Gemstone Tree

This wire gem tree is a perfect gift for anyone! Fun to make but involves patience and perseverance. It's a great craft to do on a rainy day as it takes a while. Pretty easy to make when you get the hang of it. Hope you guys give this fun craft a go as its definitely worth it! Enjoy!!

Supplies

You will need:

- Some wire ( gold, silver, or copper coloured is fine) make sure it's not too thin, yet not too thick

- A skewer or toothpick

- You can use any rocks or gems (small ones)

- Decorative thin wire used at the end (optional)

- Rock for the base (pick the rock after the tree is made, so it is the right size)

- Some small jewellery pliers work well

- A hot glue gun or some strong glue

- Some good patience :)

Step 1: The Wire Sizes

So you'll need different lengths of wire depending on the type of branch we're working on. I recommend you cut these with some small pliers. So here are the sizes:

For the first lot of branches (I call them "1 Branch" as they have one branch coming off each side) - 3 pieces of 40 cm wire.

For the second lot of branches (2 Branch - 2 off each side) you need to cut 3 pieces of 50 cm wire.

For the third branch (3 Branch- 3 off each side) -cut one 1 metre piece of wire

Also cut 6 lots of 20 cm pieces, I call them the 'extras or the roots'. They are used as roots or support things at the end.

Step 2: 1 Branch

For this step you'll need your '1 Branch' wires (3 x 40 cm wire pieces), your pliers, your skewer or toothpick. I'm gonna refer to it as skewer as the word is stuck in my head.

Grab one of your wire pieces and fold it in half. Put the skewer under the point in the wire where it bends, so the wire kind of droops over the top of it (make sure each half of the wire is even when it hangs over). Twist the wire so it forms a circle around the skewer (shown in image A).

Now get your pliers and pinch the wire together about 3 cm down (shown in image B). Pinch it tight (but be careful not to cut the wire) and spin the skewer around like a crank so it starts to twist the wire together. Twist until it reaches your pliers. You have made your first 'twig off'!

I call this step the: 'fold, pinch and twist process.'

Step 3: Main 1 Branch (Part 2)

You'll see that you now have two bits of leftover wire from the bottom of the twist, separate them so that they're horizontal.

Pic 1 - Grab one bit of wire and fold it approximately 1/3 of the way along, making sure there will be some left over wire (for the trunk).

Pic 2 - Pinch it with the pliers at the bottom of the twist and put the skewer in the fold like before and twist the skewer like a crank (again) so it forms another twist right up to the pliers.

Repeat this process with the wire on the other side (the longer piece). That makes your other twig off.

Pic 3: You will find two pieces of left over wire now twist those two together (end result Pic 4).

Do this step with the other two 1 Branch wires. You should now have 3 complete twig offs (Pic 5).

Step 4: 2 Branch

For this you'll need: your '2 Branch Wires' (3 x 50 cm wire), pliers, skewer or toothpick

Pic 1: Do everything you did in 1 Branch*, except for the trunk twisting. Only twist about 1 cm down. Separate the wires so they are horizontal.

Pic 2: Do the fold pinch and twist process. (Do this for both sides). Then twist the trunk bits of wire together. Do this with the other two pieces. You should have 5 twig offs on this.

Pic 3: Repeat process for your other 2 Branch wires. You should end up with 3 completed 2 Branch wires.

*More info on page - Main 1 Branch (step 3)

Step 5: 3 Branch

For this you'll need: your '3 Branch Wire' (1 x 1 metre wire), pliers, skewer or toothpick

Do the Main 1 branch process*, except only twist the trunk bit about 1 cm down.

Pic 1: Separate the wire from the bottom of the twist point, choose one piece and do the fold, pinch and twist process, except only twist it to half way.

Pic 2: Fold the leftover piece of wire in half, still leaving some extra, and do the fold, pinch and twist process again. Keep twisting until it reaches original centre point (as shown in Pic 3).

Repeat entire process with opposite side. Finally twist the leftover trunk bits together (end result shown in Pic 4).

*More info on page - Main 1 Branch (step 3)

Step 6: Gathering/Roots

Gather all the pieces in your hands and hold the trunks.

Grab your 'Extra/Roots' wires (6 x 20 cm) and wrap them one at a time around the trunk wires. Leave some leftover trunk wire at the bottom, still visible. Spread out the left over pieces of wire, these are the roots. Use any extra wire if needed.

Optional Extra: instead of spreading out the trunk wires, you could do the 'fold, pinch and twist process' to the roots/extra and add them.

Step 7: Make It Look Snazzy

Spread the branches out, so they're more tree like.

Now if you want to, grab your thin, coloured wire. Twirl this around your tree branches. (This doesn't have to be perfect) This is optional by the way.

Step 8: Attaching the Base

Grab your hot glue gun or strong glue and a rock that isn't to big for your tree, yet not too small. Put a large dob of glue on your rock where your tree is going to go. Pop the bottom of your tree trunk on it and hold it there till glue goes hard. You can add any necessary glue in other places too.

Step 9: Gems

Grab your small gems, rocks, crystals, whatever you have. Put some glue either on the gems or the edges of the hole on your branches and place your gems on. I also added some around the bottom of the rock too.

You may need to spread out your branches again and pull off any excess stringy bits of glue. If you want a spooky look, perhaps keep the stringy glue on!

Step 10: DONE!!!

Good job, thanks for putting your time into reading this entire instructable. I hope I haven't bored you to sleep! You can also add twinkle lights around your tree if you want (It looks amazing!)

I hope you enjoyed this gemstone tree craft! :)