christmas crafting has begun...

a 'snow' banner that is currently for sale in the shop...

i know, i know...i'm sooo late on this, i'm sure. i can hear all you seasoned crafters and shopkeepers out there shaking your head and laughing at me right now. you're thinking, 'silly girl, you're a whole season behind if you're just starting your christmas crafts...'

and you're right. i am. and in defense i will say that i just began my shopkeep adventures, and hopefully, by next christmas, i will be on target with the rest of you.

but for now, i remain a happy crafter that doesn't know any better...except i do know better when it comes to crafty experiments in the kitchen. and lucky for you, i'm going to share my latest crafting experiment, and save you some money on at least a small portion of your seasonal decorating and crafting this year.

if you love vintage like me, then you probably love the look of old white bottlebrush trees dusted with glass glitter or mica when it comes to christmas decorating. and, if you're like me again, you hate paying ridiculously for the reproductions. and these little guys are pretty hard to come by in antique stores...at least the decent looking ones. so, i got to thinking, why not make my own?

i have discovered that with a package of store bought green bottle brush trees from Michael's and a little bleach, you too can have a frosty, white forest of trees all over the place this christmas season.

here's how...

you will need:

a package of cheap bottle brush trees

a bottle of bleach

two plastic containers or bowls for soaking

the first thing you want to do is pull off the wooden base on each tree, and toss that on the side. keep it, because you'll want these guys to stand again -- unless you are going to craft some new bases. pour some bleach, full strength, into one of your containers, and submerge your trees. you don't want to put too many in. give them room to soak. now, WATCH THEM! the bleaching process will happen almost in front of your eyes. let them soak until they are nearly white; i find that this takes approximately 5-7 minutes. then rinse them under water, using your fingers to gently massage the bottlebrush fibers, rinsing away any green dye that may remain. next, you will want to create a second bleach bath in your other plastic container. this second bath is simply to remove any remaining green tint to the bottlebrush. submerge your bleached trees in the second bleach bath, letting them sit for another 5-7 minutes. it is very important to watch your trees! leaving them in the bleach for too long will cause the bristles of the bottlebrush to disintegrate and fall out. you'll want to rinse them well again, under running water, being careful to fluff the bristles on each tree. if they do not fluff, and they just lay flat, it means you have left them in the bath too long.

when you have finished rinsing, just lay them on a few layers of paper towel to dry. once they are dry, you can put the little wooden base back on them, and embellish with mica or glass glitter or little vintage mercury glass beads. go nuts, because it really only cost you a few bucks!

so how do you like that? vintage for less...

happy crafting people!

ps. if you're crafting anything interesting right now, and you would like to share, please send some pics! share them on the blog!

Rest In Peace Halloween 2009, i hardly knew ye...

the jack o'lanterns' faces are curling inward, the trees are nearly bare, and there is a new, crisp chill in the early november air here in western new york...

halloween has come and gone, yet again, and i am overwhelmed this year with how quickly it crept up and just how much i heaped onto my own plate. it made for a crazy, hectic, and less enjoyable samhain than i prefer. october was one very busy month for me -- a sister in law got married; another sister in law launched a new cancer research foundation with a rather large, successful benefit; and i took on one too many custom costume requests. the month of october is inevitably a busy one, with my wedding anniversary and my mother's halloween night birthday. so to add these major projects onto an already brimming list of tasks, responsibilities, obligations, and just plain ol' 'i'd really like to's', october 2009 was certifiably nuts.

my niece, sayo, above in her devil princess costume; my husband below her, as 'max' from 'where the wild things are'...

there were many projects i would have liked to have completed to celebrate this year, such as carving more tombstones or finishing the paper mache work on the jack o' lantern head for the scarecrow. instead, i sewed my niece a devil princess costume, my husband a 'max' costume from 'where the wild things are', and a 'queen of treats' custom costume for a client for the shop. i also kept the store stocked and a plethora of orders filled. it would have been nice to have had the time to have gone out and hiked a day or two to enjoy the beautiful wny autumn, or to have done some photo sessions while the trees were full of color. but every year i set my personal bar so high, and the list of objectives gets so long, that i find that it gets harder and harder to find the time to enjoy it all.

needless to say, the lesson learned this halloween 2009 was just how important time management, organization, and learning when its time to say 'no' really is if i am going to successfully run both my life and this small business of mine. around the corner lies christmas, one of my least favorite holidays, specifically because i have found it is just impossible to frantically prepare for two very long days of merriment and enjoy it. nonetheless, i hope those of you reading out there had a haunting halloween...