issues with twig project

I still have a lot of kinks to work out in my project. My box is still very vase-esque, due to the shape/height of the rectangle and the twigs all poke out of the top. One way to maybe rectify this is to have the box constrict the twigs tighter and have them poking out of the bottom as well. In my original sketch model the paper i had peeling off to resemble the peeling bark of the twigs was crazy and all over the place, so i minimized it and made the peels much more simple and geometric. However, this did not convey the concept of the peeling bark as clearly and it was suggested that the paper be peeled in a more "planned randomness." Many of my twigs have a wishbone shape to them at the end, perhaps my paper bark would look more convincing if it incorporated that shape somehow.
The craftmanship also did not look as nice--cutting straight lines even with the assistance of a ruler or xacto knife proves to be a challenge for me. Fortunately i have my drafting board and hopefully that will create much cleaner lines. I am also concerned about the use of my binding agent--i used glue to attach the paper together. Although it looks nice, it was chosen for practical purposes and does not directly contribute to the project. But i also feel that i would like to focus on one central idea for my project, and the inclusion of a more prominent binding agent would add another "story."