Winter Feather Tree

I've been collecting blackened beeswax ornaments for over a year - I just love the various scents that the makers add and the simplicity of the ornaments is addicting - I have to have more! 

My dilemma became how to display these gorgeous little pieces. I had them on a German Twig tree that I have, but they just got lost.  There wasn't enough contrast between the dark tree branches and the darker color of the ornaments.  

 An off white feather tree is what I came up with.  I purchased wire at Michael's or JoAnn's - can't remember which,  along with white floral stem tape.  Found a cream wool skirt at Goodwill that I felted slightly and cut into strips, a dowel from the garage and a pair of my husband's pliers.      

I started by marking off the spacing of the branches and then fringe cutting the strips.  The wire branches were then wrapped with the wool strips and attached to the dowel.  

 

I did learn a couple of things - 

1.Start the branches at the top and work down - it would have been easier to add the next row this way.

2.  Buy more than one roll of floral tape, especially if you are like me and live an hour away from Michael's! 

The one large round disc that you see just below the center point is actually a little heavy for my branches.  While I'm happy with my project I am thinking how I could create a different feather tree with heavier gauge wire for the branches to support the weight of the larger ornaments that I have.  Any thoughts or advice?  

~Ann