Vivid Hue Blog: DIY: How to Make a Holiday Fruit Tree

Friday, 1 January 2016

DIY: How to Make a Holiday Fruit Tree

I grew up in Northern Virginia and every year around the holidays, my mom would pull out this foreign looking wooden form with nails protruding from it. I knew exactly what it was for...our annual Colonial Williamsburg style Apple Tree! She used it as a centerpiece on our Christmas table and as an accent decoration for an entry table. It always sparked great curiosity and many fabulous comments. As I grew into an adult, I decided to carry on the same tradition.

To start you'll need the following:

1. Apple Cone Form

2. Pineapple

3. 3-4 bags of delicious red apples (or in this case oranges).

4. Greenery

5. Whole Cloves (if using oranges)

Assembling the Tree

I start by adding oranges or apples from the base of the tree to the top. It doesn't matter if you put the fruit in rows or staggered, but I would stick to the same pattern throughout.

Stick the pineapple on the very top of the base. There will be wholes between the fruit that you will fill in with fresh greenery. I use anything from boxwood to holly.

Fill in the bare sections with strips of greenery. I usually stick the end of the branch towards the bottom and let the leafy tops of the greenery fill in between the fruit. It can be unruly so you will have to push it between the fruit in places so the fruit can still be seen.

I added cloves to a few select oranges after the fact. If i'd had more patience, I would have consistently put them in each and every orange.

I added some faux berries in between the greenery to add an additional amount of color. I also used some pink and red ornaments around the base to make the centerpiece seem more Christmas-y.

The Christmas season was here and gone in a flash and I didn't have time to post this tutorial before Christmas.

I also had the wonderful opportunity of sharing this DIY project on Better Connecticut in early December. Melissa Cole came to the shop and taped the segment.