Last blog I talked about how we tackled the root of the artificial tree problem by using a flour, salt, water and roofing paper cover that went over a skeleton of chicken wire and wood. It was dirty work, but we were able to stick to it, and at the end we were rewarded with something that was plant-like, but still too pedes-tree-an. Our trees needed Spruce-ing up and we were stumped on how to proceed.
Luckily, talented artist Rachel came to the rescue. While originally hired on for some fine detail work, we decided that a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush and had her log some more hours doing scenic painting.
Rachel didn’t beat around the bush. She gave our props special tree-tment. Check out this “after” picture.
When we saw the near finished product it was quite a re-leaf. But see those wires and twinkle lights in the back? Let’s just say we made a bad decision by not getting the trees IN the swamp before installing those lights. (Face-palm!) With some feats of contortion, we were finally able to put them in place to be painted–knock on wood.
A heaping helping of moss and we’re almost there. Even with all the house lights up and the trees out of their shady swamp home, our props made me pine for my Louisiana days. (Sorry, don’t mean to get sappy.) Yew can bet the effect is all the more magical with proper tree placement and atmospheric lighting. You’ll have to come check it out when you’re in our neck of the woods.
Next, come see how many Davis’s it takes to screw in a light bulb…
