Just before Christmas, we experienced an awesome ice storm that downed a great number of rather large branches in southern Ontario. Then it snowed, covering most of the evidence.
Well, now that the snow is starting to melt, the extent of the damage is being revealed, and I wondered how my daughter and I could use those branches to make something nice.
Inspired by a jewelry tree I saw in a magazine a while ago, we picked a couple of branches, trimmed them a bit, cooked them in the oven at 200F for 2 hours to dry them out and get rid of any unwanted critters, and stuck them into mounds of air-dry clay. We threw in a couple of plastic sprigs of greenery, and made little 'ponds' to put earrings in.
Well, now that the snow is starting to melt, the extent of the damage is being revealed, and I wondered how my daughter and I could use those branches to make something nice.
Inspired by a jewelry tree I saw in a magazine a while ago, we picked a couple of branches, trimmed them a bit, cooked them in the oven at 200F for 2 hours to dry them out and get rid of any unwanted critters, and stuck them into mounds of air-dry clay. We threw in a couple of plastic sprigs of greenery, and made little 'ponds' to put earrings in.
They looked pretty classy like that, but I had some sprinkle "grass" powder from a nearby train model shop that I wanted to try. So we painted the 'ponds' and using the glue from the model shop, sprinkled the green stuff where moss might grow.
Since the smaller one is going to be a birthday present for a friend who likes purple, my daughter painted that branch appropriately.
I left mine au natural. Just a bit of indoor craft varnish.
Since the smaller one is going to be a birthday present for a friend who likes purple, my daughter painted that branch appropriately.
I left mine au natural. Just a bit of indoor craft varnish.
And there they are!
So before all those fallen branches get picked up and sawdusted, pick up a few and see what you can do!
So before all those fallen branches get picked up and sawdusted, pick up a few and see what you can do!