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You are here: Home / celebrations / Make Faux Birch Logs Using Pool Noodles

Make Faux Birch Logs Using Pool Noodles

Turn Pool Noodles into Fake Birch Logs
DIY Faux Birch Logs

This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission. Read our Disclosure Policy.

Learn how to make faux birch logs from pool noodles! Perfect to use decorating for Christmas!

One of the highlights of my Michaels Makers Santa’s Cabin in the Woods Christmas Dream Tree was the faux birch logs. Real birch logs are so beautiful and bring a bit of the great outdoors into your cozy home. However, they can be hard to find or expensive. 

I wanted to place some birch logs in the tree. And of course, the real logs would have been too heavy. These pool noodle fake logs are lightweight and not as messy as the real thing.

This tutorial is a great alternative to keep your budget intact and get creative in how you can repurpose items from around your house.

 

Make pool noodles into faux birch logs! Find the full tutorial at Designdazzle.com. #diyChristmasdecor #poolnoodlediy

Who knew you could make faux birch logs using pool noodles?! I share an exact step-by-step process to make it easy and a great way to create your own in various sizes that you need.

DIY Faux Birch Logs image

Fake Birch Logs Tips:

  •  If you can’t find pool noodles, purchase foam pipe insulation which you can get at your local hardware store. I made some of the fake birch logs out of foam pipe insulation and it’s much easier to get year-round. 
  • You don’t need to purchase Kraft paper. Just reuse brown bags from the grocery store. Lunch sacks could work too!
  • You’ll be surprised how awesome these fake birch log bundles can look in your home decor!
  • Christmas decorations can take on a new look with these rustic craft projects using the look of birch logs. Depending on where you live they can be hard to find.
  • These logs are the perfect addition to any Christmas decor idea that you want for the holiday season! 
  • If you see pool noodles at the dollar store, buy them! There are lots of fun ideas to create with pool noodles and they are inexpensive.
  • Indoor use only because they are made with paper. If they are sheltered from the rain/elements, they could probably work outdoors.

Faux Birch Log Supplies

  • Pool noodles or plumbing insulation foam tube
  • Roll of brown kraft wrapping paper or brown paper bag
  • White tissue paper
  • white, brown, grey, and black craft paint or you can use chalk paste
  • Tacky glue or mod podge
  • Foam paintbrush 
  • Buffalo Snow iridescent flakes
  • optional: spray snow 

 

Make this into a faux birch log! Check out the full tutorial on designdazzle.com! #diychristmas #diypoolnoodle

Step 1: This first step depends on how long you want your birch logs. Since I’m using mine for Christmas decor and putting them into bundles and on my Christmas tree, I wanted mine to be about 2 feet tall. To get my birch logs to be about 2 feet each, I used scissors (or a knife) to cut the pool noodles in half equally. For the plumbing insulation foam tube, I cut it into thirds

 

Supplies needed to make faux birch logs from pool noodles! Great Christmas decor. Check out the tutorial on Decigndazzle.com #diydecor #diychristmasdecor #diypoolnoodle

Step 2: This picture shows the foam plumbing insulation. We used both the pool noodles and this insulation. Use what you can find. First, wrap the craft paper around the pool noodle to measure how much paper you will need.

Cut at the proper width, making sure that the whole noodle is covered. Rip the paper into strips horizontally. Crumple the strips into wads so that the paper will be wrinkled. Then, paint the pool noodles with the tacky glue.

Arrange the paper on the noodle, covering the whole thing. It is okay to have lumps and wrinkles, they make it look more realistic!

 

Step-by-step tutorial of how to make pool noodles into faux birch logs on Designdazzle.com. #diyChristmasdecor #poolnoodlediy

This is what the birch logs should look like once the paper is all glued on and dried.

 

Step-by-step of how to make pool noodles into your favorite Christmas decor! Check it out at Designdazzle.com! #diyChristmasdecor #diypoolnoodle

 

Step 3:

In order to finish the cut edges of the noodle, trace the ends of the pool noodle which creates the outline of a circle. Cut the circle out and glue it on the end.

 

Step-by-step of how to make pool noodles into your favorite Christmas decor! Check it out at Designdazzle.com! #diyChristmasdecor #diypoolnoodle

 

Step 4:

Take a sheet of tissue paper and rip it into strips. Crumple the strips up and make them into little wads. Glue the wads on, place them spread out on the log.

 

Step-by-step of how to make pool noodles into your favorite Christmas decor! Check it out at Designdazzle.com! #

This is what the wads of tissue paper look like up close.

Step 5: Paint the entire birch log with white craft paint, including the tissue paper wads. It is okay if the tissue paper wads do not get covered completely. Let it dry.

 

This was once a pool noodle! Tutorial of how to make a faux birch log from a pool noodle at Decigndazzle.com #diyChristmas #poolnoodledecor

 

 

Step-by-step tutorial of how to make pool noodles into faux birch logs on Designdazzle.com. #diyChristmasdecor #poolnoodlediy

Step 6:

Once the white paint has dried, make a grey wash by mixing grey craft paint and water. I used about a tablespoon of paint at a ratio of 1 part paint to 4 parts water. This combination may vary, just make sure that it isn’t too dark. Paint the entire log, including the tissue paper wads. *Save the remaining grey wash! You will use the rest later.

 

Step-by-step tutorial of how to make pool noodles into faux birch logs on Designdazzle.com. #diyChristmasdecor #poolnoodlediy

 

Step 7:

Once the grey wash has dried, make a LIGHT beige wash with the same ratio. Make sure that it is also not too dark. Add water if it seems too dark. Paint the entire log. You can see the image below the when painting the brown wash it is very light in color.

 

Step-by-step tutorial of how to make pool noodles into faux birch logs on Designdazzle.com. #diyChristmasdecor #poolnoodlediy

 

Step 8:

After the beige wash has dried, use the remaining grey wash and add a few drops of black craft paint. You don’t want it to be too dark, but you do want it to be dark enough to show contrast. I added about 5 or 6 drops of paint. Paint stripes along the log to give it the birch wood effect.

 

Step-by-step tutorial of how to make pool noodles into faux birch logs on Designdazzle.com. #diyChristmasdecor #poolnoodlediy

Step 8: 

Using the dark wash, paint the tissue paper wads. They will absorb the moisture and crumple up, to create the knotted birch bark effect. You may have to do a few coats of this wash to get it dark enough.

 

Step-by-step tutorial of how to make pool noodles into faux birch logs on Designdazzle.com. #diyChristmasdecor #poolnoodlediy

Step 9: 

Once your birch logs are completely dry, paint glue on random spots on the log. Press buffalo snow onto these spots to give the logs more texture and a bit of sparkle. If you are going to use spray snow to add more texture, do this before you put the buffalo snow on. The buffalo snow is completely optional.

 

Step-by-step tutorial of how to make pool noodles into faux birch logs on Designdazzle.com. #diyChristmasdecor #poolnoodlediy

The great thing about this faux birch look is that it is very versatile! I did it on wooden dowels, as pictured above. I also made it on an 8-inch concrete tube form to put over my Christmas tree stand to look like the trunk of a tree, as shown in the first picture of this post.

 

Make pool noodles into faux birch logs! Find the full tutorial at Designdazzle.com. #diyChristmasdecor #poolnoodlediy

 

Are you excited to try this faux birch log look in many different ways? How about faux logs in the fake fireplace? These can look great placed in greenery on a mantel. The sky is the limit!

This faux birch log look is easy to achieve and a cheaper and more functional alternative to buying the real deal. I hope this fabulous tutorial will complete your holiday decor!

 

Make sure to check out…

 

Santa-Sack-slideshow

All 200+ of our Christmas ideas

 

The actual Santa’s Cabin In The Woods Tree

My Christmas Tree Decorating Tips & Hacks post

How to create Designer Ribbon Using a Glue Gun

And for those who want to make Elf Spaghetti

 

 

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    Recipe Rating




  1. Lynda says

    November 12, 2014 at 9:37 am

    I love your ideas! thanks for sharing them all with us.

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      November 12, 2014 at 10:28 am

      Thank you Lynda I appreciate your kinds words!

      Reply
  2. Debbie says

    November 12, 2014 at 9:55 am

    So cool! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      November 12, 2014 at 10:27 am

      Thanks Debbie!

      Reply
  3. Nikki @ Tikkido says

    November 12, 2014 at 12:47 pm

    Absolutely brilliant, Toni! You got the texture and the color absolutely perfect.

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      November 12, 2014 at 6:42 pm

      Thank you Nikki! That means a lot coming from you!
      Toni

      Reply
  4. Michele @ The Scrap Shoppe says

    November 12, 2014 at 9:50 pm

    No WAY, Toni!! That is amazing!!

    Reply
  5. Crystal @MyBlissfulSpace says

    November 19, 2014 at 5:26 am

    Love this!!! Great job!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      November 19, 2014 at 1:37 pm

      Crystal,
      Thank you very much! I appreciate your kind words.
      Toni

      Reply
  6. Katie says

    November 19, 2014 at 7:15 am

    Love your ideas!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      November 19, 2014 at 6:40 pm

      I appreciate your comment Katie! Thank you : )

      Reply
  7. Linda @ Itsy Bits And Pieces says

    November 19, 2014 at 8:40 am

    This is such a great project…love the technique…I can see lots of possibilities! Thanks for sharing the great tutorial!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      November 19, 2014 at 1:32 pm

      Thank you, Linda!

      Reply
  8. Virginia says

    November 22, 2014 at 3:01 pm

    This is fantastic! I can’t wait to try it. Saw your project featured on Country Living Magazine’s Facebook page.

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      November 22, 2014 at 5:33 pm

      Thank you Virginia! I so appreciate your sweet comment!!

      Reply
  9. Debi M says

    November 23, 2014 at 9:45 pm

    Toni, you amaze me with your creativity. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      November 23, 2014 at 9:50 pm

      I appreciate your sweet comments. Thank you so much Debi!

      Reply
  10. Karen @ Dogs Don't Eat Pizza says

    November 29, 2014 at 10:09 am

    This is genius! Totally doing this this year for Christmas. It would be perfect by our living room fireplace!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      November 29, 2014 at 4:17 pm

      Karen –
      So happy to help out! I had a a large site share this on their Facebook page. It was 99.999999999% positive – with a few people asking why?? People don’t understand that not everyone has access to these logs or they can be very expensive. I wanted to place them on my Christmas tree and the real thing is too heavy to do that with. Also, it was going to cost me $100 to buy just a few logs at the local craft store. So I decided to craft them instead.
      Have fun making them!

      Reply
  11. debbiedoos says

    December 7, 2014 at 8:20 am

    Those are pretty darn Amazing Toni! WOW, you would never know. Thanks so much for sharing at the Dollar party. Merry Christmas. XO

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      December 8, 2014 at 9:20 pm

      Thank you Debbie! I appreciate you sweet comment.
      Merry Christmas to you!!

      Reply
  12. the cape on the corner says

    December 9, 2014 at 9:23 am

    that is insane! in a good way. i am so super impressed with the idea and the execution.
    b

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      December 9, 2014 at 10:13 pm

      Thank you!! They are fun to make!

      Reply
  13. Shannon @ Fox Hollow Cottage says

    December 9, 2014 at 8:16 pm

    Those are fan freaking tastic Toni!!!!!
    I can not believe you made Birch logs.
    And coincidentally, they are exactly what my fireplace is missing. 😉
    Those knocked my socks off.
    Bravo!!!!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      December 9, 2014 at 10:12 pm

      Thank you, Shannon!! Wow, that means a lot coming from you!! I really appreciate your sweet comments!

      Reply
  14. Lorey says

    January 17, 2015 at 6:48 pm

    I really like this idea! I just moved to FL from RI and I’m going to miss all things New England. This will help cut down on some of that homesickness for sure! I can see using this to cover a foam wreath as well. Great idea!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      January 18, 2015 at 4:51 pm

      Lorey,
      Probably not too many birch trees in FL ; ) I’m so glad that you’ll be able to use this idea!
      Thank you!

      Reply
  15. Tracy says

    December 22, 2015 at 9:18 am

    Hello! I’m visiting from Better After! These are sensational. Well done and thank you for the inspiration. Merry Christmas!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      December 27, 2015 at 10:10 pm

      Thank you, Tracy. I appreciate your kind comments! Merry Christmas to you too!!

      Reply
  16. Billie Souto says

    December 13, 2016 at 9:27 am

    I Have Been Lookin For The Directions For These Logs For So Long. Thank You So Very Much, I Love Them. The Log’s Look So Real.Thank You Again. Merry Christmas.

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      December 13, 2016 at 7:16 pm

      Billie – so glad you found them. Have fun while crafting!

      Reply
  17. Susan Wood says

    March 10, 2018 at 7:02 am

    Please add me to your list.

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      March 13, 2018 at 9:28 pm

      Hi Susan,
      I just checked our subscribers list and it looks like you haven’t confirmed your email you received. Once you click on that link you will be directed to our free printables. Thanks.

      Reply
  18. Rhett says

    June 11, 2018 at 12:49 pm

    These are very realistic and really look nice with Christmas decor, you are very talented. I am going to try this soon

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      June 17, 2018 at 6:47 pm

      Rhett – so glad to help. I hope you enjoy crafting these!

      Reply
  19. Karen says

    October 31, 2018 at 9:22 am

    Lovely! I will definitely be trying this.

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      June 21, 2022 at 10:36 pm

      Thank you, it’s a fun project.

      Reply
  20. Jenna says

    November 8, 2018 at 7:14 am

    I made these for a store window display! I kept the ends open, attached a dowel to a base and slid the noodle on to the dowel so they can stand up in the window! Now they look like real trees with the fake snow! Great idea! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      November 27, 2018 at 9:10 am

      Wow, that sounds awesome!! I would love to see pictures!

      Reply
  21. Sharon Wagoner says

    January 4, 2019 at 6:54 pm

    Love the idea of diy Birtch logs.

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      January 5, 2019 at 12:07 pm

      Awesome! So glad to help!

      Reply
  22. Kathryn A Wall says

    January 21, 2019 at 8:21 am

    This is an oak wall-mounted paper towel holder I revamped into a jewelry organizer. I painted flowers on outside ends and stenciled “pretties” on top of back board. Added cup hooks on bottom edge and now have necklace and bracelet storage w/o tangles!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      January 29, 2019 at 6:27 pm

      Kathryn, I love your ingenuity! So clever. Thank you for sharing.

      Reply
  23. Meghan says

    August 13, 2019 at 4:01 pm

    This is what I was looking for. Thankyou! I have new furniture this year and I’m already trying to plan for Christmas. I am going to half to do the half tree thing on my Christmas tree to make it fit and I had the idea to cover the bottom exposed pole with pool noodles but was searching for an idea on how to best make it look like wood. YOU are a lifesaver!!!! Thankyou so much!!!!! Wonderful!!!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      February 19, 2020 at 12:16 pm

      I hoped it all turned out fabulous!!

      Reply
  24. Shirley Coleman says

    October 15, 2019 at 3:01 pm

    Thank you sooo much for your help!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      December 27, 2019 at 5:22 pm

      You are more than welcome!

      Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      December 27, 2019 at 5:28 pm

      You are very welcome!

      Reply
  25. Rebecca says

    November 2, 2019 at 9:00 am

    Thank you so much for this idea
    I have never seen this before but I will definitely be making these for my home this xmas x

    Reply
  26. Rebecca Gallagher says

    August 24, 2020 at 8:59 am

    You have such great ideas. Thanks for sharing with us.

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      September 11, 2020 at 12:31 am

      Rebecca, thank you!! You made my day : )
      xoxo

      Reply
  27. Pamela says

    December 29, 2020 at 4:26 am

    Love this idea

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      December 29, 2020 at 8:31 pm

      Thank you, it’s easy and fun!

      Reply
  28. Sharon Campbell says

    October 27, 2023 at 10:12 am

    You are so creative! I love these birch logs, and will be making these to add to my Christmas decorations. I just hope mine look as good as yours. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      October 31, 2023 at 4:48 pm

      Thank you. When I was working on them I kept thinking – not sure if this is going to work. LOL. But when it’s all done it comes together. Especially adding it to Christmas decor it helps pull it all together.
      Have fun!

      Reply
  29. Natalie says

    October 29, 2023 at 1:53 am

    Amazed at what you go through to make these! Our yard is full of real Birch logs. Not heavy like you mention. Very light weight and easy to cut any length and work with.

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      October 31, 2023 at 4:46 pm

      That’s awesome! Most people don’t have access to birch logs in their yards.
      I had to purchase them. The ones I purchased were too heavy for the Christmas tree. So I decided to make them. It doesn’t take that long to make but this is great for people who don’t have the trees.
      Thanks

      Reply
  30. Ida L. Malysh says

    November 4, 2023 at 12:00 pm

    Just absolutely fabulous ideas! I only wish I had known of this 10 yrs or so ago!!! I’m so excited that even though I am getting on in age, I hope to be able to try this project for this year!!!👏👏👏👏

    Reply
    • Toni Roberts - Design DazzleToni - Design Dazzle says

      November 7, 2023 at 9:43 pm

      Thank you, Ida. It’s a fun and easy project. Put on some Christmas music or a Christmas movie and enjoy crafting!

      Reply

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Hi, I’m Toni! Welcome to my blog Design Dazzle. I love being a designer, DIYer, traveler, crafter, holiday lover, and memory maker. Read more.

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