Santa Claus is Coming to Town....a little bit early?

Yesterday was icing day!... Janice and I spent the afternoon in the house adding mica "ice" to gingerbread cookies that I'd made to put on the Christmas tree.  We dipped and painted on Mod Podge glue....edges and tips.... and then dipped them in mica glitter (NOT EDIBLE!!!!)  They look like they've been caught in a snow storm!  I can't wait until the tree goes up so we can see what they look like once they're hung on it!!!

The problem is...........we got a little bit carried away..(an easy thing to do once you start adding glitter to things!)  We started looking around for other things to "ice"!  We decided to do pine cones for sure....and maybe acorns.......maybe some greenery?  But FOR SURE we had to "ice" some branches!!  Do you know how much you pay for fake, flocked (iced) branches??  Ours are practically free!  Here's how we did it.....

1.  First, you need Mod Podge glue.  I prefer it because it's not super thin, so it won't just drip off the branches, and not too thick so you can brush it on without it being gloppy.

2.  You'll need a brush to apply the glue.  I like to use those cheap sponge brushes so I can just throw them away if they're too icky once I'm done.

3.  Something to protect your work surface.  We used large sheets of parchment paper.........I covered the countertop with one layer....then added a big sheet on top when we glued so it could catch the drips.......then removed it and added a clean one to catch the glitter (so we could re-use it).  Yes, you go through quite a bit of parchment paper, but it makes the job so much easier!  Stuff also won't stick to parchment paper...I paint and glue on it all them time because of that.  It's MUCH cheaper to buy parchment paper in big sheets rather than those little rolls you get at the grocery store.  I get a box of it at a restaurant supply store in town every year or two.  It lasts for a LONG time even though I use it for everything from lining baking pans... craft projects...wrapping food... to using on the countertop to gather up peelings etc....  It's great stuff!

4.  A bowl or pie pan lined with foil to put the glue in.... this is just easier and less messy than dipping in the jar of glue.

5.  MICA!!!!  Sometimes it's called  Vintage Snow Glitter.  It's a natural substance and has an extremely sparkly, icy, old fashioned look.

6.  Something to "ice"!  We did branches.

First, you'll dab the Mod Podge on to the top surfaces of all the branches and twigs.  You may have to do a section at a time so the glue stays wet so the mica will stick to it......  Remove the paper under the area you glued (with the drips on it) and put a clean piece of parchment paper underneath.

Now sprinkle (dump) mica over the glued areas.

You'll want to carefully remove the paper with the left-over mica on it, and dump the mica back into the jar/box so you can re-use it.

Now all you have to do is let them dry.  The glue will dry clear and the branches will just look ICY!!!

How cool is THAT???  And how easy!

We had so much fun with this project!!!!  I hope you'll try it!  Imagine some icy branches in a big pitcher...hung with a few glass icicles...or ornaments...or Christmas cards.....or cookies..........OR ANYTHING!  How about sticking some branches in the tree here and there and decorating the tree with little "iced" nests and puffed up little birds?  OOOOOOoooooo!!!! How about a branch in a pail with just one "iced" nest and a little bird????  How sweet would that be for a vignette that would last all winter long????  I'm going to do that!  I'm going to put it in my foyer in front of my "Snow Days" quilt!!  Oh.........I have to find a nest and a bird!!!!!  Time to go to the craft store!

Oh, I almost forgot!  Thanks to everybody that took the blog tour and entered my contest!  We'll have the winners chosen first thing Monday morning and we'll get in touch with everybody... then we'll let you know who won!

I think I may have a bird and little twig nest in with my spring deco stuff....I have to go find it!  Talk to you later!

xo Meg