Tutorial! - Miniature Tree Decoration - Pictures and VIDEO!

Hello everyone! Well, I took a break from making miniatures to create this really fun tutorial!

This tutorial is on how to make a miniature tree decoration. I can be altered to fit the scale you need, and also the occasion! Let's get to it!

Firstly, you need the following supplies:

∙ Sticks

∙Paint Supplies

∙Scissors

∙Scrap Polymer Clay

∙Miniature pots

∙Strong glue

Optional:

∙Coffee grounds

∙Potting Soil

Just head outside and find some small twigs and sticks. You are looking for sticks that, if you stood them upright, they would look like miniature trees! Try to find some that fit the mood of the tree you would like to make... For example a twig with a lot of little "branches" will look like more detail, whereas a bare twig might have a creepier feel.

You need to go through your sticks you found and make sure they are the right size you want. I wiped all of mine off with baby wipes to get all the dirt off.

Then you want to paint them! I painted mine black because I am using these for Halloween. You could paint them any color... maybe even coat them in glitter? You could paint them in glow-in-dark paint. The possibilities are endless!

Then you just need to prepare your pots. These will serve as the base for your trees. Some of them will be top-heavy so you might need to put a metal bolt or washer in the bottom of your pot for some weight. I didn't do this because I have some dollhouse putty that I just put on the bottom of the pot to keep it upright.

I am using a metal bucket and some small wooden pots I found at Hobby Lobby. Your pots need to be able to stand the heat of the oven in our later steps.

Fill the pot up about halfway with scrap polymer clay. You can use a specific color of clay if you would like, but I am going back later and covering the clay up.

Once you have the clay in the pot, stick your sticks in and then take them back out. Bake your pots at the recommended that is stated on your polymer clay package.

I actually numbered each tree and it's coordinating pot so that each hole I made would fit the tree perfectly.

Then you just take some strong glue, I believe I am using E6000, and glue your tree into place.

For the "potting soil" I mixed actual potting soil with some coffee grounds. I just like the look of it mixed, but you can come up with your own mixture if you would like.

Here is what it looks like all mixed up!

I used Aileen's Super Tacky Glue and glued the potting soil mixture in place. Once it dried I went back and kept building it up until it was mounded around the base of the tree. 

Here is what it looks like :)

And that is really all there is to it! Of course like I said before, this can easily be altered.

I went back and painted the pots to make them look old. If you are using wooden pots, you could do the same! Or even stain them!

I made a mixture of black, white, and plain trees. I will go back on the plain one and either varnish or stain it. 

This is a before and after of my black trees. I messily painted over it with white and it looks like bark!

Here is one of my completed trees!

If you would like to download this tutorial for free, here you go! I made up a single image of this entire post. Feel free to use this tutorial however you like, just don't copy my images, please!
Download here.

I also made a video for this tutorial. You can find it here. I added it to my new YouTube channel, abohemianbazaar. My video skills are NOT that great, I just wanted to make an alternative to the regular photos. My computer CRASHED LIKE A MILLION TIMES and then there are parts where it is messed up. PLUS the sound isn't working. Basically the video CRASHED AND BURNED, but I made it so feel free to check it out!

If you make any trees with this tutorial, I would love to see them! I might even share what you guys make!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

-Blake