Upcycle Progress: Artificial Japanese Bonsai

As discussed in my previous post, I aimed for artificial small bonsai trees using discarded copper wires from electronic waste. I also described the element of adding glowing or reflecting beads or leaves to the tree to purpose it to show as barriers at the edges during the night.

For this I began with gathering resources like copper wire, searching rock for the base of the structure as well as experimental crafting material to check out and craft various sample beads and leaves that can be added to the structure aiming for my goals. I came upon various tutorials and YouTube videos for making the wire structures and I stumbled upon the following tutorial example as shown in the below figure as well as mentioned in my refernces.

The above tutorial looks quite promising and I am trying to experiment with some samples. Also, I am trying to keep my options broad regarding the development of beads for the leaves. My primary goal is to make it glow when the light falls on it. For that purpose, I have collected various craft materials , with which I could try some combinations. There are some preliminary ideas in my mind like adding glitter to small and decorative paper ball cutouts or something with threads from wire straws, as shown in the image of the raw materials collected.

Still, I also have another perspective in mind. Utilization of retro-reflective materials. You must have seen such material on the safety vests,  at the direction boards on roads or on the cars at night. Here, is an example below.

So, the following material works on the following principles of reflection:

So having been researched upon the properties , I am trying to find ways to implement it into my structure. I plan to finish the base copper structure this weekend and make prototypes of few bead with my objectives in mind and try to complete this project as soon as possible.

References:

1. https://excelblades.com/blogs/diy/wire-bonsai-tree

2. https://www.hivissupply.com/ansi-class-3-safety-vests.html

3. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/scotchlite-reflective-material-us/industries-active-lifestyle/active-lifestyle/how-retroreflection-works/