Wait? that is a tomato cage? Really? Not all home “crafts” have to be homemade looking. Just upgrade the idea.

So I have this arbor in front of my garage, and apparently rampant, hungry, zombie deer herds roaming my front yard. Seems no matter what I planted in these planters, the mutant deer devour it. I love seeing them and their babies each spring, but nursery bought food is killing me!

So why not, make “fake” trees (can’t possibly taste good right?)

But problem is, the pre=made ones are up to a hundred bucks each, and if you want them 4 ft tall, even more.

Birth of an idea, why not make them, so I did.

In fact, I made two!

Supplies Needed:

I used 4 tomato cages (doubled up for more stability and tie on places)

Net lights ( 2 sets)

twinkle light 200 cot ( two sets)

Iced Pine garland (4 from Michael’s but they were bogo)

large pine garland 200 feet

zip ties

wire and wire cutters

So I had the garland from previous years. It was a really nice iced pine with pinecones already attached. Been keeping it in the garage looking for a new use for it because it proved to be “messy” the ice crystals kept falling off my shelves. seems like outdoor would work better.

I started by putting the two tomato cages on top of each other twisting them so I had more places to tie to. I used a piece of wire to secure the tops together into a pointy cone shape.

Next I added the net lights. Plain white, but you could do whatever style you like. Since I like a little twinkle outdoors, I also put a couple of strands of blinking ones over the net lights. I figured more the merrier!

So I started from the top down, since I thought if I ran out, the planter would hide the bottom, with the iced pine. Using zip ties to secure, I wound the garland around leaving some space. If you have enough “fancy” garland you could wrap it snugly. Once these were on, I went back from the top with the plain pine garland and continued to fill in the empty spaces with it. You can tie with the zip ties, and weave into the cage as well.

I put them into the planters, used some garden staples to secure them and a couple short shepherds hooks. They’re a little light, and the wind knocked them over a couple of times, but now they’re secure! Think the came out pretty realistic, I have spotted the “herd” checking them out. If they eat these, I give up!

Enjoy,

Debbie