How To Dye Bottle Brush Trees

How-to dye inexpensive bottle brush trees to match your holiday decor. Simple, easy, and oh so shabby chic!

How To Dye Bottle Brush Trees

I love bottle brush trees and if you've been around here for a while you probably already know that.  I want to start using them more in my Christmas decor but it seemed that I only find them in an off-white color and in a dark green. That's great for most purposes but I went with a lot of bold reds this year and I wanted some trees to match that.  I thought I had a genius idea using Rit Dye for this purpose then realized it had already been done so while this isn't new to the world it's new to me and I want to show you how easy it is.  *This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience.  Click here to read my full disclosure policy.

Make sure your work surface is totally covered - dye will DYE everything it touches.  I used an old towel to protect my lovely yellow 1970's kitchen counter.  I figured if it had held on for over 40 years I should keep it unscathed 😉

Fill your bowl with 2 cups of VERY HOT water and then stir in 4 teaspoons of Rit Dye (before opening the dye shake it well but shake it somewhere safe or at least make sure the lid is on SUPER TIGHT).  A part of me thinks this whole process should be done outside because of Dye fear.

Now, add your trees.  I partially dipped one and loved the way it looked.  I should have done some ombre ones - note to self - try ombre for next year.

Place all of your trees in the water making sure they are submerged.

Leave them under water to soak up the dye for 5 to 10 minutes.  The longer you leave them to soak the deeper the color will be.  I left mine in for 10 minutes.Now, carefully drain the water from the trees and run cold water over everything until it runs clear.

Place your trees on a safe surface, i.e., crappy towel to dry.Once they're dry decorate to your heart's content! I didn't put any glitter on them yet but I think I will.

Here's a bit of a side note.  The trees are an almost dusky maroon and not the deep rich cherry red I was hoping for.  I think the problem was that I started with bottle trees that were off-white.  I may try a bleaching process first and then try this again or I may just look for some white trees - we'll see! 

Some other posts you may like! 

How to Make the Perfect Christmas BowMini Bottle Brush Tree Place Cards and Ornaments