Christmas in July

I'm getting a jump on my Christmas crafting. Okay, okay, I am sensing a collective eye roll out there but give me a chance to explain. Every year during the holidays I get so frustrated because I want to put everything on hold and just make things. Pretty things. Decorative things. Things just for me. With all of the activities that go along with the season, it's next to impossible to find the time to make this happen. All of that's changing this month though because I am having Christmas in July. No, we're not going caroling or putting lights on the house just yet, but I am going to make one Christmas related project each week for the remainder of the month. If they turn out good then I'll share them with you. If I get lazy and abandon the whole idea altogether I'll pretend like I don't know what you are talking about if you bring it up. Deal?

The first project up is "Oh Christmas Tree." While at the craft store recently, I discovered a wonderful package of small scale Christmas trees. There were three in a pack and each measured about six inches tall. I decided they needed a vintage overhaul. This is how I went about it.

I started with one tree. It came with some accent snow already on it. The first thing I did was cover the tree's little gold base so as not to get other paint on it. I did this with tape.
Next I pulled out some spray paint I had. The colors are Blue Ocean Breeze, White and Simply Pink.
I gave the little tree quite a shower with a base coat of white paint.
After the white was completely dry, I switched out the drop paper. Next time around I will probably add a small piece of wax paper between the tree and the newspaper to prevent any sticking.
Next came a pink shower for the little guy. You can do as many coats as you like to get the color intensity you prefer. I did a couple of coats very close to the tree so that I could get as far into the bristles as possible for maximum coverage.

After the pink dried, I used a paintbrush to work in small amounts of glue to the tree.
After coating a small area with the glue, I would then pour glitter over the over that area. I worked in small areas mainly because I didn't know how the glitter was going to look. You can adjust the amount of glue you apply in order to vary the concentration of glitter. You can work the glue deep into the tree with your brush or simply add small amounts to the tips of the bristles.
I was heavy handed with my glue application on this tree, so the iridescent glitter I used went on heavy and created a flocked look.
After waiting for the glitter glue to dry, I then dipped pastel colored beads in glue and pushed them into the tree bristles for decorations.
The end result is the tree on the left in the first picture of this post. The other two trees were created using different paint and glitter combinations. There are so many ways to make this project your own through your choice of materials.

I'm excited by the way these turned out! Now if I can just remember were I end up storing them when December rolls around I'll be in good shape. Merry Christmas!