Angelina Margolis

We filled the tree trunk (aka column that we cut in half) with plaster of paris to weigh it down, then covered it in wire mesh to give it texture.  

The wire mesh was also used to secure the tree's flowers (aka crumbled up magazine pages sewn together with gardening wire).  We attached the mesh from branch to branch (aka bent pieces of conduit) with a thicker wire, then got busy tying the flowers to the mesh.