The other day I was an at event and a reader approached me…..
….and we started talking.
Are you surprised?
I started telling a story (please tell me you are surprised again)….and laughing….
….and smiling and waving my hands and jingling my charm bracelet.
And right when I got to the part where I pulled off the foil wrapper…..another lady walked by…..listened for a moment…..and told me that in real life…
….I sounded just like my blog.
After she left…..the reader turned to me and said, ”She reads your blog, too? Really?….
……and I thought it was just you and me.” 🙂
Exactly.
So today it’s just you and me…..and a cup of coffee.
Or hot tea.
Or Diet Coke.
Or raisin bagel with homemade apple butter on it.
With a tutorial for chicken wire Christmas trees….
…..and a pinning party.
Did I mention how happy I am…..that today….on this glorious wonderful fall day….when you have a million things to do and a million places to be….
…..you took time for a coffee break. 🙂
How to Make a Chicken Wire Christmas Tree
Supplies:
chicken wire
wire cutters
needle nose pliers
pink spray paint
square block of wood
dowel rod
gloves
Step 1 Cut a square of chicken wire
Make sure you wear gloves because the chicken wire is sharp.
The square of wire will naturally roll into a cylinder.
I cut my pieces 12” square for the smaller tree and 18”square for the larger tree.
Use the border of the chicken wire for your base.
Step 2: Form into a cone
Wrap wire into a cone shape.
Part of the wire will overlap the back of the cone. Shape and then attach wire at a few key places.
Cut away the excess.
Step 3: Attach cone together
Shape wire into cone and attach loose ends together.
Continue shaping and tweaking and trimming wire until it resembles the cone shape you like.
Leave a small wire at the top to attach the tag to.
Step 4: Cut dowel and attach to base
The dowel is cut 3 inches longer than the tree.
Cut a square of wood and attach dowel to base with a screw.
Step 5: Spray paint dowels and attach tag
I spray painted the dowels hot pink.
Then I printed out Merry Christmas and attached it to the top of the tree.
Perch trees on the dowel stand for the finished project.
Seriously.
I love how these turned out.
They look farmhouse and contemporary all at the same time and perfect for a pink and silver and black Christmas at the gatehouse…..
…..and a little coffee talk. 🙂
And now I can’t wait to see all your projects!
So let’s party!
It’s super simple!
Just follow the Holiday Idea Exchange Pinterest Board….here….and then starting at 8:00pm CST…..each of us will be pinning your projects to the board!!
(total aside….the board is amazing and full of so many fun ideas)!
All of the party hosts and myself will be looking for pins you have pinned with the hash tag #HolidayIdeaExchange to pin to the board (to make sure we see it….just click tweet on the pin to tweet it out).
Anything you have created in the last 30 days is perfect….we want to see your fall projects….your Thanksgiving projects…..your Christmas projects….all your incredible inspiration!
Please note that to make sure to include everyone’s projects….we can only repin 5 projects from each blogger.
Make sure to e-mail me if you have any questions or don’t see your pin and you may want to follow along with the other hosts of the party:
Four Generations One Roof | Nest of Posies | No. 2 Pencil | Positively Splendid | Simple As That | SNAP |Tatertots and Jello | TidyMom | Two Twenty One
Let’s get this party started!!!!
This is probably a really dumb question, but here goes..... If a girl lives in the city, where might she go to find chicken wire? Would Home Depot or Lowes have it? Maybe in the gardening section?
Yes. Home Depot has it in the back with the fertilizer and wheelbarrows. They come wrapped in plastic, between 18-24" wide (can't remember) &run about $10-15.
It was just you and me... and a glass of wine, Miss KariAnne. These are beautiful! You have a way with chicken wire like no one I've ever seen. :)
These chicken wire trees are delightful, and I do appreciate your writing style. I always want to return to blogs where I feel embraced by the blogger, like here, whereas some other blogs with brilliant ideas but less warm writing styles are harder to stick with. Thanks for making this a wonderful place to stick around. :)
You are so creative! Never in a million years would I have thought of this....so cute and very clever my little Thistle. :)
Haha!! I thought it was just you and me with pumpkin spice lattes KariAnne!!! Love your christmas trees!! They will look perfect in your gatehouse!!
I'd love to run into you and chit-chat for a while!
These are awesome....as is everything you do..... :-)
Am I surprised? Nope! Super cute!!! I've made a chicken wire cloche before, ONCE and only once. It turned out cute but I looked like I got into a fight with Edward Scissorhands. Love your project and I have to tell you, I am actually using the silver I bought from you at Chapel Market. My boys LOVE it. One of the twins has his "favorite" because it's shiny and pretty. :)
you always think of the most creative ideas KariAnne!!!thanks for sharing it with ME! ;)
Very clever! You always amaze me!
Oh Karianne - these are adorable!! And as always, the story is hysterical! Oh, how I look forward to our early morning meetings like this!! Thank you for making me smile!! Big Hugs!! ~Jennifer
I chatted with you at The Chapel Market and was thrilled to find that you are the same warm, bu bbly person face to face. sigh. I should have known. You are a joy to follow.
You tell stories? How long have you been doing that? And I'm not alone? There are other people with coffee? Well.....I don't know what to say...I thought.... Really cute trees! ;)
This is sort of freaky... my husband just brought in some chicken wire to me for a project today, and I am eating raisin toast. I did not put homemade apple butter on it, but I do have some and could have.
How adorable and with chicken wire no less!! I always start out my mornings with you and a very strong cup of coffee, just you and me and a zillion others:) I'm glad you share!
Fun idea! I'm thinking red for my house this year! :) xo, S
I'm going to suggest this to my sister who raises chickens! It looks like a whimsical way to interpret the tradition, XOXO
Very clever ...
Wow, what a great idea. I love your blog - it's inspiring.
I thought it was just you and ME! The two Karis. There are others? Oh. You mean those other people on the post that write to you. Oh. Just those, right? No one else but YOU and ME and THOSE other people. No one else in the world, right? Whew! (sigh) I was a little nervous there that I had lost you to like, well, the whole internet or something. (black coffee) I know it's after 3 in the afternoon, but I'm pretending I'm having tea with the Queen. :0) Queen Kari Anne. You're everyone's best friend, KariAnne! That's why we all love you so much and why you have so many followers, including those that just read and don't write. That little light you have -- you make it shine!! Your other best friend, Kari
These are so cute! A variation - add a few little ornaments to the wire - r lights.
Charlie Brown would love this tree...me too!
Cool idea and one I think I could handle.....thanks for sharing such a cute idea.
Since I am such a klutz and would probably cut my fingers off and even though I updated my tetanus shot yesterday I notice that you have two trees, so I will be right over, after my coffee, to pick one up. (Boy, talk about a run on sentence) Love the trees xo Laura
Oh I love them. I am late in reading once again..... sigh.