Bleached Bottle Brush Trees 2017 Edition

 I still have a huge stash of little round wood pieces
that I use as bases.

Sometime this year I collected the insulators and

pierced light reflectors from different sales,

all with an eye for the bottle brush trees.

Click here
and here
to see other years with bb trees.

 

Click here
for my tutorial on bleaching bottle brush trees.

  I also picked up a dozen or so of 

these vintage rolls of thread -- in such amazing colors.

I knew right away that they would make bb tree bases.

 This larger tree was leftover from last year 

and looked a bit ragged.  So I glued all sorts of

ornaments in it to glam it up a bit.

The outside trees have those old star shaped

glass candleholders as bases.  I just inserted some

"plastic wood" in the candle hole and inserted the tree.  If you try it,

make sure you let the plastic wood dry before handling the trees.

2015 Edition Bleached Bottlebrush Trees

Last year I used a lot of rusty hardware on the bleached bottle brush trees.  This year I incorporated zinc canning lids, porcelain insulators, string balls and some kitschy ceramic pieces.  Here is the end result:


I did find a few more tin star reflectors, so I used them both last year and this year.  They are probably my favorite base for bottle brush trees because they have such a primitive look.

The deer are candleholders,

I stuck corks in the holes and

drilled holes in the cork to insert the trees.

Baby shoes crammed with a doile,

mercury glass bulbs, an angel

and a little bottle brush tree.

These I glued wooden spools in the bottom

and glued the trees into the hole of the spool.

Candle huggers now are tree huggers.

I have already sold so many of these that I have

had requests for more, but I have moved on to other projects.

Bleaching Bottlebrush Trees Tutorial

I'm not much into doing tutorials.  That is, if there are other places where you can find the information on the internet.  This is my second year of doing a mass bottlebrush tree bleaching, and I think I have some good tips. 

What you will need:
     -- bottle brush trees (I bought mine at Michael's)
     -- bleach (only $1 at Dollar Tree)
     -- wide tooth comb
     -- sharp scissors
     -- tub or tray to put wet trees in

1.  If you have the old-school top-opening washing machine, do the bleaching in there.  I did two multi-packs of trees + a couple I got at a garage sale = 44 of various sized trees.  I filled the washer with just enough water to cover the bigger trees (laying down). Turn off the machine after it gets high enough so that the water just sits there. Then I added about three cups of bleach.  I had a busy day, so mine sat in there about 8 hours before I messed with them, you could do less.

2.  Put the washer on the "drain" cycle, but don't let it spin.  When the bleached water has drained, then fill the washer with fresh water to the level you did it the first time.

3.  Now the fun.  Grab a tree by the base and let it drain into the washer. (Most tutorials finish here). This is a good time to straighten it if the wire "trunk" has been bent.  Holding it down inside the washer (to keep the mess captive) comb out the "branches".  The big glops of "snow" will come off, but you will still have some left.  You will begin to notice long pieces sticking out from the tree farther than they should (these were previously stuck in the snow glop).

3.  Over a trash can, give the tree a haircut.  Follow the triangular lines of the tree.  It is pretty easy to eyeball.  Just make sure there aren't a lot of flyaway pieces.

4.  Comb the tree out a second time.  Try to get all the "branches" parallel to the "trunk".  Make sure when you set it down to dry it is looking good, because this is how the branches will be directed when dry. This is what makes a tree really look good. Set it to dry standing upright.  It will continue to drain a little, so in a plastic tub or bathtub is a good idea.
(After you drain the washer this time, wipe it out with a paper towel.)

5.  Optional:  I am not a perfectionist, but after my trees are dry I do the comb/cut thing one last time. 

I think you will be surprised how much better your trees look after this process.  If you have a tree that gets smushed, this is also a good way to revive it (plain water bath, comb, trim).  I like this method because I can do a lot of trees at once, and the mess is contained.

Repurposed Christmas Scene Clocks

I was looking for white or neutral items to pair with my ivory bottlebrush trees.  Then I found these two clock "bodies" on my back porch.  One I had taken the non-working clock works out of, the large one I actually bought without the clock works.  Then they gathered dust on my back porch for several months, until rediscovered for this project. 

I have a box of little "kitschy" Christmas items, so it was not problem finding something to accompany the little bottlebrush tree inside. 

Old sheet music was glued to the back.

Some mica "snow" to cover up the hotglue on the bottom.

And there they are...

repurposed Christmas scene clocks.

CUTEST EVER Primitive Bottle Brush Trees

CUTEST EVER PRIMITIVE BOTTLE BRUSH TREE -- I know that is big talk...

 But seriously, I think these are the cutest way to use them that I have ever seen. 

Of course I do like the primitive look, so I may be a bit prejudiced.   

Unfortunately, I have now used all of my punched star light reflectors -- so this is all there is. 

I do have a few more of the wooden wheels (or whatever they are) that I used as the base.

So, do you agree?

Is this not the cutest ever bottle brush tree?

More Junk-Based Bottlebrush Trees

I thought that I could never get enough of playing with bleached bottlebrush trees, but I think after this bunch I am officially ready to move on.

I didn't have a big string stash,

but I donated all that I had to the cause.

More bottoms made out of the wooden "wheels"

I have in abundance.

Just this weekend I bought a HUGE box of rusty stuff

that these bases came from.

The porcelain insulators also came from my rusty boxful.

The vintage Chinese paper was perfect for this project.

I used up all of my not-so-perfect knobs

and more "wheels".

Pair of vintage ice skates turned still life.

Out-Of-The-Box Bottlebrush Trees

I love the look of bottlebrush trees -- vintage or new.  The new ones I usually bleach white -- lots of places on the internet to give you tutorials on that.  But then what?  Just sitting there, they look kind of small and lost.  Ho Hum.  Last year I made some sweet ones that sat on top of thread spools, which had the best look of any I had seen so far.  I couldn't find my stash of spools, so I was forced to think out-of-the box.  I went a little crazy, so this may take two or three posts. 

I had the candleholder on hand, perfect for this as it looked too plain to sell by itself.

The middle tree is on a sea coral, I had to drill a hole in the middle for it.  The one on the right is on a smooth white rock, possibly petrified wood.

This taller bb tree was leftover from last year, and it had gotten a little squished in storage.  So I added the Christmas bulbs and glass garland beads to  give it a little umph. 

These three old wooden toys were extras that I got in a box of stuff at an auction.  They were actually moldy - yish.  So, when I bleached the bottle brush trees, I threw them in the mixture.  They turned out pretty cute, and just the right size to hold the tiny bb trees. 

So... more to come.  Including the best (I kid you not!) bottlebrush trees I have ever seen.