Topiary or tree of happiness is a wonderful interior decoration. They can be either alive, created from flowers and houseplants, or artificial. The latter are made from coffee beans, satin ribbons and even pasta.
Required materials and tools
Think how you would like to see your tree of happiness, it can be made from pasta in the shape of flowers, you get an openwork product, and also decorate with horns or spirals, you get an elegant tree with splayed branches. Thin pasta or spaghetti can be used to make a spiky topiary ball.
In addition to pasta, you will also need:
- glue gun;
- spray paint;
- foam ball;
- satin ribbon;
- wooden skewer for barbecue;
- a small flower pot;
- gypsum;
- decor.
To prevent the pasta from being very fragile, before starting work, heat it in a dry frying pan over low heat for a few minutes. This technique will make them much stronger, so it will be more convenient to work with them.
Making the crown of the "tree of happiness"
The most basic and difficult thing is to make a topiary crown. Traditionally, this tree has a spherical shape. Get a topiary styrofoam ball (sold at specialty flower or hobby stores). Instead, you can use any other plastic ball, for example, a Christmas tree toy or a rattle.
Apply a drop of hot glue from a heat gun to the pasta and glue it to the ball. Place the next part as close to the first as possible. Continue gluing the pasta until the ball is completely covered.
Insert a wooden skewer into the crown, which will imitate the trunk of the topiary. Dilute the gypsum with water to a thick sour cream consistency. Pour a piece of gypsum into a flower pot, set a skewer with a ball decorated with pasta. Top up the plaster of paris within 1 cm of the rim of the container. Let the plaster harden for 24 hours.
Topiary decoration
Now you can proceed to the most interesting stage - decorating the "tree of happiness". Cover the work surface with old newspapers and paint the crown and trunk. Try to do this as carefully as possible to paint over all the pasta on the crown of the tree. Water-based paints, watercolors and gouache will not work, as the pasta dough can simply soften.
Wrap the trunk with a satin ribbon. Glue the edges with hot glue. Tie a bow on the trunk. Decorate the crown with butterfly figurines or artificial flowers. Spread the surface of the pot with glue and cover with beads or put on shell pasta.
