Twinkling Branches Room Divider

Add a little magic to your home with a twinkling branches room divider!

Step 1: Watch the Video Tutorial Here!

Step 2: You'll Need

6 - 24" long 1"x3" pine boards

6 - 60" long 1"x3" pine boards

24 -1 1/4" wood screws

18 - 3/4" wood screws

Drill

4 - 2" long hinges

Thick galvanized wire

Wire cutters

Americana Decor Chalky Finish in Rustic and Serene

Paintbrush

Wax

Sanding block

12 - 60" long branches

Step 3: Create the Frames

Create four 24" x 60" frames by connecting each corner with two 1 1/4" long wood screws

Connect the frames together using the 2" long hinges

*make sure that the frames are in a zigzag pattern

Drill three screws on the top and bottom of each frame leaving 1/4" sticking out

Step 4: Paint and Prep

Attach the galvanized wire around the 3/4" screws from top to bottom

on each of the three frames

*You will be attaching the branches to these wires

Paint the edges of the room divider with the Rustic Chalky Finish paint

*You can be messy with this color

When dry, rub wax over the Rustic paint

Paint the entire room divider in the Serene Chalky Finish and let dry

Step 5: Add the Branches

Sand the edges of the room divider to expose the Rustic color underneath and to give the room divider a shabby chic/antique feel

Cut about 30 - 5" long pieces of wire

Attach the branches to the wire that was stretched from the top to the bottom

of each frame of the divider

*Clip the branches that extend over the edges

Wrap the white Christmas tree lights around the branches and plug it in!

Comments

[VictoriaC60]

Thank you Mark for posting this. I was looking for an art project that combined my love of trees and didn't involve too many power tools. I have always wanted to do something unique and offer at a local craft fair benefiting people with anxiety. I hope I can use your idea, if you're okay with that. I always believed and still do that nature has a calming and restorative effect on people. The lights really enhance it and I look forward to turning the "normal" lights off. Our family is so "turned off" by lights that we call the kitchen table light the interrogation light. I will have many happy hours of activity. I hope I can use your picture as a prototype until I finish my first one?

[Rlopez524]

Thank you so much. ...i love them & i am going to make one.

[CathyN12]

Do you have any instructables for home offices?

[Mark Montano]

Not really. But, I will give it some thought and see what I can come up with!

[CathyN12]

Hi Mark - did you treat the branches with anything?

[Mark Montano]

I didn't, but in retrospect I probably should have coated them with a Minwax polycrylic or something. They're holding up fine, but they could get brittle.

[Vrushali Kumbhar]

osm...looks sooo b'ful... :)

[VanessaH14]

I think this would be great sized down to table top size. Love ur work!

[LindaH39]

I can just see this on my front porch at Christmas time!!!

[popcornlover7777777]

Approximately how many lights were in the set you used for this? Thanks

[milesnorth]

A Lovely and doable project. Thanks for shareing the idea of it. Its a good one!

[sarawelder]

very nice and looks like a really do-able project without many tools or big brawny muscles. I think this would be lovely outside too

[kweigant]

Plan to make a few and sell them I have some woods in the back area of our yard.

First one goes to my love.

[Danger is my middle name]

Wow, this is gorgeous!

[lsp123]

Looks Amazing thanks for posting I live in an apartment but some morning someone somewhere is going to wake up and find his branches missing after I make one of these.

[Mark Montano]

Good for you! Branches grow back. :)

[OxfordDon]

Very lovely. One thought for a slightly different approach. This would make it more expensive but I discovered "fairy" or "rice" lights last year and used them extensively in my Christmas decorating. They have both plug in and battery types and a warm white and ice white color. For those who aren't familiar with them, they are tiny LED's on an almost invisible wire that can be wrapped around any support. They never get hot so don't pose a danger to fabrics or wood. You can get battery-operated ones at Hobby Lobby that have a timer. I kept going back every day and getting another set on their 40% off coupon so they weren't too expensive. I think that made them around $6.00 for 30 lights. You just turn them on the first time at the hour you want them to light each day thereafter and they will stay on for 6 hours and then cut off automatically. I found the plug in ones on Amazon. Much larger string but of course, you have to worry with where to plug them in. I can just imagine how breathtaking these would be on your beautiful and creative framework as the wire is virtually invisible when lit. Thanks for posting this.

[Mark Montano]

Thanks for sharing this. I'm definitely going to look for those lights.

[Lexi_farber♥]

So pretty!

[billbillt]

Very cozy, very peaceful to observe.... Rocks my weary bones to sleep....