Easy Bottle Brush Tree DIY

12 Materials
$15
1 Hour
Easy

I am going to show you the easiest DIY using bottle brush Christmas trees.

These little trees are everywhere during the holiday season.

This fun bottle brush Christmas tree DIY will give you such a wow factor on your dining room table, your coffee table, your kitchen counters, ……


Supplies

  • sugar mold
  • 2.5″ terra cotta pots (I used 12, it will depend on the number of holes your sugar mold has.
  • brush trees without the wood base ( I used 12, and used a combination of dark green, light green, and gold)
  • Metallic beads (I clipped the beads off Christmas floral picks)
  • white acrylic paint
  • paint brush
  • disposable lint free cloth
  • gold gilding wax
  • wire snips
  • clay
  • bolt cutters


Directions

  1. Before you start, double check to make sure the terra cotta pots you have chosen will fit in the holes of your sugar mold.
  2. Using wire snips, clip the berries (metallic pieces) off the picks leaving a small stem so that you can press them into the clay later.
  3. I did not want my trees to all be the same size. So, using a pair of bolt cutters, I cut anywhere from 1″ to 3″ off each tree so that the tree would be staggered when I placed them in the terra cotta pots.
  4. Next, dry brush white acrylic paint on each pot.
  5. Using a disposable lint free cloth, wipe off the excess white paint so that some of the terra cotta peeks through.
  6. Rub gold gilding wax around the edges of the pot.
  7. Then shape the clay into a ball roughly the size of your palm.
  8. Press the clay into the pot making sure the clay almost reaches the top of the pot.
  9. Place your tree in the center of the pot and press the clay around the stem to stabilize the tree.
  10. Now, using the small stem on the bead, press the beads into the clay around the clay so that the clay is covered completely.
  11. Place the terra cotta pots back into the sugar mold.


You now have a great centerpiece for your dining room table or a coffee table.

You can even display your bottle brush tree DIY on your kitchen counters!

Clip metallic bead off the floral picks.

Dry brush acrylic white paint on terra cotta pots.

Add gilding wax over white paint.

Measure height of trees before cutting with bolt cutters.

Use blue painters tape to mark where to cut with bolt cutters.

Form clay in a ball in the palm of your hand.

Press the clay into the pot.

Press the trees and metallic beads into the clay and allow to harden.

Repeat the process with the number of holes in your sugar mold.

Place trees in sugar mold and style.

Resources for this project:
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Jennifer Williams
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
3 of 4 questions
  • Jenny Jenny on Dec 18, 2020

    What is a sugar mold? This is worth copying as it looks lovely.

  • Lynda Lynda on Jan 13, 2021

    What’s gilding wax?

  • Michele Michele on Dec 11, 2022

    Confused on the bottle brush trees did you make them or buy them?

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