The egg, naturally.  :D  Styrofoam eggs to be precise.

I'm a huge fan of Squeeze Me trees and shrubbery, but if you need a lot of them, it can get very pricey.  So, I'm making the pieces myself.  Here are the tree forms, purchased from Hobby Lobby.

I started by checking placement around the structure.

Next, I gently shaped the eggs by rolling them on a piece of cardboard.

I then pressed the bottoms flat and shaped the lower edge.

This makes for a more natural shrub shape than a true egg.

Since each one turns out slightly different from the next, they look more natural overall.  Of course, since shaping them made them smaller, I needed to add one to each side from my initial count.  I ended up using all 18 eggs.

The trees were done similarly by rolling on cardboard, though I cut away bits to make them much skinnier than their original forms beforehand.

I placed each form onto a bamboo skewer for finishing.

I painted them Plantation Pine by Americana, mixed with a little black to darken the green undercoat.  I stippled the paint on with a bristle brush for better coverage.

A cardboard box serves as a great holder as the paint and other finishes dry.

I brushed the shapes with Aleene's Quick Dry glue and sprinkled Woodland Scenics Blended Turf in Green Blend onto the glue.

After sprinkling the turf, I gently tapped additional material cupped in my hand to fill in most gaps.  Final touch-ups are best left until after the glue dries.

Once the touch-ups were done, I applied Woodland Scenics Cement to each with a spray bottle.  Once dry, this keeps the foliage stable enough for gentle handling while keeping a soft appearance.

My finely coiffed shrubbery will be set aside until I'm ready to plant.  :]