Securing Manzanita Branches with Spray Foam... continued

In a previous post we discussed a post on another blog about securing Manzanita Branches with spray foam. We tried it ourselves, and it worked great. The spray foam expands and hardens to really lock in the branches, and is much easier and less of a hassle to use than plaster... as long as you're careful! Here's how to do it.

1. Get your supplies - Manzanita Branches, Spray Foam (available throughout big box home improvement stores), Crushed Stone (found in the landscaping section for a few dollars a big bag), a pot, some rubber bands, and disposable gloves.

2. If you are using more than one Manzanita Branch, secure the Manzanita Branches together in the orientation you want them relative to one another. Doing so will allow you to just work with one unit, rather than multiple ones.

3. Hold the Manzanita Branch in the position you want it, and pour in enough crushed stone to hold the branch in place - a few inches should do the trick. In addition to holding the branch in place, it will help keep the display steady by putting a lot of weight in the bottom of the container. The Spray Foam doesn't provide any stabilizing weight, so this is especially important if you will be hanging items from the branches.

4. Put your rubber gloves on and spray in some floral foam, stopping in an inch or two from the top. When it comes out, the consistency is like whipped cream, but in a few hours it expands and hardens. Don't get this stuff on anything as it is a pain to remove! If you spray too much in and it mushrooms over the top, you can cut it back with a knife.

5. After curing overnight, the branches are secure and the display is ready to go. You can cover the foam up with something like sand, stone or Reindeer Moss.