From time to time I head over to Pinterest to see what new ideas people have come up with and sometimes I find something that I really love. Here in Montana, we have the Missouri River which is pretty close to where we live. One of our favorite day trips is heading over to the Giant Springs park. Along the same road are several fishing spots and pull-offs where you can see some beautiful views and get right near the river’s edge. It is at those pull-offs that we find a lot of inspiration in the form of driftwood.
About 2-3 years ago, I found an image of a Christmas tree that someone made out of wood. I fell in love with the idea and just had to have one in my home. So Satyr and I went down to the river edge to see what we could find. It was a cold wet day, but we found enough to make the tree. We loaded the truck, drove home, and unloaded the driftwood on our patio. We let it dry out all summer to kill off any growth or infestation. That fall he began the process of cleaning, sanding and cutting the pieces to build my tree.
He measured and placed the sticks in an order that created the ideal shape. He used some jute to string it together, which took a few different attempts, and was able to create our tree.
While we had it laid out, the ceiling in our spare room fell in from ice build-up on the roof. When they came to fix it, the handyman got paint and such all over the place, hence the white specks you see on the driftwood.
While stringing this was truly a pain, it’s been well worth it and it’s now part of our living room decor. It has been the focal point and inspiration for much of our decor.