DIY Branchlers

to Read (

Words)

Last week while reading the blogs I follow, I came across Jenna Sue's 5 days of Holiday DIY's. On Day 1 she showed a tutorial for branchlers and provided free printables. I immediately printed out one of the printables and placed it above my kitchen cabinets in place of the NOEL sign. I also started storming up ideas to create the branchlers.

We Anthony and my brother-in-law, Don, recently trimmed down one of the trees in our front yard so we have had branches in our backyard for a few weeks already. The only thing I had to buy was the plaque which was only a few dollars at Wal-Mart. I did not get to get pictures of the steps because I am a horrible blogger. So I will do my best to walk you through our steps for the most part however you can also refer to Jenna Sue's tutorial which is what we followed for the foundation of the project.

The first thing Don did was remove the the smaller branches off our main pieces to give it more of an antler look. Once he had the shape I liked, he began removing the bark by using a small knife; he also sliced the bottom using a handheld saw to have a flat surface to mount on the plaque. Don finished the branchlers off with sand paper to smooth it out and Polycrylic clear semi-gloss.

As for the plaque, we simply stained the front and back with one coat of dark walnut stain. You do not have to stain the back since no one can see it but I chose to to have a more finished look overall.