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I love the look of things vintage... old... worn... tattered... yellowed with time... I've been seeing these bottle brush trees... I've been seeing vintage looking trees apparently made out of bottle brushes... after some investigating googling I found that these were easy to make!...
I really didn't think it was going to work... but it did!... go buy a bag of little Christmas trees from your nearest craft/Christmas supply store...
Then get yourself some bleach... I used the regular liquid bleach... not the thicker 'he' stuff... I think I made a mix of about two thirds water and one third bleach... in a glass container...
...got some tongs and started dipping... INCREDIBLE!... it worked... seriously I didn't think it would!
You'll know pretty quick if you need to add more bleach to speed up the process...
Once they came out I gave them a good rinse in the sink... I did all of this in the sink in case of drips or splashes... The fake snow on the trees comes off - don't worry... unless you wanted it there... then you're going to have to redress the trees with some thick paint...
Then the dying part... honestly I didn't think this was really going to work either... haha... I used the same glass container because I knew the trees would fit... put in some water and then spooned in RIT dye... I'd chosen a light pink... I think I'd used only two tablespoons MAYBE... you don't need a lot!... and you can always add more if you'd like them to be darker!...
I went for a sweet light pink look...and gave them a good rinse when they came out of the jar of dye... I let them dry out overnight... in the pantry where the kitties couldn't get at them of course...
After they were good and dry I got a hair comb and gave them a good comb out!... hehehe "what'd you do this weekend Lacey"... "Oh combed out some Christmas trees!..." hehehe....
Then to add an extra vintage looking touch I busted out the German glass glitter that I'd picked up at the Farm Chicks sale two years ago!... I knew I would find the perfect use for it...
A little clearglue action with a paintbrush and then a little glitter shake shake and BAM!
...be sure to sprinkle your glass glitter over a container that you keep as your glass glitter container... this glitter is sharp!... I had some glued to my hand and then rubbed my hand across my face... um... ouch... it sucked...
The finished trees turned out so sweet!... the German glass glitter really was the cherry on the top of this vintage sundae!... there is something hearty about the glass glitter...
I've got two sets for setting up during the Christmas season... they will be at the Vintage with Flair Christmas Market...
Aaaand... I made these snow globe like corked jars!... They now have a gold sparkly ribbon tied around the tops to make them a little more Christmassy... Can't wait to see how they go over!...
I was half worried that you wouldn't see the bases in the faux snow at the bottom of the jars but the glass glitter just shines through!
Here are a few more close ups...
xo
Lacey
They look awesome! I would have had my doubts too but they turned out great!
ReplyDeleteJust came over from Tip Junkie and fell in love with your blog. You are awesome! Needless to say I am your most recent follower...lol. Thank you for sharing this awesome and easy to follow tutorial and photos. I had a problem with Google (on my end) and I hope the previous posts are not out there somewhere in blogland waiting to post...if so ignore them please!
ReplyDeleteHave been looking for years to pick up some larger bottle brush trees. Wondering which craft store you found yours?
ReplyDeleteLove them !!! Can't wait to try it out :D
ReplyDeleteYes I did this last year with some great success, you can also use food coloring for the die aswell and it works just as well, just mix some up with water. I also dressed mine with the glitter sno you can get in the paint section of the craft store and also threw on a bit of glitter aswell. Your trees look awsum!
ReplyDeleteLove this! Thank YOU
ReplyDelete