Bleached, Dyed, Glittered, Decorated, DONE!

Well I got my bottle brush trees finished and ready to tag & bag.  This was a very messy project with many days of work involved from start to finish.  I had found the bleached bottle brush trees by googling when I had seen one on a blog somewhere.  I wish I could remember where but there have been a lot I've looked at since and many different versions of how to achieve the bleached/dyed bottle brush look on the green Lemax trees.  I tried different ways to bleach the trees, after ruining a bunch of them, I ended up finally finding a process I liked.  Anyway, I had searched many hours at thrift stores and yard sales to find items to use on my trees.  I had gotten a wonderful surprise one day when I went to a newer thrift store, Humane Society Thrift Store.  There was a baggie of vintage glass bead garland, filled full of several different colors for a price I couldn't pass up!  I had gotten a green string of garland at an antique store for much more for just the one string than I paid for the 6 strings!  I was doing the bargain dance inside... outside I was composed (alright I was smiling from ear to ear)!! LOL!  I also had gotten several packages of vintage laces, again stuffed full.  It was a wonderful day in my neighborhood!!  When I saw online how much the garlands go for I nearly fell over & bonked my head on the computer!  So started my endless search for more vintage items.  I got more goodies along the way and found old thread spools to use as bases.  I hadn't seen any trees on spools like that anywhere, but that doesn't mean someone hasn't done it...but I like to think I thought of it in my own little crafting corner.  If someone else has, I would love to see them.  So after many hours of bleaching, dyeing, glittering, and decorating...I finally finished my sparkly trees.  I had decided when experimenting, that less is more.  The trees alone without decoration are pretty enough, but the added vintage was icing on the cake.  I'd love to know what you think.  I wish I could capture the lovely glistening glitter on pictures.    Here's my trees that I plan on putting in the Snowflake Boutique in November...and maybe a sneak pre-sale...

These are 8 1/2 inches tall.

These are 4 1/2 to 5 inches tall.

More 4 1/2 to 5 inches...

These were the tops of the larger trees I ruined... I salvaged the tops.  These are 5 inches tall.

I loved the blues together (4 1/2 inches)

These are the baby ones... 3 to 3 1/2 inches tall.

My baby pastels.

All glittery!

Well I guess that I need to get on to the next project.   I am working on the spoons with nests that I had on a previous post.  I'm adding beads...the beads are a nice added touch that was recommended to me by fellow bloggers.  Aren't online friends wonderful??  :-)  I'll post pictures when they are done too.  Here's hoping you are accomplishing whatever you are working on, whether it is crafting, decorating, or your hearts desire.

Blessings,
Cindy