? If you are in our area you can come to our Boxwood Tree Making Class but if not, with a few tips, you too can make an adorable tree like this. 

Here is what you'll need to get started: 

1. Floral Foam - 1 or 2 blocks depending on the tree size you wish to create 
2. A sharp knife and a scissor
3. Fresh Boxwood ~ either from your garden or a local florist can sell you some
4. Elements to dress up your tree such as pine cones, mini Christmas balls, glitter, ribbon, etc. 
5. A nice sturdy container to use as the base ~ be sure it's waterproof! 
6. Floral Tape - preferably green 
7. A few long picks or wooden dowels
8. Some short wooden picks with some thin wire

Here is how to construct your Boxwood Tree: 

1. Soak your floral foam and make sure it gets very saturated. 
2. Take the floral foam and place into the container you are using for your base. If you want a tall tree, add a second blog at the top. Remember you want the form to be somewhat of a tree shape so go wider on the bottom and more narrow to the top. You can easily take a knife & shape the foam a bit. 
3. Tape in your foam to be sure it's nice a secure in the container. Use the dowels to secure the top block into the bottom block. Placing them on a angle is a great way to get them nice and secure. Wiggle the blogs around in the container to be sure they are nice and secure. If they slide, re-tape and add more dowels to secure them. 
4. Taking tiny bits of boxwood, start creating your tree by starting at the bottom. Keeping scale and shape in mind add boxwood up the tree getting more and more narrow as you progress up the tree. This takes time and a bit of practice but once you start cutting your pieces and adding them to your floral foam form, you'll start seeing the "tree" take shape. Be sure to spin the "tree" around so that you don't get any flat spots. 
5. Once you have the "tree" is formed, start adding in your accents to decorate your tree. This is the part where you get to have fun. Choose elements that might fit a theme. Remember your tree might be small so make your decorations you add small to fit the scale of the tree. You can attach the decorations right to the "branches" or you can use short picks and wire to attach the elements together and sink them into the floral foam used to form the tree. 
6. Lastly, display in your home but remember that the floral foam is wet so be sure to put something down to protect the table or floor in your home. It might be nice to add a bit of water but for the most part the boxwood will stay fresh for weeks this way. 

If you want to skip right to step 5 above, many florists actually sell pre-greened boxwood trees (we do that here at our store) ready for your decorations.  There you have it! Make your very own Boxwood Tree.