Work in Progress

Sometime last year a  couple bought a house down on the Boca, and immediately when entering the man, Dave knew he wanted to change the column into a palm tree. They approached me about the task, and I got my mind going. At first he thought paint, but I really wanted something three dimensional.  A little research on Pinterest and my plan was in motion.

I wanted to make the trunk less square, so bought chicken wire to soften the edges. I had originally thought I would scrunch the wire, but it didnt seem to need it. I literally stiched the wire together to secure in place.

At times in my research I thought of using brown paper bags, or the unbleached paper towels found in gas stations, but decided on burlap once I got to the fabric store. Cut the burlap into strips, frayed one edge, and again stitched the strips to the chicken wire.

The palm fronds I did at home and brought the day of installation.  I opted for two very similar greens, for depth. My original plan had been to glue wire between the two pieces of fabric, but that wasnt working. So plan B was sew a channel in the middle, and slip the length of wire in it. I put a solution of Elmer's glue and water on the fronds, to stiffen the "leaves" but really didnt see much difference. Oh well.

I made six fronds, and after installed realized we needed more. I went back to the fabric store, but being Christmas all the green fabric was sold out. Dave and Debbie had to go back to the US to work, so the palm tree is only partially finished. But we ALL are happy with the outcome...so stay tuned, the adventure continues!