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The white tree center-left is the one I made for my friend Julie.
Turns out she collects miniature trees unbeknownst to me!
Last year I went crazy
making miniature Christmas trees!
I gave most of them away
but
I did manage to keep a few for our family.
They really are pretty simple to do.
I ended up going to Michael’s craft store and buying up
all the little trees they had on-hand,
brought them home
and
bleached them in our laundry sink.
There were some tutorials out on YouTube
and that’s where I learned how
to bleach them.
How to Bleach Mini Christmas Trees
*I used about one cup of bleach
in enough water to cover the trees
(there were 29 of them, and I did them in two batches).
* Leave them overnight and pull them out
and rinse them in the morning.
*Let dry on paper towels. Then decorate!
Caution: I tried spray snow but that
made my asthma go wild!
Don’t try it ~ made me sick.
;(
*Use Gesso instead! 🙂
The gesso worked wonderfully
and that’s where I got the idea to decorate the pinecones,
if you saw yesterday’s late Saturday/early Sunday posting.
*Just dry-brush on the gesso and let dry.
No mess, little smell, easy clean-up!
🙂
When the trees were dry again,
which is soon because gesso dries really fast,
then you can go wild decorating!
I used a lot of old bits of wire jewelry things that I have had
forever!
I also bought some strings of mini pearls in different colors,
other beads that come on strings (that I cut apart).
These are over in the jewelry making section.
Sooooo convenient!
I even cut into a long, inexpensive necklace
that I had purchased at
Forever 21
because it had really large pearls!
and I needed them!
I also used silver, gold and red beads that I had lying around.
*Beads, a glue gun and zillions of glue sticks,
and you are done!
Was a fun craft to do while watching t.v.
This was also a great craft to use up a bunch
of leftover goodies I had used with my old Girl Scout troop
back when my daughter was younger.
😉 |
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Our Christmas tea for my tea group last year. I gave a tree to each of my friends,
as well as coworkers at school. Was great fun! |
Now, for the monster tree…That I didn’t bleach.I found it atJoann’scraft store this year.ButI DID add the silver baubles off the necklace!
🙂
We bought the tree’s “base” when we went up north for Thanksgiving,
where we stopped in Clovis, California
on our way back down
{as I wanted to visit this favorite antique shop}.
Not that I needed anything,
but I
LOVE all of the unique hardware
this place has!
I’ve found old door knobs there, that ceiling fixture
and other cool stuff.
Some of it is waiting to be turned into
other crafty ideas!
😉
Just a few of the trees I made this year.
Most I gave away as presents.
Well, there at this store I found this old
cover plate for a ceiling fixture from the early 1900’s
(my guess).
It was $5, so it came home with me.
As soon as I saw it I thought of making a
monster Christmas tree!!!
I went and found a big tree 60% off at
Joann’s,
brought it home and my hubby
*helped me cut down the base
to fit inside the hole of the fixture.
*Then, he used a heavy adhesive epoxy glue to stick it to the underside
of the fixture.
*Because the tree was so tall, he thought it needed more weight
so…
*He mixed up some concrete we had lying around so
flipped it upside~down and clamped it in place,
put that cement over-top of the glued-in piece
and around the edges of the cut base-piece.
*He previously ran fishing line around the tree’s trunk four times,
creating four hanging lines,
and hung the whole tree, base and cemented light fixture upside-down
for two days.
Thankfully, the cement idea worked
and
didn’t leak through the fixture’s hole(hence the epoxy).🙂
Update: The base is an upcycled ceiling light fixture base. I found it at that
antiques/hardware store in Clovis, California
the same city that my son won the state track and field championship
in the pole vault two years prior! {Just thought you’d want to know.}
Was a HUGE weekend for our family then!
So proud of Peter Chapman ~ 2012 CIF State Track and Field Champion!!!!!
p.s. Thanks for sharing!
And, you see the amazing results!
Great job, Charles!!!
{he cemented in the tree to the base for me}
Happy tree making to you all!!!
Sharing with:
Sew It Cook It Craft It ~ Sew Historically
Waste Not Wednesday ~ Raggedy Bits
Feathered Nest Friday ~ French Country Cottage
#Bloggingfifty ~ Facebook
Duct Tape and Denim ~ 12 Days of Upcycled Christmas Crafts
http://ducttapeanddenim.com/
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Published by French Ethereal
French Ethereal is a lifestyle blog sharing tips on decorating, table settings, crafts, gardening, DIY and travel. I love an elegant Shabby Chic/Old World French decor all decorated with Faith. <3
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