Deck the Halls vintage style - {Tutorial}

12.8.11- 

  I've been feeling really crafty lately! 

{that may sound weird for some of you to hear me say... yeah, right you're probably thinking.... }

But really I don't "craft" that much other than H&H stuff so I've been really having some fun lately. 

I wanted to show you one thing I was creating today. 

{I'll be back to show more- don't worry!} 

 I've been making some of my favorite Holiday things to have around the house & decorate with- bottle brush trees. I get asked alot where I have found so many 

{I have quite a collection of them & have paid a pretty price for many too, trust me!} 

I have always wished to find some a bit cheaper, that are cute & not the standard forest green dark look. Well... thanks to Pinterest & a link from what seems like the early 80's I learned a fun technique on how to make vintage looking bottle brush trees. All you need is a few household items to turn little trees into charming little trees. 

1- Bleach 

2- An old glass bottle or container 

3- Paper towels 

4- some cold water {how easy is that?} 

5- Glitter {if you have Glass Glitter even better!} 

6- Modge Podge 

7- Sponge Brush 

8- a few minutes to spare! 

{really.. this takes no time at all!} 

The clump of forest green little trees just waiting to be transformed right before your eyes.  

{By the way all the bottle brush trees in the Christmas sections all seemed to be sold out so I found these back in the doll house section at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 a pack}

{On a side note} 

Really... some Christmas stuff is sold out already- Hello!  It's only Dec. 8th quit putting out Christmas decor in July - augh... that's one of my pet peeves!! 

Moving on... sorry! :) 

 Submerge each bottle brush tree into the bleach & make sure it is completely covered.  
{you'll also want something to hold onto them with so you don't have to use your hands}
Don't walk away at this point unless you want your tree completely white 

{that's what happened to the one tree below}  

I thought it would take 5 minutes or so & I walked away but really it takes only seconds for it to start changing.  Watch it close & when it is the color you desire take it out & plunge it  into cold water to rinse.  Let it dry on a paper towel. 

-Yeah- a cute multicolored forest to look at. So much prettier don't you think?- 

 Next step once your trees have dried is to glitter them 

{if you would like but you don't have to}

  I just did a few of my new trees.  I used official Glass Glitter because it will tarnish over time & I want that look but you can use regular glitter too. 

Just put some Modge Podge on a sponge brush & brush over the little tree.  I found it worked best to dump a bit of glitter out onto a paper towel 

{you want to be able to save the glitter that doesn't stick & put it back into your container} 

& just roll the tree around in the glitter. More seemed to stay on that way.   

-Before- 

 -After- 

Really- so easy to do! 

 Now comes the fun part to embellish & display

{always my favorite thing to do!} 

I love to collect bottle caps, I use them for all sorts of things for H&H & I thought they would make a great little stand for some of the tiny trees. 

 So I punched {with a circle punch} some colorful patterened paper & glued them to the inside of the bottle cap. 

 And then just placed the tree into it's new {perfect sized} tree stand. So cute I think!  I can't wait to show you what I am doing with these this week- I have a shin-dig coming up & these will be the perfect little topper for something special! 

Once you have all your trees- bleached, washed, dried, glittered & accessorized it's ready to display.  I filled up some glass containers & set them out on my kitchen island.  

{It's always one of my favorite places to decorate} 

I just placed 2 or 3 trees onto a pile of faux snow & glittered snowballs in each container creating a wintry scene.  

So festive!   

 -2 delightful little Wintry Wonderlands!- 

**One of my favorite things to use as faux SNoW in displays that doesn't really cost much 

{& that you probably already have around the house} 

is Sugar, Flour, Rock Salt or Sugar Cubes.  

Pretty white stuff that doesn't cost very much- try it! 

Happy Creating! 

{Yeah- for me I actually was inspired & made something I saw on Pinterest & just didn't "Pin" it & walk away} 

Hallelujah!

Be back to share more later. 

Have a great weekend.  

{M}