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~ Like dew hanging from the tip of a leaf, a single bead or word adds sparkle where there was none. BE the bright!

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Category Archives: crafts

Christmas at Sea Tablescape

23 Saturday Dec 2017

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, baking, Christmas, crafts, DIY, family, holiday, home, home decor, Uncategorized

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Tags

Christmas table, home decor, lunch, tablescape, toy ship

I hosted a Christmas Lunch for two of my daughters-in-law. The tablescape was Christmas at Sea, which featured an old ship that belonged to my dear father-in-law. I love the Christmas song “I Saw Three Ships Come Sailing in on Christmas Day” and that was the original inspiration for the table. I would need smaller ships to fit three on the table though so one ship was big enough. One of my daughters-in-law used to work on a cruise ship so the theme was all the more fun.
1 Christmas at Sea tablescape-0474
The ship was placed on a piece of fluffy white batting in the center of the table. Small glass balls in white and wintery shades of gray were scattered like bubbles around the ship.
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Small crocheted snowflakes were hung from the ship’s sails.
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I also hung several glass balls and glass icicles and chandelier prisms from the ship to add to the wintery icy effect.
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The napkins were made from Vintage Christmas Carol sheet music fabric from Spoonflower. I had the design printed on Linen Cotton Canvas and it made lovely napkins.
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On each napkin I placed a sugar cookie snowflake. They turned out pretty but are so fragile that I broke the royal icing on several even before the lunch! But I adore snowflakes so I’ll probably make these again, even if they do break easily.
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Several of the smaller snowflake cookies were placed around the ship.
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To light the ship, I used three strands of tiny, battery operated lights. The battery boxes fit perfectly under the ship and were hidden under the white batting.
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Lunch was Potato Bacon Chowder, Ham Barbecue Rolls, Spinach Salad, and Cranberry Cheesecake Pie for dessert. We were sad that one of the girls couldn’t make it due to a sore throat. But now I have a good excuse to host again. It was too fun to only do once. Instead of Christmas at Sea, it will be Winter at Sea!
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I wish we had a fireplace mantel in the living room. I’d love to style ships like this on a mantel. If you do, please post in the comments and share. I’d love to see it!
10 Christmas at Sea tablescape-0489

 

 

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The Hot Air Balloon mobile has lights

30 Monday Oct 2017

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, crafts, DIY, home decor, lighting, projects

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crafts, home decor, hot air balloon, mobile

The Hot Air Balloon mobile I made for my granddaughter needed a couple more touches.
I added small paper flowers around the basket.

Paper flowers were glued around the hot air balloon basket.


I think another set of mini lights will be good but the softness with just one set of lights is so pretty!

The string of mini lights in this paper balloon add a lovely soft glow.


Hot Air Balloon mobile with lights.


Hot Air Balloon mobile made from a Japanese paper ball, lit with mini lights.


There wasn’t much contrast in the colors of this mobile. But once I added the lights, my baby granddaughter won’t stop looking at it. :)

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A Hot Air Balloon decoration for my granddaughter’s room

02 Saturday Sep 2017

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, crafts, granddaughter, grandkids, home decor, On my Worktable, projects, Uncategorized

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Tags

decorating, granddaughter, home decor, hot air balloon

We have a precious new granddaughter. ♥

I wanted to make something special for her room so I made a Hot Air Balloon mobile to hang up.

Hot Air Balloon mobile, made from a Japanese paper ball, embroidery hoop, basket and brass charms.


The beautiful paper ball was purchased when two of my sons and I visited Tokyo a couple years ago, so the Japan connection is very special to my son. He also has been on a hot air balloon team so thus the connection to hot air balloons.

Hot Air Balloon decoration to hang in my granddaughter’s room.


My daughter-in-law loves butterflies so I was really happy to find the metal filligree butterflies and brass keys in my craft supplies.

Brass butterfly charm sewn to the side of the basket


The hardest part of making this was tying all the knots equidistant from the top of the balloon so it hung straight.




I hope my granddaughter enjoys it for many years.

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The rest of the hearts

28 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, art, crafts, encouragement, home decor, Inspirational, photography, sparkling, Uncategorized, Valentine's Day, words

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Tags

art, crafts, hearts, home decor, photography, Valentines

On Instagram this month, I posted a heart a day, #amonthofhearts. AllSparkledUpDesign . Part way through the month, I wondered if I would have the stamina and commitment to finish. Some of these took hours to complete. The discipline of taking a creative photo every day for a whole month taught me so much.
~ You never know you can do something until you try.
~ Don’t give up. Just keep going.
~ God has millions of ideas. Scripture says God is the author of all inspiration. If you hang out with him, you’ll find that out.
~ Don’t over think it. Sometimes what you do doesn’t have to be big or loud or even shared. God enjoys the flowers blooming deep in a jungle, unseen by humans, the songs of birds unheard by ears. Some creativity is just for your and his enjoyment. It’s ok. Slow down, breathe deep.
~ I had more ideas for hearts than I had days in the month. So I’m hoping to do this next February too.
Today is Day 28, the end of the month of hearts. Here are the remaining heart photos I posted on Instagram. Enjoy!

15.

Date Marmelade Scone and Turkish Coffee

Date Marmelade Scone and Turkish Coffee

16.

French Beaded Flowers.

French Beaded Flowers.

17.

Pennyslvania Dutch Heart. I'm still not finished with this one.

Pennyslvania Dutch Heart. I’m still not finished with this one.

18.

Our Siamese kitten and her favorite stuffie and scarf.

Our Siamese kitten and her favorite stuffie and scarf.

19.

Marble Heart.

Marble Heart.

20.

Coffee Heart in a cup I used as a child.

Coffee Heart in a cup I used as a child.

21.

Peach Walnut Flip. I usually bake this in a U-shape but twisted the ends to form a heart this time.

Peach Walnut Flip. I usually bake this in a U-shape but twisted the ends to form a heart this time.

22.

The old Remington Portable typewriter was really fun to use for the typed heart. I had forgotten how noisy but charming a typewriter sounds!

The old Remington Portable typewriter was really fun to use for the typed heart. I had forgotten how noisy but charming a typewriter sounds!

23.

A heart of Charms. Some from my childhood, some from my husband's family, some from my mom and grandmother.

A heart of Charms. Some from my childhood, some from my husband’s family, some from my mom and grandmother.

24.

I really didn't want this month to be about sweets. But... Chocolates!!!

I really didn’t want this month to be about sweets. But… Chocolates!!!

25.

Orange Ginger Cake. I didn't write down the recipe as I made it up. It was scrumptious!

Orange Ginger Cake. I didn’t write down the recipe as I made it up. It was scrumptious!

26.

I was feeling so rushed but decided there WAS enough time. And there was! I just had to believe it and it happened.

I was feeling so rushed but decided there WAS enough time. And there was! I just had to believe it and it happened.

27.

I drew this four times before I decided to just let it go and do it freehand. Words of wisdom from I Corinthians, chapter 13.

I drew this four times before I decided to just let it go and do it freehand. Words of wisdom from I Corinthians, chapter 13.

28.

For the very last heart, I made a paper cutting. So simple and yet so deep. Love them all, ALL of them.

For the very last heart, I made a paper cutting. So simple and yet so deep. Love them all, ALL of them.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

14 Tuesday Feb 2017

Posted by Julia Monroe in allsparkledup, art, crafts, encouragement, flowers, home decor, photography, projects, sewing, sparkling, Uncategorized, Valentine's Day

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All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, allsparkledupdesign, hearts, photography, Valentine's Day

If you follow me on Instagram, AllSparkledUpDesign, you know I’m posting A Month of Hearts. Today is Day 14 and there are 14 days of hearts to go! Here are the hearts I’ve posted so far. Make sure you check instagram so you can read all the captions that go with these photos. Love to you all!

1

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Pink Lace candy box

2

Candle-lit heart

Candle-lit heart

3

Real, edible, miniature chocolates.

Real, edible, miniature chocolates.

4

Mercury glass heart and pearls.

Mercury glass heart and pearls.

5

Beaded Heart, neat and tidy

Beaded Heart, neat and tidy


Beaded Heart, wild and unkempt

Beaded Heart, wild and unkempt

6

Circuitry Heart

Circuitry Heart

7

Welded Heart

Welded Heart

8

Tiny Raggedy Ann and Andy

Tiny Raggedy Ann and Andy


Tiny Raggedy Ann with her ILY heart

Tiny Raggedy Ann with her ILY heart

9

Vintage Valentines

Vintage Valentines

10

Ribbon Flower velvet candy box.

Ribbon Flower velvet candy box.

11

Silk Ribbon Embroidered heart box.

Silk Ribbon Embroidered heart box.

12

Stone and Crystal Heart.

Stone and Crystal Heart.

13

Pink Ribbon Flowers.

Pink Ribbon Flowers.

14 Happy Valentine’s Day!

Two swans heart.

Two swans heart.

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Sweet & Sparkling Specialty Sugars for tea and coffee and sprinkling

31 Saturday Dec 2016

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, baking, cooking, crafts, DIY, food, recipe, sparkling, tea time, tutorial, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

allsparkledup, crafts, DIY, food

So happy she loved the gift I made for her! Specialty Sugars for her tea and coffee and sprinkling on toast, cereal or anything else that needs a little sweet sparkle.

Delicious and beautiful flavored sugars in jars.

Delicious and beautiful flavored sugars in jars.


I bought the decorative knobs and glass jars at Hobby Lobby. It was easy drilling a hole in the corks, using a hack saw to shorten the knob bolt and gluing them together with a few beads.
1-specialty-sugars-s-5648
~ Lavender Sugar ~
I ground up culinary lavender with a mortar and pestle, then put the lavender and sugar in a food processor. The lavender sugar was then layered with crystal sugar in the jar.
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~ Lemon Orange Sugar ~
Lemon and Orange zest were placed in a food processor with sugar and ground medium fine. I’ve been making this mixture for years for use in cheesecake because it makes a very fine textured cheesecake. To fill the jar, I spooned in a layer of Lemon Orange Sugar then used tongs to place white sugar cubes against the side of the jar. Then I spooned in more sugar and repeated the layers. Next time I’ll add more orange zest for a darker orange colored sugar.
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3-specialty-sugars-lemon-orange-5638
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~ Vanilla Bean Sugar ~
I scraped the seeds from two vanilla beans and ground the seeds with sugar in a food processor. I used one half of each vanilla bean, split lengthwise, to place in the jar. I spooned in about 1″ of Vanilla Sugar in the bottom of the jar. Then I used tongs and a wood skewer to position each vanilla bean against the side of the jar before adding the rest of the Vanilla Sugar.
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~ Pumpkin Spice Sugar ~
This recipe is something one of my sons and I made up, based on the spice ratio I use in my Pumpkin Pies. We keep this sugar blend on hand to make Pumpkin Spice Lattes, which everyone knows don’t have any pumpkin in them anyway. haha. Still, the flavor is very close to my pumpkin pies, sans pumpkin. To fill this jar, I used a small spoon and a tiny funnel I made from two straws. I can’t explain how I did the design but if you look up “sand art in a bottle” on youtube, you’ll get the idea. The white layer is Vanilla Bean Sugar. The dark brown “spots” in the white layer are pieces of cinnamon stick. I wanted to position the cinnamon stick pieces to look like hearts but the white sugar kept filling in the spaces so it didn’t work out.
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“Necessity is the mother of invention,” it is said. So true. I couldn’t access my precut wood pieces or run a saw so I ended up using the only wood on hand, a 30 year old piece of Sassafrass root from my parents property. It’s been in my tea collection for decades and still has a beautiful scent. I used a small craft saw to cut thin slices of the wood to make the tags. I wrote on them with permanent marker. Now I wonder if I had wood-burned the words in… could the slice of sassafrass be steeped in boiling water to flavor tea? What fun that would be! I’ll have to try it out.

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7-specialty-sugars-lemon-orange-sugar-s-5668
For each of the flavored sugars, I used one cup of granulated sugar plus the flavoring agent. That was plenty to fill the jar, with a little left over.
8-specialty-sugars-s-5671

9-specialty-sugars-s-5658
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas! We sure had a jolly time.

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The tiniest book I ever made – Blue Flowers

14 Friday Oct 2016

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, allsparkledup, art, books, crafts, flowers, handmade books, miniature, painting

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art, art books, book arts, bookmaking, crafts, miniatures, painting, water color

This tiny book, less than a quarter inch square, is titled Blue Flowers.

The tiniest book I ever made was titled Blue Flowers.

The tiniest book I ever made was titled “Blue Flowers” and included tiny paintings and descriptions of blue flowers. In order to qualify for “micro mini” status, it had to be under 1/4″ square.

I shaved the blue suede as thin as possible so the edges could be folded with less bulk.

I shaved the blue suede as thin as possible so the edges could be folded with less bulk.

I think I made 7 copies and traded them with book making friends. I have one copy but don’t remember where the other copies went. Each book with blue suede cover and gilded page edges was tucked inside a tiny blue flower.
blue-flowers-3
The text was printed using a laser printer. When the pages were cut apart from the sheet of printer paper, I had to be careful not a single breeze blew over my worktable since I couldn’t see the text and would have to use a magnifying glass to put them all back in order again. I was glad when I had all the pages stitched together!

Each book had a headband made of silk ribbon.

Each book had a headband made of silk ribbon. The gold ink used to gild the edges was sticky so I used an exacto knife to carefully cut the pages apart so they wouldn’t stick as the ink dried.

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Tiny book, with blue suede cover, text and water color paintings of blue flowers.

I made the paintings on each page using a magnifying glass and a brush that had only 3 hairs in it.
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blue-flowers-7

blue-flowers-8
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blue-flowers-11

Blue Flowers - a micro mini book with descriptions and water colors of blue flowers

Blue Flowers – a micro mini book with descriptions and water colors of blue flowers

The paintings were so fun to make! Some day I hope to make a tiny book about Pink Flowers. But that will have to happen soon before my eyesight ages even more.

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I’m keeping busy

18 Saturday Jun 2016

Posted by Julia Monroe in crafts, On my Worktable, woodwork

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carving, crafts, woodwork

Carving the wood base for the terrarium with my dad’s knives. 5 panels done, 1 to go.
Carving Terrarium Base

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The Snow and Crystal Tree and Tendril Snowflakes

20 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by Julia Monroe in allsparkledup, Christmas, crafts, DIY, home decor, projects, sparkling

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Christmas, Christmas decorating, DIY, home decor, nature crafts, snowflakes, tree, tutorial

I put away all the Christmas decorations except for one – the Snow and Crystal Tree. The corner will be too empty if I put it away and I love the wintery look of it. The snowflakes remind me of scribbles. Scribble Snowflakes!

Snow and Crystal Tree, with vintage chandelier crystals and snowflakes made from dried vine tendrils.

Snow and Crystal Tree, with vintage chandelier crystals and snowflakes made from dried vine tendrils.

The tree is a dried branch cut from a tree in the woods behind our house. I stuck it firmly into Styrofoam in an urn and laid moss around the base.
The crystals are from the old chandelier that used to hang in my parents’ dining room when I was a child. I loved that chandelier so I’m thrilled to have some of the crystals from it.
The snowflakes are made of natural tendrils and curls that I collected from the vines in the backyard in the fall.  My granddaughter helped me look for the curly tendrils and we really enjoyed our time together outdoors.

Dried vine snowflakes, little 1" glass ball ornaments and vintage chandelier crystals.

Dried vine snowflakes, little 1″ glass ball ornaments and vintage chandelier crystals.

To make the snowflakes, I broke off the dry twigs and slid the curly tendrils off. Here is a photo I posted on instagram of the twig bits with the tendrils removed.

The tendrils were gently twisted and pulled off the broken twigs.

The tendrils were gently twisted and pulled off the broken twigs.

Each snowflake needed six similar pieces so I grouped the tendrils by size.
3 Snow Crystal Tree
Once I had six similar tendrils, I trimmed the ends so they were the same length.
4 Snow Crystal Tree
For each snowflake, I made a contoured mat out of foil for gluing. A small bead was glued temporarily on the back of the foil so it would create a small mound on the right side.
5 Snow Crystal Tree

The foil is gently pressed down around the bead to create a little mound.

The foil is gently pressed down around the bead to create a little mound.

On the right side of the foil, on top of the tiny mound, I glued a small bead for the center of the snowflake. All the tendrils will then be glued to this bead using hot glue.
7 Snow Crystal Tree
The tendrils were arranged around the center bead in a pleasing manner.
8 Snow Crystal Tree
The two straightest tendrils were glued on first, opposite each other, to create the line of symmetry.
9 Snow Crystal Tree
The other tendrils were glued on the sides and the hot glue was allowed to harden.
10 Snow Crystal Tree
To remove the delicate snowflake, the foil was folded and pinched together under the snowflake. Then the snowflake was gently popped off the foil. One of the snowflakes stuck too much so I used tweezers to pull the foil off and reglue the tendrils that had loosened.
11 Snow Crystal Tree
12 Snow Crystal Tree
The snowflakes were hung with thin hooks I made from jewelry wire.
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14 Snow Crystal Tree
15 Snow Crystal Tree
The vintage crystals look lovely on the tree.

Vintage hand-cut crystals adorn the tree.

Vintage hand-cut crystals adorn the tree.

17 Snow Crystal Tree
18 Snow Crystal Tree
At the base of the urn is a gilded tea cup filled with little glass ball ornaments.

The beautiful earthy and neutral color ornaments were from Terrain. The tea cup is from Anthropologie.

The beautiful earthy and neutral color ornaments were from Terrain. The tea cup is from Anthropologie.

Snow and Crystal Tree, with vintage chandelier crystals and snowflakes made from dried vine tendrils.

Snow and Crystal Tree, with vintage chandelier crystals, glass balls in neutral shades and snowflakes made from dried vine tendrils.

The little fox ornament I got several years ago finally found a home… at the base of the Snow and Crystal tree.

A furry, little red fox ornament sits at the base of the Snow and Crystal Tree.

A furry, little red fox ornament sits at the base of the Snow and Crystal Tree.

I don’t know what to put in the corner when this tree comes down.. probably a lamp. But then again, perhaps I’ll make a Snowy Valentine tree…

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Pearl Bottle Brush Topiary

13 Wednesday Jan 2016

Posted by Julia Monroe in allsparkledup, Christmas, crafts, DIY, home decor, New Years, On my Worktable, projects, tutorial

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bottle brush tree, Christmas, Christmas decoration, crafts, home decor, pearls

I’ve made a decision!

Last year I was committed to posting timely topics on my blog. Well that didn’t happen! sigh. I don’t know how other bloggers do it all. They must decorate for Christmas months before December, the same way magazines work on their seasonal material many months before the issue hits the press.

Though I really tried last year, if I couldn’t finish a post during the season, I ended up never posting at all. That is going to change. This year, I am posting anything I want, any time I want. I have quite a bit of material to post! I know that breaks blogger rules, the rule that says readers won’t be interested in seeing Christmas crafts in August. But life is too short and much too busy so I hope you all forgive me for diving right in to this new year.

You will be getting more posts from me but it’s fairly certain they won’t be all calendar-tidy. Nope. Not at all. I can sorta-kinda-maybe get some posts matched with seasons but I won’t stress about missing. And I’ll do my best to not apologize when I post Christmas in May and Valentines in September. Because… it’s highly likely I will actually be working on Christmas projects in May and making Valentines in September!

So here’s a project I just finished yesterday, January 12, 2016. It’s a Christmas decoration. Happy New Year to you!

Pearl Bottle Brush Tree Topiary, made by cutting bristles out of a bottle brush tree and gluing on pearls.

Pearl Bottle Brush Tree Topiary, made by cutting bristles out of a bottle brush tree and gluing on pearls.

The photos are a bit off in tone because I started this Pearl Bottle Brush Topiary Tree before Thanksgiving 2015 and photographed the steps under various lighting conditions as I did them, weeks apart. That’s how I get so much done. Projects are broken down into phases, kept in bins and boxes like a kit, ready for me to work on here and there.

For the bottle brush topiary, I picked a nice bottle brush tree to work with. The brush had to be full and evenly distributed all the way around and the bristles had to be tight. I found these 9″ trees at Michaels.

The first step was establishing the spiral by sticking masking tape around the tree. I started at the base and wound it around the tree all the way to the top.

The masking tape is wound around the tree, starting at the bottom and spiraling around the tree to the top. The tape will mark all the places that the bristles will NOT be cut.

The masking tape is wound around the tree, starting at the bottom and spiraling around the tree to the top. The tape will mark all the places that the bristles will NOT be cut.

I first started cutting out the bristles right in the center of the taped areas as shown here. The first cutting was in the center between the tape, all the way from the base to the top of the tree.
3 Pearl Bottle Brush Topiary
Here you can see what the tree looks like after the first cutting.
4 Pearl Bottle Brush Topiary
To make the second cutting, I cut at an angle from the tape in to meet the deep first cut in the center of the tree.

Cutting at an angle from the tape to the center. The tree was turned upside down to make cuts under the spiral as you can see here.

Cutting at an angle from the tape to the center. The tree was turned upside down to make cuts under the spiral as you can see here.

After the second cutting.
6 Pearl Bottle Brush Topiary
I continued cutting away bristles until there was a nice, neat spiral shape, all between the tape-covered bristles.
7 Pearl Bottle Brush Topiary
The cutting is all finished here.
8 Pearl Bottle Brush Topiary
The masking tape is gently pulled away.

I was so happy with how easy it was to make the spiral shape!

I was so happy with how easy it was to make the spiral shape!


10 Pearl Bottle Brush Topiary
11 Pearl Bottle Brush Topiary
Here is the cut tree next to an identically-taped bottle brush tree. The tape makes it easy to cut an even spiral.
12 Pearl Bottle Brush Topiary
13 Pearl Bottle Brush Topiary
The last step was gluing on the pearly glass and plastic beads. I watched Downton Abbey while doing this and it was a pleasant task. Oh so elegant! I used Fast Grab Tacky Glue and tweezers to place each pearl. No other glue would have been as easy to use because I needed a glue that grabbed fast and didn’t drip. I used two kinds of large pearl beads and a couple different kinds of smaller pearls and pearly beads.

Pearls are glued to the tips of bristles on this Bottle Brush Topiary Tree.

Pearls are glued to the tips of bristles on this Bottle Brush Topiary Tree.

I’m looking forward to displaying this pretty tree next Christmas, tucked amongst the plants in the corner of the dining room.

Pearl Bottle Brush Topiary Tree

Pearl Bottle Brush Topiary Tree

By the way, did you see the beautiful red Poinsettia peeking over in the first photo? When I lifted the poinsettia plant out of the van in early December, three branches broke off. So I stuck them in a glass of water. They are still beautiful, over a month later. =)

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