I first built the base of the tree out of a pile of branches gathered from the back yard. I tied a bunch together for the trunk, then wrapped them in quilt batting to make it look like it was one piece. I set it in a terracotta pot with quick drying cement. I crocheted several large pieces of free-form crochet to cover thee trunk and then wrapped and stitched them around the trunk. For the branches I did the same, but wrapped the crocheted pieces directly around the branches and sewed them together. For the thinner branches and the tiny ends I crocheted directly around the branch. I also added wooden beads to the ends of some branches.

The leaves are hand cut from recycled leather, punched around with a leather punch, and then crocheted around with free-form crochet. Some of the leaves have wire added so they will stand up and not just hang. The nest was made with several strands of yarn, fuzzy yarn and jute and crocheted in a basic bowl shape, I added a few scraps of leather to make it look more nest like, I just tied them through the holes in the crochet. I crocheted the eggs in the round with a small hook for a tight stitch and filled them with fiber fill. The mama and baby birds are also hand crocheted with out a pattern, and were stitched to the tree when photographing so we could move it around easier. I added as many details as I could, crocheted moss covering the cement in the base, a mushroom, knots in the trunk, nest, birds, eggs and fungus or moss crawling up the sides of the branches.

The tree is approximately 7 feet x 7 feet.

