Pottery Barn- Inspired Potted Pines

Once I saw the potted pines in this Pottery Barn picture,

I knew I would have to make some. So I did.

I made them before Thanksgiving and since then have seen a few tutorials for making pine tree topiaries that are much more complicated. Mine are disposable but super-easy and practically free! In Oregon there are ten million pine trees per neighborhood block (approximately) and therefore I certainly couldn't see actually buying pine (or fake-pine) from a store. Besides, haven't you noticed how the tips of pine tree branches are shaped just like the tops? There's a mini-tree waiting to be cut from the edge of every branch!

Step one: snip off some tree-branch tips. Step two: Make sure to keep them high above the realm of grabby reach-y chubby one-year-old hands.

I bought tiny terra cotta pots for less than a dollar, and to keep them natural-looking but a bit more interesting I lightly dusted them with white spray paint. If you hold the paint nozzle down gently, slightly bigger blobs of paint come out than the regular fine mist.

I hot-glued some dollar-store twine just under the lip and affixed a twine bow. Then I stuffed some floral foam inside (Four chunks for a dollar from The Dollar Tree).

I stripped off the shoots and needles from the bottom part of the branch,

and stuffed it in the foam!

With a little dollar-store Spanish moss to hide the foam, it was complete. So cheap. So easy. Just the kind of project I like. :)