artful thursdays #27....bottle brush wreath make-over tutorial

it is time to start december with a tutorial for the holidays i decided today...i love finding ways to make-over new items to look like vintage. my artful thursday tutorial for today will take a nasty little bottle brush wreath ornament and turn it into something lovely you will want to use....
i tied mine on this little ruffled wool stocking for a sweet holiday treat.

here is your supply list: gather together a little wreath (tacky and new is best), some tinsel, stamens, mica, narrow ribbon for a bow, and some tacky glue.


start with a package of those dark green bottle brush wreaths at the dollar store and get busy. here is a before and after shot just so you know where we are going. work with me here people.


step 1. it gets ugly, rip off the ratty red bow and the gold string hanger. they might be glued on with a big gob of industrial hot glue. try to pull this off and leave your little wreath intact.

step 2. lightly spray paint the little thing with some off-white or cream spray paint. just dust it a bit with little quick sprays. you just want to give it a bit of a frosty feeling without turning it all white.


step 3. if you are tying your wreath on to a stocking or using it as an ornament, attach the little string now. glue it in place using a bit of tacky glue. glue on a little nest of tinsel and a tiny bow.





step 4. add some tiny berries. i like to use little stamens cut apart. glue these in your wreath with tacky glue. i use tweezers for the tiny stamens, depending on the size of your wreath use some little red berries that will work. i have two sizes of stamens in my shop right now if you are having a time finding some small enough.


step 5. dust the top with mica. i spread the glue over the surface of the bottle bush bristles with my finger and then shake on the mica to coat it well.

thats it..now you have the cutest ever tiny wreath to hang for the holidays. this one measures 1-1/2 inches across!


for those of you that are really adventurous, check out these darling dyed bottle brush trees by karla nathan
i haven't tried to dye them yet, but that is next on my list.

lots of the vintage bottle brush wreaths had tiny mercury glass beads on them and little candles or fruits. this pink wreathis a classic.

here are a couple more bottle brush wreath make overs to give you some more ideas. this little fat flocked wreath was very bare when i found it. i added some laquered holly leaves, a vintage tinsel ribbon off the spool, and a few mercury glass beads.


these one just needed a glittered bell.


and this one was just perfect as is. i love the little millinery flowers and the mercury glass candle. funny how many of the little red bows look a little orange after 50+ years.


enjoy, julie

one for me and one for you....

thanks so much everyone for your lovely comments about dolores. lucky number 21 was picked by the random number generator i used this morning.

Heather that is you! i can't view your profile to send you a note, so please email me with your mailing address. dolores has an identical twin! i made the first cat at witches night out, and her twin for my artful thursday project last week.

so there is one for me and one for you.
dolores and dolores, two sisters on an adventure.
happy thursday.

a red letter day...

i just got started and really couldn't stop myself....
it is just one of those red letter days.

cutting out labels.



wrapping things with tinsel.



sewing tiny ruffles.


getting my shop ready for a vintage holiday...


i will be taking comments for anyone who wants to adopt dolores till wednesday night, then it will be time for a new artful thursday project.
happy 50 cent refill tuesday, julie

artful thursdays #26....halloween cat tutorial and adopt dolores...

this week we had our art group witches night out halloween party at candice's house. i got home at 2:30am so it is a good thing there wasn't any school the next day! the food was spectacular, my favorite was the spiced sweet potatoes that candice had made with roasted sweet potatoes with melted butter and milk steeped in mulling spices. with a bit of fresh ground black pepper it was divine...
here are a few of the costumes. cheryl in her vintage black dress


em and amanda


lorraine and her winning cats costume


me and candice


can't believe i didn't get a photo of everyone! here are all the girls last year at our witches night out.


our halloween cat project turned out so fun. lorraine sewed together all the cats and stuffed and painted them ahead of time so we had all the fun of decorating them. here is the whole basket of little kitties just waiting for the party to start.

lorraine gave me an extra cat to decorate and give away on my blog so here is dolores, she needs a new home. i have never had a give away before so how fun is that?? i will draw a name from the comments and then send her off to you...
we all finished our cats and lined them up for a photo shoot. so cute, right.


my artful thursday tutorial will start with the sewn cat so see this post for ideas how to draw, sew, and stuff one of your own design.
lorraine bought this darling cat from olive rose at art unravelled a while back and used the basic outline for her inspiration.


the cats are sewn out of muslin and painted with black milk paint.
we started out with a cat looking like this:


the one on the left has the seam up the back. i have always hidden the seam down the side, so this is fun and new for me.
step 1. cut out the felt pieces for the face. i used some cute vintage flower sequins on top of the felt eyes because i couldn't find any black buttons the right size.



step 2. sew on the face. i have this pretty thread set from valdani that i bought at the quilt market. the colors are overdyed and varigated autumn hues.


step 3. make a little bow bundle using a piece of gold tulle, a piece of polka dot black tulle, an orange felt flower, and a bit of tinsel. sew the bundle next to the cats ear.


step 4. tie a crepe paper ruffle around the neck. i used a piece of 1 3/4 inch ruffle wrapped around the neck twice and tied with some striped string. fold the ruffle in half over the string and smunch it and squish it down so it lays down flat like a collar.


step 5. make a wee skirt. i gathered a 17 X 6 rectangle of gold tulle folded in half and a 17 X 3 inch rectangle of brown and aqua cotton for the base of the skirt and tacked each layer to the cat with thread. then tied a bit of ribbon over the skirt. it looked too bland so i added a bit of loopy orange trim and an aqua wool medallion with a tinsel center.


step 6. now for some little mary jane shoes. these are just painted on with some acrylic paint and a fine brush.



i love how some of the gals in my art group painted the clothes and faces on the cat body. with the painted muslin the cat is a great canvas. here are a few more group shots of the cats.



just leave a comment if you would like dolores to come live with you. i'll pick a winner and let you know.
well now, hubby just came home with 14 pounds of trick or treat candy...
spooky halloween wishes, julie

artful thursdays #25....halloween witch tutorial

we met for our art group last week and i taught everyone how to make these halloween witches. their bodies are made with wool or cotton wrapped pipe cleaners. i thought you might like to make one of your own, so today's artful thursday project will walk you through the steps to make a wool wrapped doll for you to decorate for any holiday.

the basic supplies you will need to make the doll are wool roving, cotton pipe cleaners, and a paper face. for decorating you might gather bits from your little art shop: crepe paper, vintage book paper, tinsel, stamens, lace, stars, felt, anything sparkly, and some tiny trinkets.


step 1. fold two 6 inch cotton pipe cleaners in half and shape into a body by twisting the two pipe cleaners as shown. my pipe cleaners are the ones really used to clean pipes made by dill's.

step 2. start wrapping your wool roving on the figure in this order: arms, legs, then the body. start at the end of the hand or foot and wind your way into the body with thin wisps of wool pulled off your roving. never cut the wool fibers as they won't wrap back and catch on themselves as well. you can get some great wool roving at ornamentea.

step 3. wrap wool roving around the head to finish the figure and tuck the ends around the neck. use a bit of spray sealer to hold the wool in place if you need to or i like just a bit of tacky glue smeared on my fingers to tuck in any stray bits.


step 4. start designing the clothing. i made a little crepe paper skirt and glued it in place.

step 5. glue on little sleeves. i used some vintage loopy trim tucked over each arm.

step 6. glue on a bodice. i used a piece of halloween garland from last year. the tiny stamens are just glued in place with a black bit of seam binding tied around the middle for a sash. the sparkly tinsel is glued on top.


step 7. make a little witch hat. cut out a cone shape and glue the ends together. i decorated this one with a bit of ribbon trim and a glittered star. the black paper is vintage photo album paper. add a circle base to the hat if you like. glue on your paper face for your doll and then the hat. any old photo copied onto paper will do well. my face is about 3/4 inch tall.

here are the spooky girls made by some of the gals in my art group. i usually don't bother to take photos as the building we meet in has horrible overhead lights and a bad background. this time i just went for it. it was totally fun using just the stuff on the table to set up the photo. thank you my art friends for such a lovely evening!
this one is by Diana and photographed on her gorgeous carpet handbag.


with roller skates and a lovely porcelain head, this little witch is by cheryl.


this sparkly baby with all the ruffles is by candice


lori made this darling doll using a vintage jello mold!


amandas happy girl holds the cutest mask...


heidi was making a doll for each of her kids in their favorite costume. luke skywalker was going to be next, awesome right.


this cutie by lorraine looks like she just won the trick or treat pageant


amazing how each one is so different even though we started out with the same kit. this little pumpkin fairy i made for my pretty little felts book. her pumpkin is a wool bead with a bit of embroidery. hope you enjoy this project. spooky wishes, julie