If you are a blogland or design land regular, you are surely to have come across those beautiful, single stem tall trees in large earthenware planters or white wicker baskets with large canopy of leaves, adding life and vitality to the space they are in. I saw it first on Pinterest and instagram and they are drool worthy! Mostly fiddle leaf or ficus or olive- these trees are meant to be statement pieces and they justify their role too- packing in oodles of depth and drama in one’s space without one having to do very little.

It was on top of my list for an empty corner in our living room (Christmas tree void spot) and I was sure I wanted a ficus. But, and while I am all in for real plants, ficus is particularly poisonous for cats. And the large ones on amazon costs a whooping 15000 INR.

Enter ‘How to make a faux ficus tree on budget’ research and lonefox

You know, if you are willing to move a muscle or two, there is no limit to the things you can achieve. So I started seeing youtube videos on how to make a faux tree at home. This is also where I stumbled upon LoneFox- a fantastic youtube channel studded with DIYs and home improvement videos. He made a fine video of a DIY ficus and I followed the tutorial to the T minus drilling the branches. I couldn’t master the courage. Rest, it was all him.

However, here’s a video of the whole thing in fast forward. Haha, I may have given a bit of psycho-killer vibes in the elevator but hey you gotta do what you gotta do.

I bought a bunch of ficus leaves from amazon and a hot-glue gun. I had a spare dustbin from IKEA and I also bought 5 kgs of white cement from the local hardware. A set of 12 leaves cost me 799, Glue gun was 299, IKEA dustbin 95/- and white cement was 150 bucks for 5 kg. So a total of 1350/- as opposed to 15000. Below are the ones sold on amazon vs mine!

And to be honest, I think my little DIY faux ficus tree looks far more moody than the right. And if you consider 1350 as opposed to 15000, I think you will find it prettier than usual. Right? Right?

Stay crafty, stay thrifty folks! You got this.

Rukmini

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