SUPPLIES: –tomato cages (2) –planter pots or urns (2) –bolt cutters (I’m not sure what else there is out there that can chop these super thick tomato cages but if y’all have suggestions, I’m all ears. These bolt cutters were easy to work with though, surprisingly. Rob had them in our garage from his mechanic days.) –Christmas light strands (2) –fall leaf garland (I used a total of 8 strands of garland — 4 on each topiary — my topiaries measure roughly 32″ tall from the top of the topiary to the top of the planter.) Not pictured: -rubberbands (2)
STEP 1: Snip tomato cages First, I decided about how tall I wanted my topiaries to be and snipped my tomato cages using bolt cutters.
STEP 2: Place tomato cages on planters Then, I positioned my tomato cages on the planters — you’ll want to flip your tomato cage upside down to do this. If you want extra security, you can try hot gluing them, but mine fit on there fairly snug.
STEP 3: Tie top with rubber band Next, I took a rubber band and tied the top of my tomato cage together — you can do this step with a zip-tie, bread-tie, or anything else that will keep the ends held together.
STEP 4: Wrap garland Once my tomato cage was set, I started at the top and wrapped my fall leaf garland around it. Once you get to the end of a strand of garland, take the little plastic end and loop it back onto the garland to hold it in place. Again, if you want to use zip-ties or bread-ties, feel free. Repeat until you reach the end. I was able to make my topiaries look full with just 4 garlands each.
STEP 5: Wrap lights Finally, I grabbed some Christmas lights I had on hand and wrapped one strand around each topiary. You can manipulate the leaves to hide the light strands — I found it easier to rotate the topiary around while I held the lights instead of me going around the topiary and wrapping the lights. I went back and pulled any leaves forward that could hide the green cord.
Aren’t they pretty?! I am absolutely going to keep these up until Christmas –then I can always easily take the fall leaf garland off, replace it with Christmas greenery or some other sort of Christmas garland, and throw the lights back on them. My family and I switch off every year of them coming here to NY or us going down south, so this year is mine, Rob and Bo’s year to travel which means we won’t be getting a tree, however, these little beauties will be perfect for Bo to still be able to decorate! …Now let’s hope they stay this way without him trying to knock them down and mess with t