Feather Trees

[HellsKitchenette]

I've only seen them in the last year or two, and just read about their history. Now I desperately want one (or two or three). But wow, are they expensive! It just seems kind of excessive, seeing how little material is involved. The reproductions, that is. What do you all think? (I'm seeing them for hundreds and hundreds of dollars.)

[Sickie Ickie]

Some people make their own.

What is the history?

[putrid]

Welcome to the forum Hellskitchenette. Like you I've always liked the old feather trees. And like you the price has always kept them out of my reach. So I made a fake one.

http://www.christmasfanclub.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=107

The trunk is a 3/4 inch wood dowel. The cardboard house at the bottom hides the two stacked pieces of 2x4 that has a hole in the top to hold the tree. I'm not that good with wood working. LOL. The tree is around 34 inches form the base to the tip of the top branch

The branches started out as wire. Cloths hanger or as strong.

The 'feathers' started out as that cheap green garland. The flimsy plastic kind that usually come in 50ft strands and is about 2 inches wide.

What I did. I started by determining the height and how many branches per level. I wanted a fuller tree so I did 6 for the bottom 3 tiers and 5 for the top two. A great place to look at feather tree designs is Ebay.

You'll need a drill bit that will allow the business end of the branches to fit snugly in the trunk. Each hole should be drilled at between 30 to 45 angle. Straight in and the branches will come out to easily. The very top will be the only straight in hole. Each branch will need a bend at the trunk end to fit into the tree.

For the tips of the branches I used bread clay and painted a dull red. You could use any polymer clay and bake the tips right on the branches in the oven.

I started out by tightly wrapping the green garland around the wire branch. Pulling it back a bit from the red 'berry' I put a bit of clear liquid nails and let the garland back over the glue. Did the same for the trunk end just before the bend. Remember to wind this as tight as you can around the wire. Now you're going to end up with a branch that looks like a chia pet. This is the messy part. Trim the branch down with scissors to a fuzzy 1/2 inch or more. Don't try to get it to even.

For this tree I used every last inch of 50 ft of that cheap green garland.

A close up of the trunk and branches.

http://www.christmasfanclub.com/picture.php?albumid=8&pictureid=337

This is a shot form this years Christmas stuff. It's the tree decked with antiques only. Except the Angel on the top. I made that as well.

http://www.christmasfanclub.com/picture.php?albumid=29&pictureid=255

It's an easy project once you get started with it. As long as you make a sturdy base and pole your tree can be as tall as you like. I've seen 6 ft real feather trees. Remember, the longer the branch the stiffer the wire will need to be.

[bethene]

looks great Putrid, love the antique ornaments!

[putrid]

Now to start the fun part. Pics and explanations for folks who want to make one.

The base.
Real feather trees have a wood base. Some of them have simple tole painting wile others are just painted. Traditionally there was a fence around the base with a farm scene of "Putz" animals. These were usually hand made of paper mache, clay or cotton wrapped around sticks.

http://christmasfanclub.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3862&d=1292801614

The dowel rod should fit snug into the hole of the base. I put paper around the end of mine because it wobbled a bit.

A traditional feather tree wasn't made to be taken apart. That makes this version that much easier to store. In this shot I try to show the angel I used when drilling into the center dowel rod. I wrongly stated earlier that the angel didn't have to be that steep. Yes it does. LOL You can't see the wire on the one closest to the pole.

http://christmasfanclub.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3861&d=1292801611

The placement of the branches. You can choose to make each tier of branches the same distance apart. I chose to shorten them up a bit as they got higher up. Also you can choose how many branches you have per tier. I have 6 on all but the very top. That one has 5.

http://christmasfanclub.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=3860&d=1292801609

When storing the tree I put each branch size in it's own bag. No sorting when it come time to put it up!

I've seen real feather trees from a few inches tall to 6 or more feet. Just keep in mind that the taller the tree the wider and heavier the base.

[Dinky318]

There are several videos on youtube showing how to make one. My favorite is the ones made with the boas. I was looking at some videos on youtube and stumbled across the feather tree. There is one were the lady tells the story about them and how to make one out of some kind of bird feather.

Dinky318