It’s that time of year again when not only the real world springs to life with soft candy floss pink Cherry Blossom, but also Instagram is awash with it. The only problem is, if you manage to forage a little of the real thing and bring it inside, it only lasts a short while. Within days you’ll have a carpet of petals. So, here’s my quick fix for creating your own faux cherry blossom branch that you can use all year round.
I had a wonderful Faux Cherry Blossom Branch in my last house on my @jpslifeandloves account. His name was Luca and my goodness, he knew how to show off. Unfortunately, he was laid to rest in branch heaven when we sold our house last year. While, we are in a transition period between houses, I’ve decided to make a smaller version using white blossom this time and he’ll be called Chad. He’s a bit of a Varsity dude, but he does have a softer side.
What You Will Need:
- A branch (obvs). This is the real deal, so go forth my friends and forage for your lives! Take a good pair of secateurs or loppers with you. Please try not to take anything about to come into bud or bloom, you preferably want a dead branch. If you can, look for a branch that has already fallen off a tree. Woodlands are great places for finding fallen branches.
- Faux Cherry Blossom – white or pink. I found a string of the pretty blooms on Amazon.
- A Glue Gun and Glue Sticks. I use one which is cordless by Bosch.
- Thin gloves to protect your hands from the hot glue.
- Patience and a little time.
- Clear Plastic Fishing Line to invisibly attach your branch to a ceiling.
Step By Step Guide:
- Clear a flat clean surface, such as a kitchen worktop or dining table. Choose a space that fits the branch you have found.
- Make sure you have everything in place and if your glue gun is cordless then make sure you have charged the battery overnight.
- The Faux Cherry Blossom flowers will be attached to a plastic string when they arrive. Detach all the flowers from the string, keeping the stalks attached to the blooms.
- Along your branch you will see nodes, buds or growths where leaves or flowers would have grown. The idea is to make this look as real as possible, so you should glue the flowers where they would naturally form on the branch. Take a look at a few photos of the real thing and take note where you see flowers blooming on a stem or branch. Gardeners will know this intuitively.
- Place a glue stick inside your glue gun and turn it on. Wait a few minutes.
- Put your gloves on, that stuff is hot! Yes, I know the photo shows me with no gloves, but I have asbestos hands!
- Then begin to glue each flower from the stalk one at a time to the ends of the branches. You will need to hold each flower in place for a minute or two (I did say you needed patience!). Blow around the glue to make it dry faster.
- Try to glue them so that they face outwards away from the branch. You don’t want the overall effect to look like your blossom is drooping – nothing worse than droopy blossom!
- Keep going! Take a break or two as Luca took me hours to do.
- Once you are finished it’s just a case of deciding where to display your branch.
Displaying Your Faux Cherry Blossom Branch.
Luca was placed above our kitchen island using the pendant light fixings in the ceiling. Chad, on the other hand currently has no fixed abode, so he’ll be hanging around entranceways (the hussy) and above the odd picture frame. He may even make it to our new home if we complete on the sale in time!
The chances are you will want to hang your branch from a ceiling. You can use removable ceiling fixings by companies like Command Brand. However, I haven’t found them to stay securely on ceilings that well for anything other than the lightest of decorations. A heavy branch will be too much for them to hold, in my opinion. Also, if your relationship with your partner is anything like mine and Mr C’s, then the last thing you need from a complaining hubby is the branch landing on their head!
I suggest attaching your branch to something that is already permanently fixed to your ceiling like light fittings. The pendants in our kitchen were attached with hidden-fix screws into metal plates and then a decorative cover was placed over them during installation. Most light fittings work this way. We had three pendants above our island, which gave balanced support to the branch.
We tied long double lengths of fishing line to the branch, one at either end and one in the middle. Make sure you double tie the knots so they are very secure. You’ll need help from someone to put the branch in place.
Tie one end of your branch at the desired height to your light fixing securely. Then tie the other fishing line supports making sure that your branch looks level. Don’t leave the branch until you are sure that it is attached securely and safely.
Have Fun – Can’t wait to see yours!
All you have to do now is sit back and enjoy it really. You can dress up your branch for all the seasons. The Faux Cherry Blossoms can be pulled off the branch and you can save them for another year. I’ve added leaves, Christmas baubles and all sorts of seasonal paraphernalia to my branches in the past. Have fun with it!
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Other crafting blog posts:
Four Easy Natural Christmas Decorations.
How To Make Candy Cane Wreaths and Snowball Truffles.
