How to make a simple Easter tree using wire and tissue paper

I've been eyeing up Easter trees for a couple of years now. Something that I've only come across recently (with Pinterest to blame once again!), Easter trees are a way of displaying hanging Easter decorations, and usually take the form of a painted white branch, or wires formed into the shape of a simple tree. This year I almost considered poppping down to Hobbycraft and purchasing one, but when I discovered that prices started at £20 I thought that there had to be a way that I could make one myself.

The obvious Easter Tree DIY is to just find a suitable branch and paint it white, but I feel a bit uncomfortable at the idea of wandering around in woodland armed with a saw, so I decided to use some thick wire that I had on hand to fashion my own tree branches.

Here's how I made my tree:

Materials:

Small flowerpot and a saucer, terracotta works best as it's heavy and will be sturdier
Thick wire - I used thick florist aluminium wire which is very soft and easy to bend and cut. You could also use the wire from wire coat hangers
Play doh or florist foam
Tape
White or cream tissue paper
Plenty of PVA white glue
White paint
Raffia, shredded paper, ribbon and so on to decorate the flowerpot
Decorations to hang from the branches

Instructions:

Cut about twelve lengths of wire, I cut four each of three slightly different lengths. My longest length was about five times the height of the flower pot. Tape all the lengths together firmly at the bottom.

Fill the flowerpot up with old play dough or florist foam and push the taped together end of the wire bundle in firmly. I discovered that it's a good idea to use a neutral coloured play dough if you can! Glue the flowerpot into the saucer with plenty of glue.

Then shape the branches of your tree. You might need to play around with the design for a while until you achieve something that you are happy with. My tree has three main branches coming up from the centre, and I've twisted the wires around to make shorter and longer branches which hang at different heights. I've also made the Easter tree with the plan of hanging small ornaments in mind, so the branches are looped with shallow hooks to hang things from.

Then cover the wire branches with tissue paper. I cut long strips of tissue paper, covered them in white PVA glue, and wrapped them around the wires, making sure to completely cover the sharp ends at the top of the branches. When the tree was all covered I added an extra layer of glue and also some glue on top of the play dough, just to make sure that it all held in place.

Then paint the tree white. I used white gloss paint and it needed two coats. Make sure to cover your work surface while painting and drying to protect from drips, and keep an eye on the tree as it dries to make sure that there aren't any drips hanging down from the branches.

When it was all dry I decorated the flower pot. I put plenty of glue into the top of the flowerpot and filled it up with cut up pieces of raffia. Then I found some pretty ribbon to glue around the rim. I tried to keep it neutral so that it doesn't detract from the decorations, and I can use it with different colour schemes. I was so pleased that I was able to make this tree entirely with materials that I already had on hand, and I'm really proud of it!

The decorations currently on the tree were ones that I received as part of an Easter crafting project from The Works, and I have plenty of ideas for making our own decorations now that we have somewhere nice to display them.

If you don't want your Easter Tree to sit in a cupboard for the rest of the year, you can easily re-theme it. I turned ours into a Halloween Tree, and you could also use it at Christmas, perhaps as an Advent calendar with hanging pockets.