Gingerbread pine tree

I got a TON of questions when I posted my piece meant for Nationals last year.  Most of the questions were about the tree structure itself and I would love to show you the progress pictures!

I'm starting with the basics here.  I made some construction grade gingerbread rounds and made sure to cut a whole in the middle before baking.  So think gingerbread donuts a little. 

I used gingerclay and tylose glue to cover the rounds mimicking tree bark with a rough texture.  I made sure the gingerclay went all the way to the wood board and even made roots that extended for smaller anchor points around.

The middle got packed with gingerclay and strong straight cinnamon sticks that were at least 12 inches tall.  I let this dry for a few weeks while I figured out what I wanted my layers to look like.  

I tried a Rice Krispie treat base first and sadly humidity was not it's friend.  So I needed to go with plan B.  And then to a Plan C (but I will explain below!)

Plan B was creating rough pointed shapes out of construction grade gingerbread. This technique had promise but I was afraid that the weight of the gingerclay needles would break a "branch".

Plan C was just a small variation.  I went from a rough pointed star shape to a wavy circle.  This added more structure in between the branches and created a very solid layer for the needles to hang off of.

A quick airbrush of a leaf green helped before I started adding different shades of greens and yellows for dimension on the needles.

I took my time layering up making sure to keep the supports on bottom and packing in the middle with gingerclay so it would cement the layers to the tall cinnamon sticks that see you peeking out the top below.

I love all the tiny details I was able to get in with this tree and it was SOLID for months and months.  Hope this helps someone else!