DIY Faux Tree - Get the Look for Much Less

This is a guest post by Brooke Knuth, our Affiliate Marketing Manager.

I've been on the hunt for a larger faux tree for our living room for a while now. The space is mixed with things we brought with us from our apartment and is still coming together. We had a narrow faux olive tree we moved with that just didn't fit the space. Most of the the faux trees I loved were thousands of dollars. Literally. I considered a real tree, but I know myself and it would be destined to die. I remembered seeing Jenna Sue Design post about making one out of an old faux tree and a real branch and it inspired me to make my own.

Sofa | Rug | Ottoman | Flush Mount | Bowl | Chair | Floor Lamp

I've seen different ways to do this all over Pinterest, but here's what I did!

Find an old faux tree

I got lucky and found a faux tree with similar maple leaves to the one I loved on Facebook Marketplace for $110. See the before pics here! It was only 5' tall, but I could tell there were a lot of stems to work with.

Cut a large branch from outside

We just cut a branch from a tree in our yard, which will act as our new "tree." I specifically chose one that branches out, rather than just one straight trunk. Pro tip: measure before you cut to make sure it's going to fit in your space. We cut it off the tree with  height to spare so I could size it specifically for the room. Luckily there weren't any leaves on that tree at the time so that made for one less step! Otherwise pull off all the leaves, just leaving the branches.

Set the branch in concrete

We mixed up some fast set concrete in a 5 gallon bucket and scooped some into a small plastic pot surrounding the branch. Per its name, it sets pretty quick so I just set up a chair next to it and held it up for about 30 minutes.

Pull off the stems from the faux tree

While the new tree was curing in the concrete (probably for another hour or so), I pulled off all the little stems from the old, faux tree. The stems on mine pulled right out with little force, but you may need to use wire cutters if they won't budge.

Trim down your new tree base

I trimmed the top of the branch down a bit with some clippers. The tree ended up being around 90" tall with 9' ceilings for comparison. I cut off all of the little stems as well, only leaving the thicker branches. It's more of a personal preference, but the faux ones filled mine plenty.

Drill holes for your faux stems

I used an impact drill with a 1/8th drill bit to drill holes in the tree base to stick the faux stems in. I tried to drill at an angle so the stems would sit in better and angle upwards. Honestly, most of the time I drilled right through the branch to the other side, but you can't tell haha. Just drill a hole, stick a faux stem in, and keep going until you like it!

Towards the end I learned it does help to use the wire strippers on the end of the faux stems to expose the wire a little more. This helps them go into the tree a bit easier!

The stems on mine stayed pretty good with just drilling, but you could also hot glue if you want them extra secure.

Add a decorative pot and moss for the full effect

I loved the shape of this cutie planter and added in some sheet moss that really brought it home. The whole thing probably took around 4 hours from start to finish! I may have my eye on another one for our home office ;)

Everything you need!

Faux tree
Real tree branch for your base
Fast Set Concrete
5 Gallon Bucket
Small Plastic Pot
Pruning Clippers
Impact Drill
Drill Bit (I used the 1/8th bit)
Wire Strippers/Cutters
Decorative Planter
Sheet Moss

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