Decorating With Birch

I LOVE decorating with natural elements.  So when my husband trimmed a large birch branch that was hanging over our house, I willingly helped with the cleanup.  I had plans for these beautiful gifts of nature! 

This project would work with a variety of tree or bush branches and would look nice naturally or spray painted white.

This is what I did:

1. I brought two 7 foot branches into my house, tied them together with fish line (so it wasn't noticeable), and leaned them against the wall in my dining room.  I think it would also look nice leaning against my fireplace but I was looking for something to fill an empty space and create symmetry.  I didn't want to spend a lot of money on an expensive artificial plant  and many are not as tall as I wanted. I didn't worry about bringing in insects with my branches because we trimmed a healthy limb.
2. I planted a Jade plant in a small pot and nestled it in the crook of the branches.  I chose a Jade plant because it requires medium light and infrequent watering.  I then secured it with jute rope to prevent slipping.  I didn't like the rope visible so I hot glued some dried moss aound the rope and bottom of the pot.
3. I also hot glued jute to some pinecones and draped them over limb.

During the Christmas season, I wired some red berries to my branches and perched a small bird on a limb which complimented my theme.

I also LOVE decorating outside and so last summer I leaned some branches  in a corner of my deck to add some pop!  A robin gifted me with a beautiful nest and I nestled it too in the crook of some branches.  I considered hanging a bird house on one of the limbs but didn't want the mess if a bird moved in.

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This Spring I might add some white lights to brighten up my deck.  In the mean time, I'll try to be patient and wait for the snow and ice to melt!