I love a craft that starts with expensive and ends with $1.

Yep.

ONE DOLLAR.

Oh, wait. I forgot about the tax. In the spirit of completely accurate accounting, let me correct my previous statement.

ONE DOLLAR AND EIGHT CENTS.

That’s what it cost me to make this DIY twig vase that was inspired by a much pricier option I saw in a local boutique.

And then?

I made a garland to match for under three dollars.

That’s right. Valentine’s decor for less than the cost of lunch.

2021 is looking bright.

And affordable. 🙂

DIY Wood Twig Vase

Step 1: Start a glass vase

I found this vase at Dollar Tree for a dollar.

For size reference, it’s about 12″ tall.

(total aside: you might want to pick up a couple extra while you’re there because these are the perfect size vases for all the other holidays, too.)

You might already have a vase like this in the depths of one of your cabinets.

Pull it out and dust it off. And now? Your Valentine’s craft is FREE.

Step 2: Shop your yard for twigs

These are twigs that just fell down from our trees and were sitting in the yard collecting grass.

So technically, it’s like doing yard work and Valentine crafts all at the same time.

You’ll need about 20 twigs for this vase. You want a variety of smaller and larger twigs for the project.

Spray paint them white.

Step 3: Measure and glue

You want your twigs to be slightly taller than the height of your vase.

I just snapped them to the right height.

Add hot glue to the twigs and glue a base layer of twigs to the vase.

Here are a few tips for gluing:

  1. Place the twig against the vase so you know where to add the glue. Sticks aren’t straight and the entire stick won’t be against the glass.
  2. Make sure to leave space when you are gluing the first layer of twigs.
  3. Vary larger and smaller twigs around the vase.
  4. The twigs don’t need to be the same height. A little variation at the top is good.

Step 4: Keep gluing

Keep adding twigs and gluing them to the vase.

After the first layer is finished?

Go back and add in a second layer. Depending on the amount of space between the twigs, you may need to glue the twigs to each other instead of the vase.

Step 5: Add half twigs

After you glue all the twigs, there may still be some places where you can see gaps.

Break the twigs in half and glue them in the gaps.

Adding smaller twigs like this allows you to completely cover the vase.

And now?

Here’s the finished vase filled with tulips.

But I wasn’t finished.

As if one almost free Valentine’s craft wasn’t enough?

See that garland on the wall behind the vase?

I made it from twine and stickers.

Yep.

If you follow me on Instagram, I showed you the entire step-by-step.

All I did was take two matching sized hearts and stick them together front to back on the twine.

Then add another heart every four inches until you have the length of the garland that you want.

See what I mean?

A Valentine’s craft that starts with expensive and ends with $1.

And it’s ALMOST the weekend.

It’s time to start celebrating. Isn’t life amazing?

You got this friend. 🙂

Want to know how to decorate your home for free?
Click here to get my FIVE BEST secrets.

Posted On: February 4, 2021

Written By: KariAnne Wood

Comments

  1. Image for LORRI LORRI

    Ok Karianne..I got to say the garland is so stinking cute...😻 and why did I not think of this one.. I love decorating for Valentines..I even decorate outside with hearts. Thank you.. oh btw I made one of yr wreaths made out of twigs.. I keep it out all year...love it.❤

    Reply
  2. Image for Caroline Caroline

    So cute - as usual! Gathering twigs this afternoon and will leave them natural. Thank you for such an easy, useful idea 🌳 🌳 🌳

    Reply
  4. Image for Lyn Lyn

    So cute. I made two of the twig wreaths this year and gave one to our daughter. I might give the vase a try. Here's a laugh, our wonderful next door neighbor called me this past fall and asked me if my husband had found what he was searching for in the back yard of our home. I laughed - had to explain he was looking through the woods for twigs for wreaths! He replied "well, all righty"!!

    Reply
  8. Image for patricia patricia

    I've done this with driftwood ... I live near the coast so driftwood is available. Twigs are a great option for the landlocked. I've thought about doing a twig vase with unpainted twigs too. Or someone with a lot of little pinecones can use that as an option. Possibilities!

    Reply
  13. Image for MARY-ANN (FROM CANADA!) MARY-ANN (FROM CANADA!)

    Such a cute vase and garland, KariAnne! You always bring us so many cute ideas! Once the snow goes, I'm going to go and gather some twigs from our birch trees on our property and then I'll make this vase! Thanks, again, for the great idea. You are just amazing with all these great crafts you bring us!

    Reply
  20. Image for Lisa Lisa

    Very cute. I adore white birch! What a great centerpiece idea. There are lots of seasonal possibilities... Frosted twigs and pinecones for winter, magnolia and pine sprigs, etc. I do want to mention that hot glue is very temporary when it comes to glass. I think I would use E6000 but leave a couple spots for hot glue to hold it in place as it sets up.

    Reply

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