I went through a phase when Iwent in search of a true large scale perfect tree for a dollhouse Ibuilt for a neighbor. I found the best I could do was to go hiking. Im in the north East US and there are a ton of woods around here. Some low lying bushes had fairly good structure. Just had to keep hiking and keep my eyes open. After Ifound some branches that looked like they would fill the bill, Iwould clearcoat them. Went to the dollar store and bought some spices (parsley works) , sprayed hairspray on the branches and spiced up the tree. Another clearcoat and done. For a dying tree, I would collect fall leaves from the ground and put them in a blender with water, chop em up, pour the mixture into a bucket covered with an old tee shirt (so the water would drain)., Take the chopped leaves, put em on a baking sheet and dry in the oven on low heat...be careful please! (and dont let the wife see you using the blender and baking sheet for the endevour). Same as above, hairspray and sprinkle. By the way, the chopped fall leaves make freat free ground cover. Here is a pic of a tree in progress