Handmade Holidays Round 2: Dyed Bottle Brush Trees

Last year around this time, I had DIYed a handful of holiday decor projects and decided to share them with you all one at a time.  I hadn't really planned to do a repeat version this year because I thought my projects from last year would suffice.  I should have known, though, that once I stared decorating, I would inevitably feel the need to tackle a few projects...which I have done over the last week or so since Hanukkah ended!  And now, I will spend the next few days sharing them with you all before the grand reveal of our holiday decor on Friday (I know, so exciting, right?!?).
First up on the reveal docket...my dyed bottle brush trees.

A couple years back, I bought a ton of those little bottle brush trees and bleached them for a display.  I liked them enough, but last year they failed to make an appearance in our holiday decor.  *(By the way, if you need a tutorial on bleaching them, I am pretty sure I have one here or just google it...they're everywhere!).  And when I took them out this year, I felt like they needed a bit more umph if I was going to include them.  I figured there must be an easy way to get them dyed, so I started researching.  And in doing so, I came across a really easy tutorial using Rit dyes (any color you want...I wanted greens and blues) and spray bottles.  Basically, you just put some water and some dye in the spray bottles and squirt down each tree (make sure you lay out paper underneath!).

Well, that process was just about as easy as it sounds, but I was a little disappointed that I couldn't get the colors to be more of the modern varieties that I enjoy (bright green, teal, sky blue, etc).  So I experimented and decided to use food coloring n the last couple trees I had left.  Same process: just put a few drops of food coloring into one of the spray bottles, fill it about half way with water, and squirt away.  Well guess what?!?  It totally worked!

So from now on, I am totally on the food coloring path.  I like the colors better (especially the "neon" variety). They're easier to combine colors.  And they're way cheaper, especially because there's a good chance you already have them on hand.

I already am thinking I'm going to have to add to my little collection...maybe once they go on sale after the holidays!  And maybe in some more colors (purples, pinks, yellows, reds...aahh the possibilities!).  Either way, I'm much more excited about them than my boring white ones.