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About twenty years ago a friend gave me a twig with roots. She said to me, "I don't know what this is, but I don't want anymore bushes in my yard!" Now, many growing years later, this little twiggy bush has grown into a wonderful 40 foot tall River Birch Tree. It is the crowning glory in my front yard, and it still gives me pleasure as it stands leafless and peeling in the winter sun.
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My 5 year old neighbor comes knocking at my door. "Can I peel your tree, please? It has a sunburn." I am a real tree lover and I am teaching my little neighbor friend that my tree doesn't have a sunburn, the River Birch just looks that way when it is growing. I talk to my trees, and most of the time they whisper back to me. I lean on them, they hold me up. Among my favorites is the "twiggy bush" that my friend thought she was dumping on me when she gave me the River Birch (Betula nigra) all those years ago. It provides amazing beauty throughout the year, as do most other trees that I have met. But the River Birch constantly surprises me with the things it inspires me to create. When I need a centerpiece for my dinner table on Christmas Eve, I dash outside to my River Birch tree. It also appears in the wreath on my front door. It's bark is so versatile that it becomes a place card for special dinners. Its curly bark has covered leaky bird houses, it frames small mirrors, it appears in scrapbook pages, and it is a real magnet for small children. 
When you collect birch bark to use in your decorations, it is important to quickly wash it very gently with a gentle liquid dishwashing soap in warm water to debug it. This is an easy step, but I cannot stress "gentle" enough, because river birch bark is quite thin and fragile. Once it is debugged, simply lay it out on several layers of paper toweling and let it air dry. It becomes quite flexible when wet, but that same moisture creates a problem when it is time to glue it to any surface. So, let's make a list of what you will need if you happen to have a River Birch handy, and if you are feeling creative: a nice clean surface to work on a hot glue gun and glue sticks a container of any shape cardboard to be made into a cone children's glue sticks scissors closepins or springlike clips Don't forget the holiday music playing in the background. Starting with a picture frame, or a framed mirror, glue one piece of bark at a time to the frame's surface, starting at the bottom and working upward. I like to always use the bark just as it came from the tree with its rough edges, but if a piece is too large, it might have to be scissor trimmed to fit .  The same is true of a container for a holiday centerpiece. Work always from the bottom to the top, and some little curls can be added to cover any seams you don't want showing. I usually use a hot glue gun with all my birch bark projects, but when working with small children, the kid's glue sticks will also work, and that is when the clothespins and clips come in handy.  
Do you need a place card for your dinner table? The birch bark works much the same as papyrus, and readily accepts ink from any marker. Match your ink to your color scheme. 
I made so many decorations with my birch bark this year, I did not have enough to make a cone shaped tree. However I did find one at a local yard sale in the fall, and it has been made from a thicker type of white bark, but the process is the same. The difference is that with River Birch bark, the bark tends to curl, and the tree will have rows of upward curling branches instead of the downward pointing branches that you see in this photo. 
All in all, my River Birch tree provides me with ongoing beauty, and a very inexpensive material to use in decorating for the holidays. If you aren't lucky enough to live with a River Birch tree, check out your local woods. When the tree grows, the bark splits and eventually falls to the ground and there it is, just waiting for you. Have a great holiday season and Happy Decorating! body { background: #FFF; }
 | I am a retired high school art and humanities teacher. I grew up in the Appalachian mountains of southeast KY and now I live with my two rescued cats, Jazz and Daisy, in far western KY. I love daylilies and perennials, and thanks to my DG friends this year I am adding roses to my gardens.
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Subject: I enjoyed your article
Posted by Zanymuse (from Fortuna, CA) on December 20, 2007 at 2:52 PM:It is always interesting to see natures gifts used in art. Your projects are fun and easy ways to enjoy nature indoors. ... Posted by Sharran (from Calvert City, KY) on December 20, 2007 at 3:37 PM: Thanks, Zany...easy and fun are the key words here!!!
Hope you are having a good day. ...
Subject: close up of wreath as requested..
Posted by Sharran (from Calvert City, KY) on December 17, 2007 at 2:40 PM:wreath... ... Posted by adinamiti (from Bucuresti
(Romania)) on December 21, 2007 at 2:46 PM: Sharon, that's beautiful! You are so talented too and ingenious! I've been lurking for a few day, after I read your article and finally got here to post ...sorry!
Will send you a Dmail !
Adina ...
Subject: More photos
Posted by Sharran (from Calvert City, KY) on December 17, 2007 at 2:38 PM:I have received questions from some of you who asked about the birdhouse, which I mentioned but didn't add a photo of it. Here is the one I have inside, and just use it decoratively because it is made of cardboard. But it could easily cover one outside as well.
You also asked about the wreath, so will include a close up of it as well.
all inquiries welcome, thank you, and have fun with Birch bark!
Sharon ... Posted by adinamiti (from Bucuresti
(Romania)) on December 21, 2007 at 2:48 PM: That is so cute , I never heard of anything like this!
Adina ...
Subject: terrific article
Posted by grampapa (from Wheatfield, NY) on December 17, 2007 at 2:19 PM:Sharon, I really enjoyed this one. gives me some good ideas. I, too, have a nice clump of river birch. Mine are only 5 years old, but were decent size when planted here. probably about 25' tall now. I love the bark but have never made anything. I really like the rose wreath, too.
~ jan ... Posted by Sharran (from Calvert City, KY) on December 17, 2007 at 3:01 PM: Jan, thank you so much. I added a photo in a separate thread, you might want to check it out since it is a closeup of the wreath. would be nice to see a picture of your clump of trees.
sharon ... Posted by Islandshari (from Kwajalein
(Marshall Islands)) on December 17, 2007 at 4:24 PM: Sharon, great job - very informative, friendly and interesting! Love the photos...
Yokwe,
Shari ...
Subject: You have done it again!
Posted by daylilydaddy (from morehead, KY) on December 17, 2007 at 1:04 PM:Hey sharran
Now I am off to the woods to get some bark. I have one of those big nearly frameless mirrors glued to the wall in my master bath that has been just ugly and I have been thinking of something to give a "framed" finished look to it. I will send you a pick if it looks like I think it will. I am also hosting a formal dinner for friends on Christmas day and I love the look of using the bark as accents. The kids go to their mothers on Christmas day and "we" adults get to have our Christmas and I can use the good stuff to set the table.
Geo
Keep the ideas coming!! ... Posted by Sharran (from Calvert City, KY) on December 17, 2007 at 2:25 PM: Great idea for your bathroom mirror, and for accents around the house. It is also nice to use on tall vases if you have tall twigs that you want to spray paint white or silver, or even leave natural.......sometimes I do that, and just add 1 bright red bow, or a bright red poinsettia or any one single thing to add a bit of color.
this would also bring the "woodsy" theme of your outdoors to the inside of your house. I have a birdhouse made from it, well not a real birdhouse, just a decorative one, that I have on my western cedar walls in my studio. I think I have a photo of it, and will send it to you. It is an inside fake birdhouse, because it's base is only cardboard. One of the first ones I made.
Have fun decorating!
sharon ...
Subject: Beautiful arrangements
Posted by terriculture (from london
(United Kingdom)) on December 17, 2007 at 12:40 PM:Thankyou Sharran for some great ideas! I especially love the table arrangement with the roses, and the whole artical is very interesting and infomative! ... Posted by Sharran (from Calvert City, KY) on December 17, 2007 at 12:44 PM: thank you , Terri......it was fun to do. Bet you could do amazing things with this curly bark. It would be exciting to see what you came up with.
Sharon ... Posted by pupilpropogtr (from Birmingham, AL) on December 17, 2007 at 12:58 PM: Your article reminded me of "The Giving Tree", the best children's book, IMHO. What wonderful ideas that Teensy and I can do together. Now to find the tree.
Thank you. ... Posted by Sharran (from Calvert City, KY) on December 17, 2007 at 2:18 PM: PP...I love "The Giving Tree", gave it to my grandson his first Christmas! Thank you, it is a fun project to do with kids. Teensy will love it, as does my Ethan.
sharon ... Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on December 17, 2007 at 5:51 PM: Great article :) ...
Subject: Love the cone shaped tree!
Posted by rcn48 (from Lexington, VA) on December 17, 2007 at 6:41 AM:Really enjoyed this article! We have a beautiful River Birch and I might just have to collect some bark and try to make my own cone-shaped tree! I can't say we actually "decorate" with birch bark, but we do have a collection - bits and pieces here, there and everywhere! We have a real collecting "problem" :) We even pick up pieces of birch logs and use them for interest in the gardens. Unfortunately our new puppy has decided that they're great for chewing on :( ... Posted by t1turner (from Crane Hill, AL) on December 17, 2007 at 12:38 PM: Interesting article. I too am partial to the River Birch. I wanted to pass this ideal on to you and others if I may. I had a RB in my yard in Birmingham, Al which I had planted as a twig. I was amazed at how fast it grew. It was a nice ornamental tree from maybe 4 feet tall to 15 feet but then it lost the ornamental look that I was after. I hated to cut it down (mine had only one truck) but it had gotten up to about 25 feet or more and too close to the house. But what I found was the cutting did not kill the roots so several new trees came up around the stump. This was great because I think three or four trunks growing close to each other is a really good look. I sold the house and moved about 1 year after the new trees came up so I can not take a photo (unless I drive by there one day) and I can not give you an update right now. But if anyone is interested, I could make it a project to get a photo and update. I hope this a help to those contemplating cutting a RB.
... Posted by Sharran (from Calvert City, KY) on December 17, 2007 at 12:42 PM: thank you both so much. T1....if I had known what the little twig with roots was going to grow into, I would have done a lot of things differently, but since I didn't, I am just enjoying it as is. However, I certainly am glad to know that it will come back from roots. I love seeing them in clusters, groups, but by the time I realized what this one was, it was too late to move it, and too late to plant others near it. It is about 10 feet from my house, I thought it would be a "bush"!!!
Thanks for the information, and yes, I would be interested in seeing how it comes with siblings from its roots.
sharon ... Posted by adinamiti (from Bucuresti
(Romania)) on December 21, 2007 at 2:50 PM: I also loved the cone shaped tree! It's beautiful! ...
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