Tomato Cage Christmas Trees

While doing some fall clean up, I was putting away my tomato cages. That's when inspiration struck. 

Last year, I used one of those flimsy, spiral light up Christmas trees as a lawn decoration. It fell apart as I was taking it down. Looking at the tomato cages, I thought, why not make my own little forest of light up trees? 

Supplies you'll need:

A conical metal tomato cage

Craft wire

Wire cutters

A few strings of lights 

A few small tent stakes

The tomato cages I'm using have seen better days. They're probably 10 years old. The best part about this project is, it realldy doesn't matter. The other great thing about this project is that I didn't spend a dime. All the supplies were hanging around the house. 

Here are the old rusty tomato cages I used

Step 1. Secure the plug end of the lights to the bottom of the tomato cage with a piece of wire, a twist tie or a zip tie; whatever you have handy. 

I just tied a knot.

Step 2. Start wrapping the cage with the lights. If you want to be precise, you can use pieces of wire to secure the light strand as you wrap. I did not use wire, I just wrapped. 

Step 3. Add more light strands to your preference. You can mix and match strands and colors to fit the look you are going for.

Step 4. Add a star or topper if wanted. Since the tomato cage has four large "stakes" (for lack of a better description) on what used to be the bottom, you now have a sturdy area to attach whatever decoration you would like at, what is now, the top of your tree. 

Step 5. Plug in your tree, stand back and admire your craftiness. 

This pictures are pretty crappy, but take my word for it, the trees look amazing! I used supplies I had on hand, so this project cost me $0. I would think if you had to buy a new cage & a strand of lights, it would cost around $16 per tree. I still have the box from last years spiral tree. It cost $39.99. 

I'd love to see pictures of what you come up with!

Happy Holidays!!!!!!