The oak tree in my yard had seen better days. It had never been a great tree, mostly due to the fact that the jackholes who planted it never spread the roots or unpacked it from its root ball — it was never to be a long-lived tree. So when it blew over a few weeks ago I was not riddled with shock once I found out what had happened. I looked at the now-dead tree and thought it could still serve a useful purpose, other than firewood.
First I cut it to a six-foot length and stripped the branches off, then removed a lot of the roots that had rotted and were not strong. A quick shave with a knife in a strategic pattern produced a nice carved feel that left a little discoloration here and there for effect.
A few coats of shellac and a bit of leather work mixed with a big-ass glass diamond turned what was a sad little dead tree into a great wizard staff for my sister, who is very into going to Renaissance fairs in costume.
It all depends on how you look at things, I suppose. The Mrs. saw a dead tree, and I saw a badass instrument of magic.
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10 Responses to Project: It Just Depends How You Look At Things
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Whoa! In those last two pictures, it’s the egg-implanter critter from Alien!
That looks pretty sweet. I would rub some oil or something into the leather to “age” it a bit. Nice job.
Very nice 🙂 great idea. It can also be looked at as a sculpture.
WANT!!!!
Gnarly Dude! Love the crystal, makes it look a bit like a Prior’s staff from Stargate SG-1.
Nice result, it’s great to turn old junk into something magical
You shoulda drove two dozen cut nails through it so your sister could use it as a melee weapon.
Just sayin. There are some weird folks at the Renn. Festival.
Someone should have put a skull in the roots before planting te tree. Now THAT would have been a damn conversation starter (or stopper?) at the Ren Fair! 😛
Nice magic staff though! And damn good idea.
Hideous. BTW it was the jackholes at the nursery who kept the tree in too small a pot for too long, who sold it to the jackholes who knew nothing about how to select plant material. This tree was doomed long before it went in the ground.