How do I paint bark on palm trees, coconuts, and the leaves of a palm tree?

Really random, I know, but I'm making my mom a palm tree out of cardboard for mother's day, since she wanted a tropical plant, I plan on like painting hte bark and everything, but how do i go about doing this? So i looks some what realistic? Ideas.

How do I paint bark on palm trees, coconuts, and the leaves of a palm tree?
I would take strips of brown paper and do tree bark rubbings, then paste them on the cardboard. If it seems too messy, perhaps find images of tree bark, print them for reference and paste them on the cardboard, and paint over it.


I think it's really sweet that you're doing this for your mom. Good luck!!