I’ve been trying to figure out how to decorate the massive planter on our front porch for Christmas for a while now. We can’t move the planter because it weighs a ton on its own and we filled it with rocks and dirt so it’s at least 300 pounds. So I had to come up with a way to use it in our outside Christmas decor. Enter the tomato cage Christmas tree.
Here’s what you’ll need.
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| 1 tomato cage, 1 strand of 100 lights*, 3 strands of 9 foot garland*, zip ties |
I started by attaching my strand of lights to my garland with zip ties. You don’t have to do this, I figured it would help disperse the lights evenly.
I used 1 strand of lights on 2 strands of garland.
*I miscalculated how much garland I needed. I could have used 4 strands instead of 3 for more coverage. So I if you want full coverage go with 4 strands of garland and 2 strands of lights. Because I miscalculated, I used 3 strands of garland, 1 strand of 100 lights, and 1 strand of 50 lights. Whew. I hope you got all of that.
I used pliers to bend the stakes of the tomato cage together to form a point. I secured the point with a zip tie.
I started at the bottom (well, actually the top) of the tomato cage and started wrapping upward. I secured the garland to the cage by wrapping pieces of the garland onto the cage.
Keep wrapping the garland around the cage until you get to the top.
I shifted the garland slightly up on the cage because I put the bottom section into the soil in the planter. To secure the tree from blowing over, I used some extra landscaping bricks and covered them with soil. I added a bow and some poinsettias to the tree to give it some pizzazz.
This project took about an hour from start to finish.
Here’s the breakdown of my costs:
tomato cage: free
garland: $9 (Black Friday find at JoAnn)
lights: $2.50 (Walmart)
zip ties: free (thanks, honey!)
bow: $2.50 (JoAnn)
poinsettias: free (leftover from last Christmas)
GRAND TOTAL: $14
We hope to get all of our outside Christmas lights up this week. I’ll be sure to share photos with you once we get them up.
Want to learn how to make 3 different tomato cage Christmas trees in varying heights by using 3 tomato cages of the same size? Check out my tutorial here!
{twenty}something says
November 29, 2011 at 1:04 AMTwins!! This is too funny. I had 2 HUGE tomato cages in my living room floor yesterday that I was going to do this craft on until I went into the basement for supplies and found where I had bought 3 pop up, pre lit Christmas trees on clearance last year! I put those suckers up instead, but yours looks great. I LOVE that bow on top! Well done 🙂
Gabriela says
October 3, 2016 at 11:06 AMSorry but how long the tomato cage measure? thanks.
Gary says
October 28, 2016 at 9:27 PMI use 54 inch high tomato cages.
smalltownbigwardrobe says
November 29, 2011 at 1:04 AMI love it!! Way to utilize something you can’t change (or move in this case). And for it not to cost very much – gosh, what a deal!! I may be trying this myself…
bluenoselife.com says
November 29, 2011 at 1:41 AMThis looks amazing! Great job!!
DecorandtheDog says
November 29, 2011 at 3:51 AMI saw this on Pinterest. I like when people I “know” tackle these things though. Looks fantastico!
Caitlin at the Desert Domicile says
November 29, 2011 at 4:50 AMSo cute! I love the poinsettia and bow you added as well. Great job! 🙂
Youaretalkingtoomuch.com says
November 29, 2011 at 12:49 PMI had heard about tomato cage trees! This turned out great! I am so glad I found you through Tip Junkies party! I would love for my readers to meet you. My “Meet Me Monday” party is still going on if you would like to share this project or another! I plan to browse around either way! Thanks! Love, Me http://youaretalkingtoomuch.blogspot.com/2011/11/meet-me-monday-13.html
the girl in the red shoes says
November 29, 2011 at 2:53 PMI love it! Such a cute idea…yours turned out great!
Sara says
November 29, 2011 at 6:27 PMSo pretty! Would LOVE it if you would link this up at my turquoise lovin’ party going on right now!! (and red during the holidays!) http://www.sweetlittlegals.com/2011/11/turquoise-lovin-15.html
Rachel says
November 29, 2011 at 9:34 PMHow cute! I wanted to do the same thing, but didn’t know where I could find tomato cages at the end of November (granted, I didn’t even look, so it wasn’t a very big effort . . . ). It looks so great!
Patty says
November 29, 2017 at 12:36 PMI found some at Ace Hardware. The big building supply stores didn’t have them.
the cape on the corner says
November 30, 2011 at 2:09 PMlove that! i’d seen that on pinterest too…if only i had a porch or entrance to do that. there’s no room by my front door. love the sparkle and the pointsettias.
Patty says
November 29, 2017 at 12:39 PMMy daughter is in a small apartment and won’t be there for Christmas so I made one for her to enjoy and get in the spirit.
CraftyGardenMom - Tanesha says
November 30, 2011 at 3:28 PMLOVE this idea! Isn’t Pinterest the best? I am definitely going to give this a try. Thanks for sharing!
So Domesticated says
November 30, 2011 at 10:59 PMI love this… so thrifty and so adorable!
Jessica @ O. Alouette says
December 1, 2011 at 4:41 PMSuch a clever idea! It turned out great!
Sue Frazier says
December 1, 2011 at 9:52 PMwhat a great idea! thanks for sharing! visiting from transformation thursday 🙂
FrouFrouBritches says
December 1, 2011 at 11:59 PMOh my gracious! That is like brillian smart! So stinkin’ cute! I love it!
Catherine @ Cat on a Limb says
December 2, 2011 at 3:47 AMGreat idea! Definitely easier on the pocketbook than buying the ready-made ones!
Kerryanne English says
December 2, 2011 at 6:07 AMWhat a fantastic idea!
I’d love for you to share this project over at my Inspiration Party at Simply Christmas ~ http://shabbyartboutique.blogspot.com/2011/12/inspiration-friday.html
EvA. . . says
December 2, 2011 at 6:30 AMso so pretty! would’ve never thought of doing that! very creative 🙂 happy new follower!
Reflections from Granny says
December 2, 2011 at 7:13 AMWhat a clever idea, perfect project as I have everything needed already, thank you for the inspiration.
🙂 Lori m
OhioMomPatriot says
December 2, 2011 at 12:05 PMI love the lights! We did this last year with tinsel garland and held the cage down with tent stakes in the front flowerbed. It has rained so much in the last week, I can’t even get to the shed to start decorating…so I am very jealous of you…LOL. Thanks for sharing!
Lindsey Johnson says
December 2, 2011 at 6:23 PMI wish I would have seen this before I hung up all of my garlands. 🙂 Maybe I’ll have to go buy a few more. I think it’s darling!
I would love you to submit this to the Make and Takes spotlight page–http://www.makeandtakes.com/spotlight
Shelia says
December 3, 2011 at 1:28 AMThis is the cutest thing! Thanks for the tutorial. I’ve heard about these tomato cage Christmas trees and thought how fun it would be to make one, but the thought just stayed in my head! 😉 What a welcoming sight to your guests!
be a sweetie,
Shelia 🙂
Allison @ House of Hepworths says
December 3, 2011 at 4:16 AMYou’ve been featured over at House of Hepworths!
Congrats!
Sue D. says
November 3, 2012 at 10:54 AMGreat idea. It is so easy, I hope to do more than one and put a couple on my patio for my back yard neighbors to enjoy.
Brenda says
November 8, 2012 at 8:02 PMGather my things up to make my Tomato Cage Trees. Grandson and I will be making them this weekend! Such a cute idea! Thanks for sharing
Lisa says
November 19, 2012 at 9:13 PMThank you so much for sharing this!!! I ran to the store and bought the supplies! I am going to be doing a craft show selling ornaments and was ALL over the internet trying to find ideas! Yours trees are perfect!!! I plan on talking about it on my blog, I will link you so others can come see the tutorial you have! I told my husband it was money well spent because not only can I use it for the show, but for us too here at the house! Thanks again!
Barbara A Large' says
November 26, 2012 at 10:22 PMI used the tomato cage, covering it with 150 white mini lights, covering it with 80′ of white/silver garland and hung 40 each mini balls in purple and hot pink. This was very pretty (and different) if you wanted something other than the traditional tree.
Linda says
September 26, 2013 at 2:02 AMI bought these artificial trees that came in urns a few years back – they were already pre-lit but I had the worse time keeping them from blowing over. Last year I thought I would put sand in the urn and OMG what a mess it made – the trees are heavier than the urn even with sand. But maybe bricks of some sort would help keep them from blowing over – not sure – but they look really nice when they can stand up straight – ha!! Thanks for sharing your idea – love it!!
Linda
Ashley says
November 13, 2013 at 4:10 PMi love this! i might have to make it for our stoop this year.. i’ll let you know how it turns out. – ash
Lauren says
November 13, 2013 at 5:18 PMI love this idea! I have a big planter that I want to repurpose (it was a flower tower that I made over the summer) and I think it would be great to use it to make a mini tree for my home’s front porch. Great idea! Thanks so much for posting.
Leslie says
December 9, 2013 at 9:40 PMThis is gorgeous! If it wasn’t a few weeks before Christmas I would make one for my front deck. I found this pin on Pinterest and i’m a new follower through Pinterest, Twitter, & Bloglovin.
Pam says
December 6, 2014 at 8:40 AMWhen you say 4 “strands” of garland and 2 “strands” of lights, how many feet are we talking about? Garland and lights come in different lengths. Thanks!
Althea says
January 4, 2015 at 9:41 PMMy Mom did something like this many years ago , only she used chicken wire and hung it upside down in the corner of the living room to keep the little ones from pulling it over . looked good and worked very well as it was in a mobile home !
Althea says
January 4, 2015 at 9:44 PMMy Mom did this years ago In her mobile home because of limited space and to keep kids from knocking it over , she used chicken wire and hung the tree upside down in the corner of the ceiling. But this cage seems a little easier ! thank you !
Nelda says
November 1, 2015 at 11:44 PMBy the time I’m done making 3 of these i’m going to have 3 Christmas trees in my front yard. One will be green..one will be red. then with the leftovers from those 2 I’ll do the 3rd..then add lights.
Victoria says
November 23, 2015 at 8:48 PMHi and thank you for this idea
I wanted to ask your opinion maybe idea
My family is on a tight budget because I’ve been unable to work due to surgeries and taking care of my Mother In Law
But I’m wanting a Christmas tree that’s not expensive
I know I can get garland and decorations at the dollar tree but I was thinking maybe I could use your idea inside and use a couple tomato planters? What’s your thoughts ideas?
Please and Thank you
Victoria Nicole
Chelsea @ two twenty one says
November 23, 2015 at 9:01 PMInstead of a big Christmas tree? You could. But I know Walmart has some pretty inexpensive Christmas trees– I saw a 6.5 ft pre-lit tree for $40, and they might have some cheaper than that on Black Friday.
Pat says
December 23, 2017 at 1:22 AMI covered my tomato cages with strands of lights and we decorate the yard with them!
Everyone loves them and they look so Christmasy!