Hey everyone, it’s Laura! I know by now you’ve probably seen the colorful bottle brush trees that are all over Pinterest (like here and here). I love how these little guys look, but I’ve heard mixed reviews on if the process actually works or not. Nevertheless, I just had to see if it was possible to make my mini tree dreams come true. They are just too darn cute not to give it a try!
Supplies:
-bottle brush trees
in various sizes
-bleach
-bucket
-rubber gloves
–fabric dye in several shades
1. Fill a bucket halfway with a mixture of bleach and hot water and soak your trees in the hot water until they are off-white in color. Some tutorials suggest using a 50/50 ratio of bleach and water, but a few people said that their trees started to melt once dipped in the bleach/water mixture, so I used a ratio of 2 parts water to 1 part bleach just to be on the safe side.
2. Once the color has been bleached off the trees, mix your dye with hot water and dip your trees into the dye. To get a variety of colored trees, I mixed 5 different shades of blue and green dyes and let the trees soak for different lengths of time (ranging from a quick dunk letting it soak for a few minutes).
3. Place your dyed trees on an old towel or piece of cardboard to dry.
4. Once the trees are dry, use a stiff bristle brush to comb out any clumps of stuck together bristles.
So adorable, right? Of course the color possibilities are endless, but I love the mix of blues and greens for this enchanted forest. I’m so glad that I took a chance and decided to go for it. Are you planning on making any tiny trees this year? xo. Laura
Credits // Author and Photography: Laura Gummerman
What do you use for the base of the tree? I love thrm, Great job!
Thank you,
Judy
I’ve had experiences BOTH ways;successes and failures…..the type of materials that the bottlebrush trees are made of is a BIG BIG factor….some are made up of synthetic fibers that don’t absorb the bleach, …so be mindful of that. Thank you for all your creative ideas and post.
Love love love this! I have a modest collection of store-bought bottle brush trees, but I would really like to try making some of my own. Bookmarking for future reference!
love your trees and i would love to feature them if this would be ok please let me know,
lauren
Where do you get the tree shaped brushes? Or do you make them?
So cute!
www.lesley-kim.com
I love the colors you put together.. they are so elegant for such a simple little craft!
Those are so pretty and they will be an addition to you home that will last forever. Really neat.
Vintagehoneybee@gmail.com
Lovely idea! 🙂 As always!
http://andreavytlacilova.com/
Fabulous!! Thank you for sharing your process and results!! So inspired 😀
these are super cute! i love miniature anything and why not get functional-festive?
Such a great idea
http://thinkworkandgo.blogspot.com/
These turned out amazing! I love all the colors that you chose to use together!!
I have always wanted to try these bottle brush trees and so I’m super excited to find a great tutorial on them just in time for Christmas decorating season!
What three colors did you use? I can’t quite tell..
This is so smart. I literally bought a bag of trees at the dollar store yesterday to do “something” with. I think I know what that “something” is now!
The bristle brush is the key!
Those are so pretty!!!
These look so cool! I’d love to try them out for some fun holiday decorations.
xoxo
Taylor
www.welcomehometaylor.com
They look so cute.