DIY Q-Tip Pussy Willow Branches For Centerpieces

I don't know how this idea came into my

head, but so excited it did! And, I did a

search on the net to see if anyone has

ever done this before and found nothing!

Cool beans!

It all came about when I was taking a

break from a sweater pumpkin I was

making. I went online just to free my

mind as I was stuck on how I wanted to

finish it. My inspiration had just died with

it... does that happen to you too? Normally

when that happens I just stare at it for a

few days and then bam... something hits

me and then, I can tear into it until it's done.

(My vases look a little dwarfed here on this

antique desk I set them on. Have to find a

new spot for them durn it.)

So, as I was taking my break on blog land,

I came across this sweater vase. I have

seen many before but this one just struck

me to want to do one. I liked it and, I had

just come across my poor beautiful lambs

wool sweater jacket with fur on the inside

of the hood that I just loved! It had

accidentally got thrown in the wash and,

well lets just say, a small child could wear

it now...so sad! It had shrunk so small that

when I cut the sleeves off, and just slid them

over the vases I was using, they barley fit!

The positive in that was, they were good

and snug so that was all I had to do. No

glue, no nothing, and they were done. The

last thing I did was cut off three of the

buttons from the sweater and hot glued

them on the front of the larger vase for

some nice decoration. Just right!

 

 

Displayed in this vase was some faux pussy

willows. I loved the look and wanted some for

my vases. I didn't want to go shopping to try

to find some, even I could find them, and I

didn't want to spend any money either.

 

And then all of a sudden I got a slap in the head idea! As I was looking at the pussy willows my mind did a flip and I saw q-tips! Well they do look like q-tips don't ya think!? And then...the world of nature kicked in. I wasn't going to have to spend a dime or go anywhere! Except for the woods next to me to find some branches....so I did! I will make my own pussy willows!

My silly hubby saw me out there in the

woods picking up sticks from his office

window and walking back with a bunch

of dead branches and hollers down from

his office upstairs asking "what are

you doing now?" I went upstairs telling

him I'm taking your box of q-tips. He says,

"Oh this ought to be good...sticks and

q-tips!!? And I got that look, but with a bit

of bewilderment added. Then he says, "I

won't even ask!" I said, "just wait and see!"

So I went back downstairs and started to

work....and it worked! I got my pussy willow

branches done a few hours and about five

hundred or close q-tips later! I was so

stinkin excited when it was done! I showed

them to hubby and he said, "Oh wow

sweetie, that is awesome! They look real!"

Gives a nice winters feel too I think!

And honestly, you can't really tell they

aren't real unless you get super close to

look! I am totally happy happy with them!

Everyone that has come to the house has

gone nuts over them....and when I tell them

they are q-tips, they don't believe me until

they get super close up to them. They never

would have known until I told them.

To do these yourself all you need is:

 a box of q-tips - 500 ct. would be best

some sticks or branches dead or alive

(less than I used would be better lol,

took forever! I'm not good at projects

like that!) I get impatient to get done!

scissors - I used hubbys kitchen scissors

(You should have seen his face when he

saw me cutting the q-tips with his precious

and expensive kitchen utensils!) If he can

cut up a chicken with them, then it

certainly won't hurt them to cut a q-tip!

I just rolled my eyes right back at him!

glue gun and glue sticks

and I recommend a deep bowl - why?

Because when I was clipping the tips off

the q (sticks), they were flying all over the

place! Once I got the bowl I pointed the end

I was cutting downward into the bowl, and

the high sides of the bowl made them

ricochet off the bowl walls, but fall into the

bowl. No more getting up and chasing

those suckers everywhere they landed!

And some time and patience!

Take your q-tips and start by clipping off

both ends right at where the cotton ends

on the stick or just a little above it until

you have a lot!  And I mean ALOT! I did

cut some a little closer to the tip for use

on the thicker branches.

I then set my branches in the vase and

even glued them together in places so they

wouldn't move from how I had put them. I

even clipped some smaller branches off

some others I didn't use, and glued them on

my branches in the vase where there

was gaps, and to have a couple fall over the

sides of the vase. Once my branches were

set, I took the glue gun and the tips I had cut

and squeezed just a tiny bit of glue on the

clipped end and just placed them on the

branches where there had been a leaf or

mark in the stem where another branch

had once been. Then I filled the stems with

the tips where I thought a pussy willow

would have bloomed.

It was really easy adhering them....most I

just set on the branch and that was it. On

the teeny tiny thin stems of the stick, I

sometimes held them in place for just a

couple of seconds very gently.

My branches were found from limbs that

had fallen off the trees so they were pretty

brittle so I had to be ever so careful not to

have them break off while I was placing the

cotton tips on them. And that is it! You got

pussy willows!

One suggestion I'll share. When applying

the glue on the tips,  just do a small dab and

when you are pulling the glue gun away,

kind of do a wrap around before, so you

don't get those glue strings. I only had a

couple doing it that way and when I was

finished I took my tiny embroidery shears

and clipped them off!

Who would have thunk? Not me, but I

did! I kept wondering all day if it was

my mom giving me a nudge to use my

noggin from heaven...I'm not that smart!

Well there you have it! Have fun and enjoy

if you happen to make some yourself! I

really really Love Love mine!

The photo that inspired my vases and the

faux pussy willows that inspired the idea

to make my own pussy willows!

And below the real deals!

First beginning to bloom Photo Courtsey

Photo Courtsey

Giant White Pussy Willows (Salix chaenomeloides)

Beginning to bloom Photo Courtesy

I love pussy willows...don't you!?

I'm not to far off! Maybe one day I will add a bit of

watered down light grey craft paint, or roll them in

some grey eye shadow to tint them for a more natural look

in color. Right now I like them white like the second photo

of real white pussy willows above. And....if you get your

mind away from q-tips....you can see pussy willows!

  

Thanks for spending your time with me!

TaTa Till Later!

With Sincere Appreciation I Would To Thank The

Following For The Feature Of My Pussy Willows

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