| Hello! PhyllisMN sent me an e-mail telling me of your request and I'd be happy to give you the directions as best as I can remember what I did! First you will need to find an old bucket or plastic pot that you can break ( I think even a stiff cardboard one would work -like a movie theater popcorn bucket?). You will use this to support your post and to pour cement in. Follow the directions on the back of the cement bag and place your post in the center of the cement making sure to go down far enough. I would recommend about 8 inches. That should support the sculpture once you add the additional weight of the bottles. My first bottle tree, I used an old broom handle painted with copper spray paint for the center post. That eventually weakened and broke, so I ended up dismantling the whole thing and rebuilt it. I went to our local feed store and found a resin type of square utitily broom handle though this time so that it would hold up in the harsh weather conditions. I drilled several holes spaced several inches apart and from different sides all the way through the post. The holes are just large enough to accommodate the larger diameter copper wire that holds the bottles (the branch wires). Honestly I don't remember the gauges of wire that I used, but I'm guessing by the looks of it the larger wire is about 1/4" in diameter. The smaller one about 1/8". You want to have the holes ONLY big enough to get the wire through with some diffuculty, otherwise the wire will flop around. I had a heck of a time removing them from the old one! You want to be able to have the wire remain stiff so you can manipulate it and support the bottles. One of my holes was too large and I wrapped the wire around the post which helped, but it still sagged more than I wanted. Basically then I inserted the wire and after I decided on a length that I thought looked good, I cut the wire (you'll need a heavy duty cutter! or have them cut lengths for you at the hardware store) I bent the larger wires only slightly to create some gentle curves. I then sort of twisted or curled the ends a bit inward, so someone wouldn't rub against it and scratch themselves. Additionally, I decorated the ends with little glass jewels. Once the main structure was built I decorated the post this time with bits and pieces of old broken dishes and oddball jewelry pieces using mosaic techniques. I used the clear silicon (isn't that right up there with duct tape? ) and then grouted it after it dried. Funny, I wasn't able to finish it last fall, but it worked just fine completing it this summer. If you are not going to mosiac it, make sure to paint the pole before you place the wire in the holes. Then, take the smaller gauged wire and starting with the neck, twist the wire around the bottle spiraling towards the bottom end of the bottle. I would always leave an inch or so to twist in a spiral at the neck end several inches at the bottom end to attach to the larger "branch" wires. Before you attached the now wired bottles you can use the clear silicon to add any embellishments you have laying around. I used glass beads, old jewelry, and a few other sparkly trinkets. I also added glass jewels to the branch wires and to the post. To attach the bottles, just twist the wire on as securely as you can manage to the branch wires. Then you can bend either the branch wire or the bottle wire to make sure the bottle is facing downward. You don't want rain to get into the bottles and freeze. That would create a whole new look! :-) I then made leaves from the thin copper foil that you can purchase through an art supply company. Dick Blick is one source that carries some smaller pieces otherwise it comes in a roll. Check out "art metal foils". http://www.dickblick.com/zz605/13/
If you have a good art supply store, they may carry it too and there may be something at the local hardware or Lowes for all I know. For those I traced around a broad leaf from a Johnny Jump Up flower using a Sharpie marker, but you can use any leaf you like or make one up too! I used that because it was a simple heart shaped type of leaf. I didn't want anything too complicated. You can cut the foil with either tin snips or an old pair of scissors. I then created some texture by using a ball peen hammer. That was fun! I had diffculty attaching the leaves so they would stay so if I were to do it again, I think I would drill some holes in them away from the edge and then attach them that way. You could attach them in such a way that some would flutter in the wind and then some more securely that would not move. I originally made thin bands of copper from the foil to fold over the stem part of the leaf. Oh this IS getting long isn't it? Finally, I beaded glass beads of my colors that coordinated with my jewels onto some very thin wire and hung those intermittently on the tree as an additional embellishment. This step would certainly be optional, but I like them. Once completed, dig a hole deep enough to bury the cement base and enjoy! I hope I covered it thoroughly enough for you. If not, feel free to ask questions. I don't get here much at all anymore, but I bet Phyllis would let me know. She could send you my e-mail too. | 
