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How to color oversized wood?

faislaq

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I am in love with @TikiMyn's dowel Christmas tree! :heart::christmastree::heart:


Since we don't have room to put up our regular tree, I'd like to make one for our apartment. (We can let Buzzard play on it after the holidays or there won't be a tree left!) I'm wondering what techniques you all use to color larger pieces of wood, like 3' dowels? Should I soak them or can I wipe or spray the color on somehow? I don't have a garage or backyard where I can let something sit out, but I could use the tub in the guest bath if it won't stain it. If there's a chance it might stain I could probably use the long, plastic bin I store our rolls of gift wrap in. How much food coloring would I need for a container that size? Would I be better off using gel?

I appreciate all of y'all's tips, tricks & expertise! :kiss2:
 

TikiMyn

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Ooh I am so looking forward to how you work this out! I Will be keeping an eye on this thread too, I would like to color Some large wood pieces too for the rabbits:D
 

faislaq

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You could just dip the brush and paint it with the dye :) I have done that on a few things before and it usually transfers well.
I really like that idea! That seems so much easier than making sure no one leaves the door open. Nomi jumps into the tub whenever anyone so much as walks by the bathroom in the hopes that they will turn the water on for her! I don't want to think of where all the green might end up if she jumped into a bin of colored water -rug, walls, ceiling.... :facepalm:
 
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TikiMyn

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I'm picturing bunnies gnawing on giant wooden carrots and it's adorable. :fairy2:
Great idea thanks! I am so going to try to do that! My father can make me doken shaped wood and I would make a hole in the top to either stick in sctual carrot tops or raffia:D
 

faislaq

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I'm looking for ideas online. I like the look of the first one, but I'm afraid of what bigger birds and giant, clumsy dog tails might do to it (Jix is pretty tall & knocks things off of the end tables when she's excited. We use sippy cups in the living room now). The 2nd is more what I had imagined & think it might be more accident proof. Plus if we slide the branches through holes drilled through the trunk it should be secure enough & we could just slide them out to store for next year (if it survives).

Pretty


More realistic?


I'm thinking some eye hooks for toy ornaments & a foraging ball topper? And definitely a wipeable or paper skirt.
 

faislaq

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I found this online. This could be cool to make for littles out of different sizes of colored paper or posterboard or veggie-tanned leather if anyone has that much. It would be fun to watch them forage for treats between the layers! Would prolly need a wider base as a bird toy, though.
 

faislaq

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:chin:@Mizzely The layered tree would be cute in your shop, but I don't know how you could ship it.
 

Mizzely

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:chin:@Mizzely The layered tree would be cute in your shop, but I don't know how you could ship it.

Lots of tissue paper lol. I like the idea though! I'll have to brainstorm for next Christmas! :)
 

Fergus Mom

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I saw a beautiful layered cake with all different colors for the layers - and she said she used the gel food coloring, so that must be very very much brighter and more vivid than the regular stuff! It was gorgeous. Good luck, and I hope you post photos if you do it!
 

faislaq

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You could just dip the brush and paint it with the dye :) I have done that on a few things before and it usually transfers well.
How do you prep the dye? Is it mixed with water, vinegar, alcohol? Any preferred ratio? How long do I let it sit? Do I need to rinse off any excess first or just let it dry? So many questions! I'm trying to find other threads, but most seem to be about soaking smaller pieces.
 

Lady Jane

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If you plan on birds using it later I would not paint it at all. Perhaps you could wrap the stand with vet tape if you can find red or green.

I just checked Amazon and they sell red vet tape. Just type in search
Red vet tape.
 
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faislaq

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I'm going to paint it with the food coloring so it would be safe but hopefully they won't chew too much so I can put it up again and again. Otherwise I'll have to color a few replacement branches next year. :)

I thought of doing it in PVC and using the vet tape. I bought a large assortment (10 rolls) from Amazon, but I don't think I have enough green. Maybe green and red alternating if I go that route? Good idea though. I do need to order more soon anyway. :D
 

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If you plan on birds using it later I would not paint it at all. Perhaps you could wrap the stand with vet tape if you can find red or green.

I just checked Amazon and they sell red vet tape. Just type in search
Red vet tape.


We're talking painting it with the food coloring simply because it is too big to soak.

How do you prep the dye? Is it mixed with water, vinegar, alcohol? Any preferred ratio? How long do I let it sit? Do I need to rinse off any excess first or just let it dry? So many questions! I'm trying to find other threads, but most seem to be about soaking smaller pieces.

I use this guide for wiltons food dye:
Food Coloring Wilton's UPATED DIRECTIONS | Avian Avenue Parrot Forum

I use mostly rubbing alcohol and a little water. The excess alcohol will evaporate, leaving the color :) if you are using vitacritter there are directions on cabirdnerds.com on the product page
 

Peachfaced

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What about one of those throw away aluminum pans? You can get them from dollar stores pretty cheap. It may be long enough and shallow enough to dip dowels in. After dipping (or brushing) you could lay a cooling rack on top of it, so that the dowels can drip dry.
 

faislaq

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:idea: I'm thinking of drilling the holes & assembling the tree first, standing it in the tub on an old shower curtain liner, then coloring the whole thing green & leaving it to dry. That would leave the middle of the branches unstained so it's easy to see where to assemble next year, maybe even number them on the unstained part. Then remove the branches once it's all dry & then color the trunk and stand brown over the green; should make for a darker green.

So once I paint the color on there's no need to rinse anything off? Any excess would just absorb, right? I think I'll use one of the kids' plastic character cups & use one of those sponge brushes. :chin:
 
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