This has to be one of my favorite DIY Projects I’ve done!
From start to finish it was so fun creating these Faux Birch Stands!
I made them out of Cement Tubes… and used them as stands for my dessert table!
I had seen similar items to purchase…but I wanted a grouping and my budget was slim to none..so it was the perfect opportunity to do it myself!
Here’s how I MADE them..and at the end of the post see how I USED them!
FAUX BIRCH STANDS SUPPLIES:
Cement Tube (Home Improvement Store)
Wood Glue (Home Improvement Store)
Liquitex Acrylic Gesso Paint (Craft Store)
Brown Acrylic Paint (Craft Store)
Toilet Paper
3 Paper Plates
Cardboard box (I always have some somewhere…
but you can get free ones from your dollar tree!
ask and you shall receive.. most of the time. ;)
Tools:
Little Paint Brush
2 Little Foam Brushs
Box Cutter
Pencil. OR crayon if you have kids and hide all sharp things like me.
STEPS:
–First things first…gather supplies. set up a work space.
–Take your cement tube roll that you awkwardly carried through the home improvement store while pushing a stroller and directing children.
and Figure out the heights of stands you want..I knew I wanted 5 different stands…
so I marked the tube accordingly.
–Get your handy man husband to use his muscled and cut the cement tube (it’s a sturdy cardboard?) using the box cutter. make sure no fingers are lost. because a trip to the ER will only delay the fun painting part that is coming up…
and the losing a finger thing. that would be painful too.
–Next you need to create the tops of your stands.
Place your cut cement tube piece onto a piece of cardboard (I used part of a cardboard box I had) and trace with a crayon/pencil whatever
(wow just noticed how nasty that crayon looks below…
nice smoosh of play dough on it. lovely. only the best props for my blog photos. ;)
ANYWAYS…. trace it… then I’m pretty sure I just used the wood glue to attach the lid to the tube. I can’t remember! But if that doesn’t stick enough use regular glue…hot glue…
just GLUE it.
REPEAT. create all your little stands and if arrange how you think you might use them.. you can always trim them down a bit with the box cutters to get the right heights!
This is one of my favorite parts…
Now you need to get a paper plate..and squirt a little bit of the Acrylic Gesso Paint…
tear up a few shreds of toilet paper.. mix together with your foam brush.
keep adding and mixing till you get the right consistency.
Pretty gross looking and feeling… smoosh it against the sides of the tubing…
You are trying to create knots and texture for your faux birch!
The sloppier the better usually. don’t do each knot the same.
Your kids watching you might think you are crazy AND awesome.
Next take another paper plate and squirt some of the Acrylic Gesso.
Paint your stands..and know your brush strokes add to the texture of your faux birch…
so play with that a little when you brush! have fun and cover completely.
**If you want, you could use caulk to fill in the edges around the lid…
or push in more of the paint. I didn’t mind the texture!**
Let the white dry.
Next squirt a little of the brown acrylic paint onto a paper plate.
Use the tip of your foam brush to swipe on little brown lines…
At first I was nervous I was going to wreck it completely….but then I started getting the hang of it and it came together! Just take a step back, occasionally, and see what you think! add more or stop and let dry.
I wasn’t patient enough to wait for it to dry…
I just was very careful didn’t touch the sides while I painted the top.
I used my paper plate with the brown paint on it..and squirted a little of the white acrylic gesso paint and mixed to get the right color.
Then painted the tops of my faux birch stands. Done!
I first created these to add levels to my Dessert Table at my Girls’ Storybook Princess Party.
On the map of Once Upon A Time Land, which we sent out in the POP-UP INVITE, I showed a Cookie Forest..so of course We HAD to have the stands be trees!! My girls loved it.
and we all devoured the cookies. (which they loved seeing mounded up at easy access ;)
Then I pulled them out again to add some levels to
my dessert table at our Monster Bash!
It was the perfect touch to our spooky kid friendly Halloween Party.
Would love to see how you use your DIY Faux Birch Stands!
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