Make A Thanksgiving Topiary

An Elegant Decoration for Your Thanksgiving Table

Oct 15, 2009 Stefanie Gabrych Fraser

Decorate your Thanksgiving table this year with a very elegant and easy-to-make dried topiary.

Made of seasonal dried pomegranates and other dried floral material, it takes only an hour to make this beautiful topiary, but it will last for a long time if you are using dried materials. Handsome as centerpieces, these topiaries are equally charming in the kitchen, dining room, hallway, or anywhere you need an elegant touch.

You can also use fresh fruit such as apples, grapes, pears, oranges, lemons, limes or kumquats to create a fresh fruit tree using the same method as for the dried topiary. You can purchase the materials at any craft or floral shop or you can dry your own pomegranates and only purchase the other material that you need.

Materials

  • Florist's foam cone or discarded packing Styrofoam
  • Wooden bamboo skewers
  • 14 dried pomegranates
  • 10 dried poppy heads
  • Dried yarrow, peppers berries
  • Boxwood or lemon leaves
  • Shallow bowl
  • White craft glue
  • Hair spray (optional)

Instructions

NOTE: You can substitute fresh fruit and/or flowers for all the dried fruit and plants used here)

Discarded Styrofoam or florist's foam cone (height depends on what size tree you want to make; our cone height was 14")

  1. If you are making your own cone base, use a serrated knife to sculpt a rough cone shape from discarded Styrofoam. The cone doesn’t need to be perfect as it will be entirely covered.
  2. Put a bit of white glue at the bottom of the flat dish or container you will be using for the base and place your foam cone firmly in the center of the plate. This will prevent the cone from moving when the glue has dried.
  3. Pierce each pomegranate with a bamboo skewer. Start at the base of the foam cone and fix each pomegranate to the cone. Work your way up by spacing each dried pomegranate evenly around the cone.
  4. Next fill in the spaces around and between the rows of pomegranates with the yarrow, poppy heads, pepper berries and leaves, making sure that none of the cone shows through.

Drying Your Own Pomegranates

The easiest way to do this at home is with a food dehydrator. Keep the temperature low (below 120°F) and check the progress periodically. The time this process takes depends on the humidity...

But if you don’t have a dehydrator, you can use sand to dry your fruit.

Here's how:

  1. Half fill a shoe box or other similar container with fresh, clean sand purchased from a hardware or building supply store.
  2. Gently push each pomegranate into sand. They should not be touching.
  3. Fill the box with more sand completely covering the fruit. Place lid on box and tape shut. Place in a cool, dry spot and leave a week.
  4. When a week is up, check on the fruit. If still not dry, leave for a few more days. When completely dry, remove from sand and use as you wish. You can reuse the sand again.

Visit my autumn decorating articles for more Thanksgiving decorating projects and decorations.

The copyright of the article Make A Thanksgiving Topiary in Green/Simple Living is owned by Stefanie Gabrych Fraser. Permission to republish Make A Thanksgiving Topiary in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
Elegant Thanksgiving Pomegranate Topiary, Stefanie Gabrych Fraser
Elegant Thanksgiving Pomegranate Topiary
    
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