Topiaries are so beautiful and just perfect to use in many different situations. A pair of topiaries can flank your front door, a single topiary can add a little greenery to a kitchen, or a few topiaries can add a lovely element to a garden. But those topiaries are trees. For Christmas, try making a topiary of lights. When you make a ball of lights you can use it to create a substantial Christmas decoration, inside or out. And your topiary can be a centerpiece, a decoration beside your front door, a garden accent, or anything from your own imagination.
Some women shy away from certain crafts, like those that require you to use power tools. They think such a craft is too hard for them. The same might be true of using certain materials. Many women, for example, think they’re not strong enough to bend wire, so they don’t take on projects requiring them to work with wire. But when you make a Christmas topiary – using wire – you’ll find it oh, so simple to do.
Purchase wire that bends easily yet holds its shape. Wire is sold on a spool, with a listed “gauge”, and that’s how you determine how tough it is. If you need help, just ask a clerk at a large home improvement store to assist you in finding an appropriate gauge of wire. Most wire rolls allow you to feel and even bend the end of the wire to check how pliable it is.
Using heavy gloves, begin wrapping the wire into a ball shape. The wire should be really easy to bend yet sturdy. Continue wrapping, this way and that, until you create a large ball. The wire shouldn’t be wrapped tightly; there should be many open spaces between the wires. Bend the end of the wire over another wire, using needle nose pliers, if needed, to end. Or, tape the end to secure.
Take a long strand of Christmas lights and begin wrapping them around the ball, this way and that, in no particular order or pattern. The best lights are white lights on a white cord. As you wrap them around the ball, use bread ties, or tiny pieces of very pliable wire, to attach the lights. If you have no tiny wire pieces you can also use duct tape, available in white.
After the ball of wire is surrounded by a ball of lights, you just have to decide where you want to display it. The ball will become a lighted topiary when you set it on a birdbath, or in a garden urn. Or, use it as a centerpiece when you set it on a plate in the middle of the table. The Christmas topiary is a substantial decorator piece that is also cheap and easy to create.
Christmas Light Topiary