These adorable little gem trees are perfect for fairy gardens and small rock collections, and make wonderful gifts. They're easy and quick to make, and are a great conversation piece!

Supplies

Tools:

•small pliers

•skewer

•ruler

•small vice (optional)

Materials:

•two-part epoxy

•round copper wire, 24 gauge, 24inches

•bottle cap (or small dish to hold glue)

•disposable gloves

•one tumbled rock, approx. 1-1.5 inches wide (for the base)

•tiny, chipped, tumbled rocks (for leaves)

Step 1:

Cut the wire into three sections.
a.) 9inches
b.) 8inches
c.) 7inches

Step 2:

Take one of the pieces and folded in half loosely.

Step 3:

Pinch the wires together around the skewer and twist the two wires together a few times until the twisted part is about a half an inch long. This is going to be one of the branches of your tree. Remove the skewer. The loop will be the holder for a leaf.

Step 4:

Take the skewer and put it in the bend of the wire and then wrap the wire around the skewer until it's snug.

Step 5:

Take one of the ends and make a bend in it, at about half an inch down from the bottom of that twist, to make the next branch.

Pinch the wires together around the skewer and twist the two wires together a few times until you meet the bottom of the last twist. This is going to be another one of the branches of your tree. Remove the skewer.

Step 6:

Pinch the two wires together, just under both of the twists, and twist them together. Make that twist about a half an inch.

Step 7:

One of the wires will now be longer than the other. Take the longer wire, and bend it into another loop under that last twist, a little bit bigger than half an inch, and then twist it into a branch.

Step 8:

Twist the two wires together all the way down, and then snip the ends flush with each other. This is one of the three branches you need for your tree.

Repeat steps 2 through 10 for all the remaining wires. For shorter size wire, you should make the branches a little bit shorter.

Step 9:

Line up all the bottoms of the branches and place them in a vice (or hold with pliers) about a quarter an inch up.

Step 10:

This is a tricky part. Twist all three branches together until you reach the shortest branch.
Then twist the two taller branches two more times.
Since this wire is so thin, it will snap if you twist it too tightly. Use your fingers not your pliers. You just want it to stay together.

Step 11:

Spread out the bottoms of the tree. These will be the roots. then adjust your branches the way you want them. Then place your tree on top of the rock that you're using for the base, and bend the roots so that the tree will sit on top of the rock without any help.

Step 12:

I am using a two-part epoxy. Make sure you wear gloves when doing this. Always follow the label's instructions for use. This glue is the easiest way to glue the leaves to the wire and the trunk onto the rock. It will set in 5 minutes and will harden within an hour.

Put one drop in a bottle cap. We're going to attach the trunk to the rock. Scoop up a little glue on the end of the skewer and dab it on the bottom of the roots. Place the tree on to the rock. Then wait for it to dry. While waiting for the tree to dry, you can sort out which rocks you are going to use for the leaves.

Step 13:

First bend all of the hoops so they're parallel with the ceiling. Then carefully put a little bit of glue on the bottom of each leaf and place it on the loop. This part can be a little frustrating because the leaves like to fall off.

Step 14:

Ta-da! Now you have a wonderful little gem tree. These trees will turn out to be about two inches tall and approximately two inches wide.

You could place one of your leaves at bottom of the tree trunk if you want as an added decoration. This is also a nice solution to cover up any glue that might've dripped on the rock accidentally.

Congratulations! Your Gem Tree is now done. You can use it in fairy gardens, as a stand alone on your shelf, or anything else you want.

Variations Ideas:
If you want to make more, you could use beads. You could also use the same type of rock for the leaves as the type that was used for the base

Thanks for reading my instructable. If you like it, please vote for me, and if you tried it, please send me a picture.

**I'm going to make more rock and mineral projects in the near future, so keep an eye out**
Thank you!!