Instead of just eating pistachios, why not use their shells to create a simple wall décor. Little pistachio shell blue jays peep out from the branches of the tree, and a ring of shells around the cardboard frame the painting, giving the project a finished look. With paints and pistachios, there are countless ways to adorn your painted tree. Simply paint on small cherry blossoms, draw shoots of grass sprouting out of the ground, or give your birds polka dots and strips. If you want, you could even draw owl faces onto your shells instead or arrange them into the shape of five-petaled flowers for your branches. Experiment with different colors and shapes to add variety and contrast to your artwork. Let’s get crafting!
Tools and Equipment:
- Pistachio shells, enough to go around the edge of your cardboard and to use as birds
- Brown, blue, green, yellow, white, and black acrylic paints
- A hot glue gun
- Pencil
- A medium and small sized brush
- A cardboard circle
To begin, gather together all your materials. To make your cardboard circle, you can cut it out from a box and paint the side you’ll be decorating white or paste paper onto it. You could even use a cake board.
Next, paint eight of your pistachio shells blue and dab white paint onto the top halves. These will eventually become the birds which you will put onto your tree.
While your shells are drying, sketch the outline of your tree onto your cardboard. Start by drawing the trunk of the tree, and then draw lines branching off from the top and the bottom. The roots will be closer together and short, while the limbs on top will spread out.
Once you are done sketching, fill in your outline with brown acrylic paint, using the medium sized brush for the truck, thicker limbs, and roots and the small brush for the twigs.
Once your tree trunk has dried, use your brush to paint leaves onto the branches, and then dab them with a dry paper towel to give them texture.
Use a hot glue gun to attach your birds to your art and paint on their eyes and feet with black acrylic. Then paint yellow triangles on for the bird’s beaks.
Lastly glue the remaining pistachio around the edge of your cardboard, hang your decor anywhere in the house, and you’re finished!
Photo Credit: Author