I love vintage bottle brush trees and have stumbled upon a few decorated in holiday themes and thought I would have a try at making my own. Not having any RIT dye at home and being the impatient person I am when an idea is hot in my head I grabbed a bottle of Orange Maya Mist to see if it would work. Well let me just say it worked like a charm and was super easy. Below is a tutorial I put together showing you how to recreate your own super cute Halloween themed Bottle Brush Tree. You are going to love this… promise!
Supplies Needed: Bottle Brush Tree (can be found in the Christmas section of large craft stores), Clorox Bleach, Maya Road Maya Mists Orange, Gold Mercury Glass Beads, Black Seam Binding, Mother of Pearl Button, Black Embroidery Floss, Vintage Paper, Golden Rod Stickles, Aleene’s Tacky Glue
Tools Needed: Scissors, Tweezers
Instructions:
- In a well ventilated area or outside place a mixture of 1/3 warm water and 2/3’s Bleach into a glass container. The amount made will determine how many trees you will be bleaching at one time. Place tree(s) into mixture and let set until bleached. Once bleaching is complete remove from mixture and allow to dry.
- Using Maya Road Maya Mist (Orange) lightly spray (3 or 4 sprays is all I needed) onto a dried bleached bottle brush tree. I lined my kitchen sink with paper towels, set the tree on top of the paper towels and lightly misted the tree. Once dyed lightly blot the tree using paper towels and let dry.
- Accent your dried tree using Gold Mercury Glass Beads, Black Seam Binding and a Mother of Pearl Button. I used Aleene’s Tacky Glue for my adhesive. I found it easiest to hold the Gold Mercury Glass Beads with tweezers when attaching them to the tree.
- Create a small banner with a strip of paper that says “Happy Halloween”. The strip of paper needs to measure approximately 7.5″ in length. (My tree is approximately 4" tall not including the stand) Accent the edges of the banner using Golden Rod Stickles and let dry. Once dry wrap the banner around the tree and attach using a hot glue gun. You can lightly add mica snow or glitter to the tree as well.
this is SO FUN! I love the Halloween tree, and your mists are to DIE FOR!! :)
Posted by: Diana | September 02, 2009 at 01:50 PM
YOU are SO SMART!! What a fantabulous idea!! :)
Posted by: Shelley Haganman | September 02, 2009 at 08:03 PM
haha, cute!
Posted by: sam | September 03, 2009 at 07:26 AM
lOVE THE ORANGE HALLOWEEN TREE
Posted by: {vicki} | September 03, 2009 at 09:36 AM
Totally fun idea!
Posted by: slammie | September 03, 2009 at 09:43 AM
Great idea! Love this
Posted by: Bethany | September 03, 2009 at 11:10 AM
Love the orange tree. Too cute.
Posted by: Katherine | September 03, 2009 at 12:48 PM
so clever! that is such a fabulous idea!
Posted by: sandy w. | September 03, 2009 at 05:53 PM
Love it! Very Halloween-y!
DeniseB
Posted by: Denise Bryant | September 03, 2009 at 06:05 PM
Trick or Treat...this was a treat for sure!!
~Jill
Posted by: Jill in Frisco, Tx | September 04, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Very cool! I have tons of bottle brush trees!! I love that you shared how you bleached them too--the possibilities are endless.
Posted by: Jennifer Priest | September 16, 2009 at 11:57 AM
Sounds like some fun! Bring on the bleach.
Posted by: Janis Reid | September 18, 2009 at 04:43 PM
Funny idea!!!Yet sounds interesting!!!Definitely a clever idea!
Posted by: Daihatsu Middle East | December 10, 2009 at 02:15 AM