Poinsettia Topiaries

These dramatic poinsettia topiaries add a heaping lot of drama to any entry, or flanking a grand staircase, or even a fireplace.  They are easy to make and when all the holiday silk flowers go on sale - the perfect time to make them. MATERIALSTomato cageDecorative urnMetal screenZip tiesSilk poinsettia stems (I used around 150 for each) STEPSCover the tomato cage with the screen.  The cage is going to be used upside down, so keep this in mind. This is a somewhat clumsy affair, so be prepared and use gloves.  I wrapped the screen around as best I could, cut away the excess, secured it to the cage with zip ties here and there, and then cut extra little pieces to fill in the gaps.  The stakes on the cage that go into the ground will form your point, so wrap the screen around these so that it comes to a cone at the top.  Cut a circle from the screen to fit the open bottom and attach that with more zip ties.  Remember that this is all going to be covered with flowers, you won't see any of it - so don't stress about making it perfect. Set the covered cage on top of your urn.  Secure it to the urn using a glue or sealer such as gorilla glue. Cut the blooms off of your poinsettias, leaving about an 8"-10" stem with no leaves.  Simply insert these stems into the wire screen.  If you don't plan on deconstructing these after the holidays, go ahead and add a drop of hot glue to where they hit the screen to secure it in place.  I left mine free floating so I could easily take them apart later, but you will have to keep adjusting flowers if they get tussled. Keep poking in flowers until you have a nice full topiary!