The are fake mini trees, so I guess I qualify as a fake mini God... Maybe not.

Anyway, I thought that you might like to make some trees yourself... so here goes!

I cut #26 paddle wire that you get in the floral department of the craft stores.  On this particular tree, I cut 11 pieces about four inches long.  I vary the number from seven on up.

The main thing to remember when you are doing this is to twist ALL of the wires in the same direction.  If you don't, you will be untwisting some wires that you have already twisted and have a big mess.

I hold the wires in a bunch with my left hand and my right hand holds the pliers.  That is the hand that I twist with. 
First I twist all of the wires together about an inch from the bottom end.  I keep going until I have a trunk that I like.

Then I turn it upside down and twist the bottom 
of the trunk wires to form the roots that go into the dirt. In this case, I had 11 wires in the bunch.  I twisted three at a time on three bunches. On the forth root, I had only two left and those two got twisted in the same direction as the rest.

I set the base of the tree in air hardening clay.  I get it at Walmart and it comes in handy for holding things together as well as making bricks and other finishes. The clay can be easily broken away from the trunk when you want to put it in a pot.

Back to the twisting. I always twist away from myself with the pliers.  That way, no matter which part I am working on, I am going in the right direction.  No unwinding if you do that.

Anyway, after you get a shape that you like, paint the trunk and branches brown... In this case I had a bottle of Bark Brown by Folk Art Americana. I am not even sure how long ago I bought.  I though that it was an appropriate color, with that name. It seems to work.

After that, I let everything dry and then glued greenery to the branches... Voila! A tree!

I am going back now to attempt pots for the bonsai. I have never tried that before. Wish me luck!

See you tomorrow.

It's 7:30 PM and I was sitting in the bedroom working on minis.  It dawned on me that I had not done a blog entry yet today... I grabbed the camera, took some photos of what I have been doing all day and ran for the computer...

Tessie just stood there staring at me. Sometimes she is no help at all.  No reminder from her...

I am sure that it would have been, "Hey dummy! You forgot to do the blog."  And she would have said it about 5:30 AM tomorrow morning...
I didn't do a whole lot on the She Shed today.  I drew up six sets of plans so that the rest of the gang could do the project. 

I took those to the meeting and explained what they had to bring to do the She Shed.  Then for the rest of the afternoon I worked on a couple of Bonsai Trees. 

I think that they turned out pretty well for a first try.

The first one is kind of a Japanese Pine.  I did that one with the fuzzy green stuff that I use for 1" scale trees.

The second one is done with the railroad stuff that people use for ground cover. 

Now all I have to do is put them in pots.

They are sitting in pieces of air drying clay right now. 

Tomorrow I will attempt some poly clay pots for them. 

Of course Tessie is pleased... Everything I did today was for her.  I think that she may have the mesmerizer hidden behind her back in that first photo. 

Back to work. See you tomorrow.

And so are the number of trees....

I had four of these shaped yesterday.  Today there are six and thanks to Tessie, they are painted...

They will need a couple more coats, but they don't look too bad so far.

I let Tessie loose in the workroom this morning. She found all of the Heavenly Bamboo that I have been saving for years... More trees or a whole forest.

I should have known.  Tessie's plans are growing by the minute.  She is making all kinds of lists and finding all kinds of supplies for the potting shed project.
There were other interesting plants in with the bamboo and rocks and weeds.  The box she is sitting in is all of my small garden supplies.

At the rate she is going, I am going to have to replenish all of the garden boxes and make room for a huge garden project!

The straw that broke the camel's back was this box.

It is filled with all sorts of items for a Chinese garden... And she wants to use them all.

I have the feeling that this could take up the whole back yard, if she has anything to say about it.

It all started with a potting shed that I found in kit form... Half built.  It is growing by leaps and bounds.

I think that I made a big mistake when I purchased that potting shed! I wonder if Goodwill gives refunds?

See you tomorrow.

I went out to water this morning and decided that I am not a bonsai grower... I touched the branches on the bonsai that I planted a few days ago and the green stuff turned to flakes of green and fell of in my hand.

I don't think that I am qualified to do bonsai.  At least not regular sized bonsai. 

So I decided to try my hand at fake mini bonsai.  So far those are turning out pretty good.  If all else fails, try it in mini!

I got the frames for the trees made from brass paddle wire that they  use for flower arranging.  It is 26 gage.  It is easy to bend and shape.

I stuck each one in a piece of air drying clay. I will paint the wire a bark color and then do some leaves of some kind.

About the time I decided to take a photo of them for you. Tessie came bouncing in with the new potting shed.  She insisted I take a photo of the four trees on the porch of the potting shed... I suspected that something was afoot...

She went to the other end of the bed where I was working.  She whipped out a sticky pad and a pencil and went to work.

When she was done, she posted the note on the door. In case you can't see it, it says, "Tessie's Trees". 

I assume that is a hint as to what to do with the new potting shed. 

She started pacing off an area on one side. Poked some pins in the bed in four places and said, "That's how big I want the green house for the trees!".  Someone please remind me to take out the pins before I go to sleep.

Then she picked up her note pad and pen and zapped herself and the potting shed back to the workroom. At least I am assuming that is where she went.  She is probably hunting for that potting bench that I made and didn't  use in the conservatory. 

I guess I should go hunt her down, before she gets into more mischief than she can handle. One thing leads to another... There will be a greenhouse, then probably a roadside stand for selling bonsai.  I can't say that I have seen one of those before, but that doesn't mean that it can't be done.  Tessie does like to lead her own parade, to see if anybody follows. 

Back to the bonsai trees.  See you tomorrow.

OK/ I got the outside of the She Shed painted.  I am not sure that I like it.  I may re do it.

It's so brown... Maybe it will be better after I paint the floor.  If not, the brown has to go.

Tessie is not thrilled either.
I did get one coat of Antique White on the inside. I used one of those Glidden paint sample cans from Walmart.  It sure doesn't do well on unfinished wood.  It almost looks pink and I can't get one coat to cover it. I hope that two coats will change it.

Then I can go to work on the floor.
I did some wiring on the little tree this morning... I think that I need to get brave and trim some branches here and there. 

Tessie has already claimed it.  She keeps hugging the trunk and crooning, "My very own tree.  My size and everything."  Whatever that means...

I am going back to work now.

See you tomorrow.

I took the prototype to Wednesday Witches this afternoon.  Everybody liked it and they all want to do it. At least everyone that was there.

I pinned the roof on and cut the foam core board that I cut out of the front to make fake doors to show them one version of what it would look like.

They approved.  I am hoping that they will each want to do a different outside and inside.  That way, they won't all be the same.

We shall see what happens. I don't really want to see seven other She Sheds exactly like the prototype.

When I got home, Tessie was looking over the potting shed... She now has suggested that there be a glass addition for bonsai plants. 

I knew that this kit would get me into trouble!  If I do an addition for bonsai, guess who will have to make the bonsai plants?

No.  Tessie has no intention of starting a new hobby. Especially one that requires her getting her hands dirty!

Speaking of bonsai, The little tree has been in the pot for about a week.  I think that I am going to have to start wiring it tomorrow.  Wish me luck. 

I have never done this before.  It should at least be an interesting experiment. 

Now where did I put that copper wire?...

See you tomorrow.  Wire in hand. Or possibly on the tree!