Through the years we have applied many different types of leaved and greenery to our sculpted trees. We've cut apart fake Christmas trees. We've purchased specially made outdoor plastic foliage. And we've left many trees bare. Our search was always for a permanent leaf, often of a larger than normal scale. With the PNE project we decided to simply make our own. The cut file only took minutes and the CNC plasma cutter dutifully and quickly cut out the shapes I needed from some 1/8" thick plate steel. We made the leaves in two sizes - 14" and 16" long. I bent each one to a different shape and then formed and welded the curved stem down the middle. A few of the leaves received giant mechanical bug bites from them to add some authenticity. We'll send them off to the powder coaters this week to get their long lasting green. These leaves will be tough!