Bottle Brush Tree Banners

Baby pic courtesy of a local ad (junk mail)

  WHOA!  Hold on there a minute.  Don't put up those bleached bottle brush trees just yet.  (See how to bleach trees here.)

I was sitting staring at my beauties sitting in a box ready to make the journey to the attic when I thought,  "Hey, some of those could be V-Day trees with a little help."

First I punched out some glitter hearts and strung them on baker's twine.  Just tied it around the tree. 

Voila! V-Day tree.












Well, I could do better than that!  Something banner-y.  I have pinned enough banners in the last several months.

So into the horror show of a craft stash to find washi tape and more baker's twine and mini pink jute and a Sharpie ...

You can use your imagination.

The first one was difficult to maneuver.

I quickly got the hang of these teensy banners.

Fold over the washi tape and cut it like a banner.

I did not even bring out the stamps - just wrote with a Sharpie.

 I think they are just the right touch for an anti-Valentine girl like me.

I can yanked the teensy-tiny banners off in less than a second.

Azalee, the cat, can do it faster. I know this from experience.

Willie and Scout (the dogs) ate a roll of washi tape each.  

Luckily it was the cheap, er, inexpensive kind from Target.

The sheep were the lucky ones who received the surviving trees.

Molly, the other cat, is sitting right behind the trees - guarding them  from attack.

Nobody messes with Molly -including Chucks and me.

It's her way or no way!

 



Look - the barn was decorated with a banner, too.

Enough silliness. It is very late - way, way past my bedtime.   At some point I need some great weather and some free hours to get back to painting furniture.  Maybe I will be normal then.  One can only hope.

See y'all!


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Seeds To Storage

I love Fage Greek yogurt with the side container of honey to mix together.  Next I add sunflower seeds.  It makes the perfect meal or snack!

I have yet the find a purpose beyond paint pots for the yogurt containers, but I was dead set on using those sunflower seed jars.  Well, they are not really jars, but plastic containers that are not recycled here in our city - wrong kind of plastic!  (Isn't all plastic the wrong kind?)

Another pet peeve of mine is buying storage containers (I have scads) and finding out they do not suit the purpose.  They are not deep enough, too deep for the space, too narrow, the top does not stay on (personal pet peeve plus), or the corners are so rounded the storage area is reduced.  So the obvious solution was just find stuff around the house going to the recycle bin or trash and use it!  A DUH moment, for sure.  

I took the dog treat jug and used it for my spools of wire.  No picture - just a large plastic bottle!  I didn't even put a tag on it.  Can you believe that !?!

Next I went over to the Graphics Fairy and downloaded this circus ticket image (nine to a page) on regular white paper.  I know it looks faded.  

HINT:  When you are running out of one of the colors in your printer, print out images that would look good faded and distressed.  I use every drop of ink doing this.  I save these images until a project calls for a heavily distressed look.

Yes, I keep a roll of tickets.  Bought them at a yard sale years ago for a dollar and have used them on various things, but they seem to multiply when I am not looking!  I printed WASHI TAPE on the ticket.

Punched a hole in it.  I put double-stick tape around the jar and stuck the label on and tied the ticket on with jute.

The washi tape was the perfect fit.  The rolls are sorted by the way I use them.  This jar holds prints.  Someone last week had an excellent review of the different washi tapes.  I buy MT brand from Pretty Tape on Etsy.  I have bought from her for several years and have always been satisfied by the prices.  You will pay more for this brand than Tim Holtz or Michael's or Target.  I have found that like paint and paint brushes, the higher the price the higher the quality.  That being said,  I use the cheap stuff on things I know will be discarded and save the expensive tape for art projects.

They sit very patriotically awaiting their place on the shelf.

Actually, I cannot lie.  It took six of these jars to hold all my washi tape!

Can you guess what storage solution #3 is?

A two-liter soda bottle.  

I cut the top portion off.  Wrap a piece of wire around the top and secured it with brown duct tape.  The wire makes it sturdier.  I added another stripe of duct tape around the middle.  (Mainly because as I was cutting the top piece, I unrolled too much.  I did not want to waste it - this being a recycle post.)

I have spent the entire afternoon cleaning out one craft area and organizing things so I will not buy any more duplicates!  My niece is coming this weekend - I can't wait.  We are planning a girl's weekend of swimming, crafting, and watching scary stuff!  Now all she needs is a place to sleep - oh, no, more cleaning!

See y'all!


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