I've been wanting a Christmas tree (for Agnes). Something large but in scale. It is tough to find one with somewhat skinny branches. Most look like they just took the top off a large tree -- with only 4 or 5 rows of branches.
I wanted a 10' tree (equivalent) -- that meant finding a 20" tree with small branches. I looked high and low. All the usual places. Then I found this one it's about 16" without the stand and the star topper. So, that's an 8' tree.
I started by rearranging all the branches (to display it -- the job had been hurried). I wanted glass ornaments. Not an easy feat. There are a lot of miniature ornaments, but nothing I can honestly saw I wanted.
I decided to make my own. First was the stand. Well, it came in a big burlap sack. Not to scale and not the look I'm going for. I cut a water bottle and inverted the top. It wasn't heavy enough to hold the tree, so I packed it with all the sculpy I'm not using anyway :).
I'm going to make a skirt from the left over brocade from the carriage.
Next the balls or as my mother says the Christmas bulbs (and she doesn't mean the lights). I used glass beads. I found some large ones. I decided on clear/crystal and red. Just the crystal was pretty, but I think the red helps it "pop". I strung those on jeweler's pins and used a pair of pliers to fashion a hook. So far, I've hung 96. I have about 16 left to go. As you can see, the red ones are the ones missing.
I need to shoot it outside. It's just on my kitchen counter -- The balls look like plastic ones. That's kind of disappointing considering the expense of using glass. Still needs work....
