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If you follow me on Facebook you'll remember that I call this time of year "Stick-a-Tree-In-It" season. If it has a hole... it gets a tree. If it doesn't have a hole... I drill one! I sell a lot of random items with bottle brush trees both in my booth and online. But I know a lot of you would rather make them yourselves. So today, I'm sharing my "super secret sources" and how I make these. Bottle Brush Tree DecorationsWhat have I stuck trees in this year? Children's alphabet blocks, fence insulators, spools, salt shakers, random pieces of wood, spice tins, and now my latest... Mahjong tiles! And I think this one struck a chord... I've had several purchases as gifts for their entire Mahjong club! Even if your item doesn't already have a hole, it's easy to add one. I use my cordless Dremel drill -- the one I've had for over 8 years and it's still going strong. I drill a test hole first in a sacrificial piece of wood so I know that my drill bit is the right size for the tree base. (Some of them are different sizes, so this is important.) Then I drill the hole in my piece. I guess you could measure it to make sure it's centered, but I just eyeball it. Drip a little glue down into the hole, pull the wood base off the bottle brush tree, and stick it in. (I share my all-time favorite trees below.) It's that easy! Sometimes I embellish them with something extra... glitter, ribbon, Bingo numbers, etc. But this year, I've left a lot of them very plain and simple. Now I want to see your trees! Go over to this Facebook post and share pictures of your trees with us. You can get all the supplies you need right here:
This Month's Sale25% off $25 or more + FREE shipping on orders over $35
This sale includes all my finished bottle brush trees, too! Go check them out in my Etsy shop. This Week's Sponsor Hoping this can save you a little money... the more money you save on car insurance, the more you can spend on craft supplies! (Maybe not the best advice... but it happens...lol...) Happy Christmas crafting! Ann @ Duct Tape and Denim Where to find us online:
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We love thrifting and repurposing! Thrift store makeovers are my favorite thing. We specialize in upcycled Christmas ornaments and decor but we repurpose all year long! I also share my journey as a vendor in an antique mall + selling on Etsy & Shopify. Join us for lots of upcycling ideas as we work on living a sustainable life.
I've decided something about myself after all these years of thrifting, junkin', and wandering through flea markets. The weirder the find, the more likely I am to bring it home. I mean, anybody can walk into a thrift store and find a pretty vase or a nice picture frame. But an old bedpan? Now THAT gets my attention. Yes, I really bought an old bedpan at Antique Alley. And yes, I really do plan to plant succulents in it. (After a very thorough cleaning, of course!) And that's not even close to...
It's that time of year again! It snuck up on me... like it always does. 30 Days of Thanksgiving! I've been celebrating 30 Days of Thanksgiving for over two decades. Actually, we may be getting close to three decades now... I'm losing track! So much has changed during that time. But one thing hasn't changed. Thanksgiving still gets squeezed out between Halloween and Christmas. Maybe even more now than ever. And with so much bad news around us, I'm finding that I need to be even more...
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