Painted Holiday Trees

I am all about holiday crafting these days. These painted holiday trees are a result of many double mochas, binge-watching Christmas films on Netflix, and Postmates. Seriously, I didn’t leave the art room for HOURS last weekend.

Okay, so here is the deal. I love ceramics and underglazes, the firing process, etc. But recently while at a  “paint your own pottery” summit, my friend from Duncan Ceramics told me about their new “bisque stain” line. Basically they are high-quality acrylic paints to use on bisque rather than going through the long firing process. I’m all about the short cut, so I gave them a try.

I used bisque trees from Bisque Imports, but you can use wood trees, paper mache, etc. The idea is to go non-traditional and add some pop to your decor! I used every color and even some from my own stash.

Start by painting them in an array of bright colors, don’t worry if they match or not, trust me, it will all come together in the end. After you have all your colors down, then use a liner brush to add detail, also using contrasting colors. You can use the same colors but lighter versions or go totally opposite.

Duncan also makes a killer high gloss spray sealer. I used it to give all of my trees a brilliant shine! To “top” them off, I used small embellishments and partnered E600 and hot glue – plus masking tape to glue them in place. Sand down the surfaces so you are bonding porous to porous.