Twisted Tree Tutorial

September 3, 2018 by Lucy 33 Comments

DIY Instructions on how to make miniature twisted trees for your paper crafts out of wire and paper

This method of making spooky little twisted trees was inspired by 2 types of trees I found on Pinterest - the paper bag tree and some beautiful wire trees. The problem with the paper bag trees is that you can't really sculpt the limbs and the problem with the wire trees is that you have to cut a LOT of wire. I figured why not use the wire as the base for the tree and the limbs, then wrap the wire in paper to give texture and conserve the wire. So the twisted tree was born.

This post includes:

a video of how to make the twisted tree
examples of trees I've made with wire and twisted paper
and written instructions on how to make the tree.

Twisted Tree on the Haunted Schoolhouse paper house

Here's an example of a twisted paper tree on the Haunted Schoolhouse base

I've made a short video of the process (about 11 minutes) that you might find helpful. Just click on it video to see how to make the Twisted Tree.

I've written the instructions on how to make the tree below. Just scroll below.

If you want a printed copy of instructions to make the paper mache wire tree, I've written a PDF of this tutorial so subscribe to my newsletter, get the password to my free resource library and download a copy to keep the instructions without having to look them up on the internet.

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Examples of Twisted Trees

3 spooky twisted trees in front a grey painted stormy background

Three spooky twisted trees on a dark and stormy night

Twisted paper and wire makes the twisted trees for your Halloween decorations #halloweencrafts #halloweendecor #papercraft

A trio of twisted trees for your halloween projects made of wire and paper

Example of a twisted tree on a Halloween putz house and twisted tree in progress

Twisted tree on Hilda's Haberdashery with a tree in progress

House Guardians paper house- twisted trees guarding an abandoned paper house

This paper Halloween house is abandoned, but guarded by twisted trees on each corner

Davenport Hall another Halloween paper house with skeletal birch twisted tree

This Halloween house is called Davenport Hall decorated with a skeletal birch twisted tree

And here is a Springtime blooming version of twisted tree - the Cherry Blossom Flowering Tree.

Here's how you make the Halloween spooky twisted tree. And if you want to make the Cherry Blossom tree here are the instructions for the Cherry Blossom Flowering Tree.

First, a few (very few) supplies to make a twisted tree

Wire - any kind, from paddles of floral wire to jewelry making wire. I used 20g jewelry wire for the trees here
Wire Cutters
Paper - newspaper, brown packing paper
Glue - Ranger Collage Medium is my favorite, but any PVA glue will work
Paint - Black soot and Picket fence distress paints were used here

Twisted Tree supplies - glue, brown paper, wire, wire cutters

Supplies to make the spooky little Twisted Trees to decorate your Halloween crafts

Cut the wire to size

For my projects, the trees are about 7 inches tall with the trunk section about 3-4 inches tall. If you add the root system, the largest wire I cut is about 9-10 inches long.

In addition, I cut some smaller pieces to make smaller branches for the trees - about 2-6 inches long.

Each tree takes about 3-5 pieces of wire of each size.

Tear strips of paper

My favorite paper (which I have in abundance) is brown packing paper. It's not too thick, it wrinkles nicely and is flexible. Newspaper would work great as well. Even scrap paper works.

Tear the paper into strips. One cool thing about paper is that it actually has grain - that means it tears easier in one direction than the other. Tear your paper in two different directions. See which way makes strips and then continue to tear in that direction. It is much easier.

Don't worry about the length of the strips. Just make some long and some short ones. You will vary the sizes as you wrap the wire.

Get your glue ready

I am fond of the Ranger Collage Medium because it is so easy to dip my finger in it and coat the paper. It also dries fast and holds really well. But if you are using another brand of glue, pour some in a bowl or dish you can reach it easily. You don't want to have to reach for a bottle of glue and squeeze it each time because your hands are going to be seriously messy. You just want to dip your finger into the glue to spread it around. Your hands are still going to be seriously messy, but the glue bottle won't be.

Make the twisted strands for the basic structure of your miniature twisted tree

First start with the longest pieces of wire. Apply some glue or collage medium on one end of your paper strip and twist it around the the wire. Continue twisting until you get to the top of the wire. Tear or cut the excess paper off if needed. Try to taper the paper so that the ends are much narrower than the middle.

Wire wrapped around wire to make twisted tree

Brown packing paper wrapped around wire for the foundation of the twisted tree. Dogwood trees next to the wire strands for inspiration. Note how the paper is tapered at each end of the wire.

Paper-covered wire some with branches for the twisted tree

More paper-covered wire, some with branches already added

You can add branches at this point if you want. I do it some of the time, but not on all of the wire.

Wind strands together to make the basic tree structure

Now wind two-three strands together to form the basic structure of the tree. Leave enough room at the bottom to make roots. The photo below shows 3 strands woven together with an extra branch or two.

Leave room at the bottom for some of the paper-covered wire to form the root structure.

2-3 strands of paper-covered wire twisted together forming the twisted tree

Twist strands of paper-covered wire together to form the basic twisted tree structure

Here's another tree in progress below:

2-3 strings of paper-covered wire twisted together forming the twisted tree

Another twisted tree made with the same twisted wire technique

Add extra wire covered paper to fatten up the tree trunk

Add extra wires the length of the trunk to make the trunk of the tree more substantial. Or you could just add extra layers of paper. Either way works well. But for the root system to be sturdy enough to support the twisted tree I usually add more twisted wire here.

Completed twisted tree designed for Halloween decor with 2 in progress

The two twisted trees in progress have an extra layer of paper twisted around the trunk to merge all the wire together. The tree on the far right is the one made during the video.

Cover any exposed wire with more paper. I try to make the paper look wrinkly and crumpled like tree bark if I can.

Cut the excess wire from the limbs and the roots with wire cutters

Now cut off the excess wire with wire cutters. Try to cut the wire so it is blunt rather than angled so it won't make a sharp point.

Paint the spooky little tree with the colors of your choice

After the glue is dry the tree is ready for paint. Depending on my setting for the little tree, I either paint it white or black. If I want a seriously dark and gloomy tree, I will paint the under layer black. For a lighter setting, I paint it white. You can use shades of browns and greys for a more realistic tree, but for the haunted Halloween spooky factor - black is my choice.

Painted miniature twisted trees for Halloween decor

Two twisted trees just painted with Black Soot Distress paint as the first layer of paint

The finished miniature twisted trees with white highlighting from Picket Fence distress paint are shown in the top of this post.

Place your twisted tree in your Halloween setting

Finally, one of nice feature of this tree is that you can arrange the limbs and the roots the way you want. Often to make them fit on the base with one of my houses, I have to bring all the branches to the front and move the roots to the front as well. You'll find that the roots can be wrapped around an edge for a more interesting and kind of creepy look. In the House guardians above, the tree on the right is creeping up the front stair and edging over the base.

On the Harlequin Halloween House, the tree also extends over the base of the house.

Bendable wire roots on the Harlequin Halloween House extend over the base

Harlequin Halloween House (a used bookstore) has a twisted tree in the front yard with roots that extend over the base

You don't even have to add the tree to the base of a Halloween putz house. You can just use it as extra decor around a Halloween vignette where one of the twisted trees is in the background setting.

What do you think about the twisted trees? I like them because they are both inexpensive and easy to make. But mostly I like them because add cool detail and dimension to my Halloween houses. Do let me know if you make one or several.

Want to make leaves to go with your twisted tree? Here is my best advice on making beautiful fall paper leaves for the base of your miniature paper tree.