Winter centerpiece

Review by Lyndee:

I saw a pin on Pinterest that made this sound like the easiest decorating idea ever.  Well, shock me again, they lied.  Or maybe my lack of crafting skills and patience just wasn’t a good match for this.  

First I spray-painted a Rumchata bottle. I love the shape and thought it would make a great centerpiece. I went with chalkboard paint so that I can write on it each season and hopefully keep it up year round.  Mitchell and I went on a treasure hunt in the yard and found some sticks we thought would work.  I had bought some crystal beads at Walmart for $2.  I had tacky glue in my craft kit already so it appeared as though I was ready to roll.  I followed the directions and put glue on one side of the stick then rolled it into the crystals.  I’m not sure if mine were too heavy, I wasn’t using enough glue or they weren’t flat enough branches but they didn’t stick very well, even after letting them lay still and dry for 45 minutes.  When I picked them up to do the other side, quite a few beads scattered across the kitchen floor.  I attempted to do this with three sticks and had the same result no matter how much glue I used, how hard I pressed or how many crystals I rolled them in. I took the last two sticks outside and gave them a barely there mist of white spray paint. I checked my vase to make sure it was dry and took it inside, setting it on the freezer.  When I picked it up about 30 minutes later I realized the bottom where the paint had pooled was not dry and now my white freezer top had black chalkboard paint all over it. Grrr.  

I used chalk to write happy holidays on the vase and then stuffed the branches inside it.  This is a sad little project.  Reminds me a bit of the tree on Charlie Brown’s Christmas cartoon. More crystals fell off when the sticks were propped upwards and set in the bottle. 

I’m still going to keep it out because I’m stubborn and come spring I will use it for flowers and summer I will find something else wonderful to put in it, but for now, my semi-iced branches will have to do for winter.  Good news is, this cost me only $2 and I will be able to use it year round.  

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