My Winter Forest (part one)

For a long time, I've seen those lovely white bottlebrush trees in all the home decor shots during the holiday season. I've always liked the look of the white ones better than the green (or pink). But for a long time, I was under the impression that the white ones were strictly a vintage thing.. and so I'd always kept my eye out for some while on the thrifting hunt.

Until I found this tutorial that showed me how to make my own!

I picked up some of the green bottlebrush trees from M's and grabbed a stainless steel bowl and some bleach and water and threw everything together.

I did use a ratio of 3:1 on the bleach/water solution.. but I was low on bleach so I didn't have enough to completely submerge my trees. (And watch out for bleach fumes.)

I stirred them occasionally, and became amazed at how well the bleach worked to remove the scary green dye. I also liked how distressed the paint on the wood bases became as the time went on...

And then, one by one, my little trees became snowy white.

And this is the finished set. I love them so. I have some good stuff planned for these little babies as we go through the month (bwahahaha).

Hope you have a great Wednesday!