Finishing Problems

I stained the "tree" yesterday... I'm not real happy with the look.  Maple is a tough wood to stain because of the tightness of the grain and blotchiness that can occur.  I used Minwax Pre-Stain Conditioner to make the stain penetrate evenly, but the result wasn't what I expected.  I'm going to apply another coat of Minwax Early American stain today to see if it improves the look.  We'll see...