Yesterday was such fun! SH and I got together and finally made the Jewelry trees that I will be using for my trunk show in July (oh, did I forget to mention that is happening - YAY - more details to come). I have been wanting to do this for a while, and was so happy to have gotten all the materials I needed over the weekend to finally make it happen.
Last Saturday I went downtown to get the beautiful sandblasted Manzanita trees. You can get them all over, but my store of choice is Moskatels (go there, it's amazing). Next I hit up Home Depot, got plaster and metal rods. Lastly I went to Orchid Fever to pick out the bases (I had a bit of trouble deciding what I wanted to use and ultimately went with a small flower pot - it's good for now, but know that this element will evolve over time as I make more).
So - yesterday after work I went over to SH's and we set up shop in her cute little courtyard. As a architect/painter, she has a ton of supplies and lots of experience, so I was happy to have her in my corner. First we drilled a small hole through the base of each tree and fitted a metal rod through its center (to provide extra support). We were shocked by the woods strength and a little surprised by how much it was smoking as we drilled on through.
The next step was to just make sure that everything fit correctly, and once we established that, we were in good shape. We set each tree in place - centering them - taping all three against the wall for extra support - while making sure we had enough room to pour the plaster without disturbing trees.
The last step was mixing the water and plaster, and then pouring the mixture into the pots. The process was super easy, not that messy and really inexpensive. We let it sit (while we had yummy Vietnamese food) and by the time we walked back (to check on our babies) they were totally set.
The result is a beautiful tree just waiting to be adorned with all your jewels. I think this will be perfect for the show, and can't wait to use these for myself once it's done (let's be honest).
