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!
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
Thank You So Much!
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