Bottle Brush Blues

How's it going my crafty friends!?  I've got a new post AND a tutorial for you this time! 

One day a few months ago while out pickin' my favorite thrift and antique stores I came upon a bunch of those pretty silverplate  casserole dish holders, all of them missing their glass bowl and lid.  Each of them had a different cutout design and 3 unique little feet to hold them just a tad above the table surface.  I could hear them calling my name...."please rescue us Vintage Mouse".  Then it hit me....I could use them as a base for my Christmas Villages!  Usually my villages are pink and black and very shabby chic, but suddenly I saw them in my minds eye on these silverplate beauties, blues and greens and white frosty wonderlands with bottle brush trees of icy blues and turquoise greens!   Inspiration hit me like a winter storm!  I purchased them all and headed straight for my craft room.  Now I realize that it may seem strange writing about this in June, but you have to remember that I work all year long on Christmas items that I sell at shows during the holiday season.  I have created several of these snowy village beauties and they have turned out gorgeous!  I will share more of that later in a separate post...

Now I have bleached many a bottle brush tree to use in my villages, but never have I dyed one and I really wanted some blue and turquoise green trees to use in these new villages.  So I hit the internet in search of directions on how to dye a tree.  There are LOTS AND LOTS of sites that tell you how to do it and just as many different methods.  Some use a fabric dye like RIT and Tulip, some use paint, some use a spray like Glimmer Mist or Color Lab by Marion Smith.  I decided to try the fabric dyes and here is my take....although I was mostly quite happy with the results, they were a little difficult to reliably reproduce.  I used Rit and also Tulip, on separate occasions and found that they produce differing results.  RIT seemed to dye darker and faster.  On my first try, I followed the directions on the package.  After that I used a lot less water with the Tulip, because it seemed to take forever and I couldn't get the saturated color I wanted, sometimes even leaving them in there overnight.  I also experimented with an ombre effect, standing the trees up in the dye solution, with only the lower third of the tree submerged.  There was definitely some experimenting and monitoring involved, and of course, a degree of messiness, but overall a fun experience and gorgeous trees!

Here's how I did it:

Gather your supplies:  a 4 gallon bucket, plastic gloves, some bottle brush trees (bleached), metal tongs, fabric dye (available at craft stores), salt (the Tulip brand dye calls for it) and an old towel to set things on.

 

Follow the directions on the package of dye. Use your gloves and make sure the water is HOT.  I used a little less water than the pkg says because I wanted my trees to dye a little darker and quicker.

If you want variety adjust the time that they are submerged.  Just a quick 30 second dip will create a very light version tree.

 

To accurately gauge the color of the tree, I rinsed it periodically. 
 I did an ombre effect by adding some dye solution to a separate small bowl so that the bottom third of the tree is submerged.  I stood the tree in it upright and left it there for 30 minutes.  Then I came back and added more dye solution to cover the midde third and left it in for 30 minutes.  To color the top third of the tree, I used tongs to hold it upside down in the solution for a minute or so.

And here is the final outcome for the tree-dyeing project!  They're all a little different, but I kinda like that!  This photo doesn't do them justice either!  They are gorgeous and after a light coat of Sparkling Snow glitter (by Sparkle N Sprinkle) they are absolutely stunning! (not pictured here)
I plan on trying out the spray coloring technique next time using Color Lab pigments by Marion Smith Designs.  I'll keep you posted.