A Kiss of Fall Topiary

Materials:

• 3” high plastic flower pot
• Polystyrene ball with a diameter of 4”
• 7.4” long twig cut from a tree
• Rustic burlap craft twine
• 10” square of unbleached linen
• Six paper sunflowers
• Twelve faux acorns
• Matching 0.6” wide autumn-colored ribbon
• Green florist wire (26 or 28 gauge will work the best)
• Small white pebbles, enough to fill the pot
• Heritage Spray-on Contact Glue
• Pliers
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Standard scissors

Instructions:

1. Push one end of the twig into the polystyrene ball to make a hole.
   
   
    
2. Remove twig from the hole and spray Heritage Spray-on Contact Glue onto the end of the twig that will go into the ball, as well as into the hole. Wait a few minutes and then push the twig into the hole.
    
3. Wait two hours for the glue to set thoroughly before continuing with the next step.
    
4. Use the pliers and cut the wire into 2 inch strips. Bend each wire strip to make small wire hooks. You need to make approximately 15 wire hooks.
    
5. Use one of the wire hooks to fix one end of the twine to the ball.
   
   
    
6. Wind the twine in a criss-cross pattern tightly all around the ball.
    
7. Continue winding the twine all around the ball until you reach the end of the twine. Use a wire hook every now and then to keep the twine in place.
   
   
    
8. Press the end of the twine down and use a wire hook to keep it in place.
    
9. Spray the unbleached linen, as well as the pot, with the Heritage Spray-on Contact Glue, and again, wait a few minutes.
    
10. Place the pot in the middle of the linen square and gather the fabric tightly around the pot. Due to the glue that had been sprayed on the pot, the fabric will stick to the pot and will give a neat finish.
     
11. Tie the ribbon around the neck of the pot and make a bow.
    
    
     
12. Neatly cut each end of the bow, and if necessary, cut the squares from the linen to make it drape more neatly around the pot.
     
13. Fill half of the pot with white pebbles.
     
14. Push the bottom part of the twig into the pebbles, and keep it upright while filling the rest of the pot with the pebbles, so that the “tree” will stand upright in the pot.
     
15. Add a drop of hot glue with the hot glue gun to the topiary tree and glue the first acorn in place. Continue until all the acorns have been added to the tree.
     
16. Glue five sunflowers around the bottom of the tree to make a “flower garden.”
    
    
     
17. Glue the last sunflower to the bow’s knot.