I’m so excited to show you one of my latest DIY projects, a DIY olive tree topiary! Recently I spotted one at Target that was 29.99, and I was able to make my own olive tree topiary (the same size) for only $12. What?? It is such an affordable budget-friendly way to add some greenery and life into your home!
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This DIY project started coming to life when I was strolling the floral aisle at Walmart a couple weeks ago. I found some huge faux olive branches in the faux floral section for only $3 each! Such a great Walmart find! And these branches aren’t tiny, they are huge and are a great quality for the price. They are a steal at only $3 each – so I picked up 3 branches to make my DIY olive tree topiary.
Materials Needed:
- 3 faux olive branches (I found mine in-store at Walmart)
- 1 terra cotta pot (I found mine for $1.99 at the 99 cent store)
- 1 block of floral foam
- Hot glue gun & glue
- Floral tape
- Brown paint
- Small artist’s paintbrush
- Spanish Moss (available at Dollar Tree too!)
How to make a DIY olive tree topiary:
- You will start by gluing your floral foam block to the bottom of your terra cotta pot. Press down firmly for 1 minute until the glue has hardened.
- Gather your 3 stems together and place them into the floral foam, making sure they sink into the foam at least halfway down.
- Using your floral tape wrap up your stems together starting at the top, and tightly wrapping around the stems. Make sure to keep the tape taught and overlap as your wrap.
- If you’re using a floral tape that doesn’t match the color of your stems (I used a bright green, so I had to paint it to make it blend with the stem color), use some brown craft paint to paint the tape. Make sure to get your brush into any spaces or crevices of the tape to make sure you get good coverage.
- Add your Spanish moss to your terra-cotta pot. Pull apart the moss to spread it apart and “fluff” it up. It will separate a lot to fill up the space, so keep fluffing and pulling it apart to make it last!
- Now you can adjust the branches of the tree, bending them to create the shape you want. They of made of wires so they will bend, even if you need to use a little bit of force. I played with my branches for a few minutes to get a more “round” shape to make it look like an actual tree.
I left my terra-cotta pot in it’s natural state, as I like the natural color! You could also paint the pot a different color or even white-wash it (watering down some white acrylic paint) to give it a different look. This DIY olive tree topiary was so easy to make and looks beautiful against my white limewash brick fireplace! It also goes perfectly with my modern farmhouse style home.
I love that this piece of home decor can have a place in my home year round. Faux greenery brings so much life to a room! And this olive topiary requires no maintenance like real plants – that’s a win in my book!
Thank you for stopping by, friends! Blessings – Leslea
