I recently thrifted a gorgeous bronze log holder and with Christmas right around the corner had the grand notion of displaying some decorative birch logs in it. To my surprise, they’re not cheap. After scouring the internet for options I came to the conclusion that the best way to get what I wanted for cheap would be to make it myself.
Materials I used:
- Toilet Paper Rolls
- Tissue Paper
- Clear Tape
- Scrap Paper
- White, Black, Taupe, Brown and Grey Acrylic Paint
I started out by taping the toilet paper rolls together to get the perfect length. Don’t worry about the openings fitting snugly or keeping everything in a straight line. The more organic the look the better, it’ll help the logs have a realistic birch like appearance when everything is finished. To cover the ends of the toilet paper rolls I simply grabbed a piece of scrap paper, traced around the openings, cut them out and taped those bad boys on.
Once I was finished taping everything together I gave each “log” a generous coating of Mod Podge and began wrapping them with tissue paper. The trick to this is placing the tissue paper corner in the center of the log then gently rolling it up. The wrinklier in appearance the better!
After the Mod Podge was completely dried I began painting each log white. Usually I would prefer to use acrylic paint for this step but for the life of me I could not find it anywhere so I settled on the next best thing – chalk paint. Before it could fully dry I mixed my taupe (Ceramcoat – Sand Dune), grey (Ceramcoat – Hippo Grey), and brown (FolkArt – Brushed Bronze) paints together then randomly began to brush them on the log. I also painted the ends of each log with the taupe paint to give them a realistic look.
To tone down some of the color and the harsh lines I took some of my white paint and gently dabbed it over each log with a paper towel. While the paint was still wet I took some black paint on a stippling brush and painted some lines on the log to give it a more birch-like appearance. To blend everything out I used the remaining paint from my paper towel and dabbed it in the places that needed a little more dimension.
After arranging my new birch logs in my log holder I couldn’t help but think that something was missing so off I ran to my craft supply closet to find some festive ribbon and holiday berries.
I can’t help but sit back and stare at everything in awe. Who would have thought that I could accomplish making faux birch logs for free with just random items that I had laying around my house?
More Christmas DIY’s are coming,
Angeldwnsouth 