I’m the Christmas decorator in our house. Not my wife’s thing. She handles things I couldn’t possibly do. Anyway, it’s the weekend before Thanksgiving & I’ve been going through boxes & found two small sisal trees my late grandmother used to always put out at Christmas. They’ve seen better days, but I’m sure I’ll have plenty of mileage at 80 years too. Don’t know why, but I got the sisal tree bug big time this year. I have lots of trees in various colors & sizes but none of them compare to the ones this amazing artist creates. I’m thinking I’m going to be a very good customer soon! R. Kolb is truly incomparable with her gorgeous sisal tree creations! I’m so glad I now know of her work.
Absolutely FANTASTIC. I un-braided the sisal, cut to desired length. Heat a tea kettle with water. Choose a heat safe Pyrex or pan. Lay the Sisal in a single layer in pan. Pour boiling water over Sisal and add White Vinegar. Sisal will straighten. Lay on tea towel or paper towels to remove excess water. I do two baths of the boiling water and White vinegar. Bunches come apart much easier and all fibers are straight.
Yes, I found hot water did wonders to straighten the fibers (and it controls the dust)! I haven’t used vinegar, but I’ll try it. I add a little hair conditioner to the hot water and that makes it easier to brush afterwards. Don’t use fabric softener! It will make the fibers dye unevenly.
@@SchonGross I leave them natural or dye them with fabric dye. I have bleached them with chlorine bleach and they got a little whiter, but not a lot. Have you had luck with peroxide?
@@rkkolb I successfully bleach skulls and bones with Hydrogen Peroxide. Bleach causes yellowing and damages the bones. I was asking you before I did an experiment. I will try it today and let you know including the strength of HP I use.
Rachel, I tried household hydrogen peroxide, cream 40% Hair peroxide and 40% liquid hair peroxide for various lengths of time including overnight. I covered the bowl with aluminum foil, similar to getting highlights and placed the bowl was put in hot water, similar to what would be done when getting highlights to develop. I was able to get about 50% lightening of the sisal. I don’t think achieving only 50% lightening is worth the time and effort. The fibers are light cream, not white.
I haven't tried jute, but I'd say its worth a shot if you already have it! I don't know how it takes dye, but I would think it would work. You can find sisal rope at most hardware stores if you want to give that a try as well.
This is a great video, thank you. I love your twisting setup as I tried my hand at a couple today and the twisting of wire is hard on my hands. Are you using a large comb to brush the sisal out or a fine tooth comb? Do you add the whole sisal package (without the wrapper) into the water or just the different sized pieces? Thank you again so much!
I've changed my method since taking this video. Now, I cut rope to about 8" length, untwist it, soak it in hot water, comb it, dry it, comb it again, and then cut it to various lengths. It sounds like a lot of work (it is, I suppose), but it cuts down on the dust and gives you nice straight fibers to work with. I hand twisted my first generation of trees and that got old really quick!
Hi, I am rewatching your video again and wondering do you crimp the edge that's by the eye hook? I am finding mine is going all over the place. Also, what do you put on the end to hold the wire? I put a screw on the end to hold it but it gets so twisted I can't undo it. hahaha
I do pinch the end by the eye hook and run the drill to twist it a few rotations. If I don't do this, it gets pretty wonky when I start to twist the fibers. For the other end of the wire, look at the video around the :23 mark. I thread the loose ends through a hole and then I wrap them around a screw on the other side (you can't see the screw). After the tree is made, I just cut the wire and the pieces fall off the screw or are removable with a pliers. Hope that makes sense!
I’m the Christmas decorator in our house. Not my wife’s thing. She handles things I couldn’t possibly do. Anyway, it’s the weekend before Thanksgiving & I’ve been going through boxes & found two small sisal trees my late grandmother used to always put out at Christmas. They’ve seen better days, but I’m sure I’ll have plenty of mileage at 80 years too. Don’t know why, but I got the sisal tree bug big time this year. I have lots of trees in various colors & sizes but none of them compare to the ones this amazing artist creates. I’m thinking I’m going to be a very good customer soon! R. Kolb is truly incomparable with her gorgeous sisal tree creations! I’m so glad I now know of her work.
I seriously love the fact that the tree looked great, it WAS under 60 seconds and it’s easy! Thank you ❤
Absolutely FANTASTIC. I un-braided the sisal, cut to desired length. Heat a tea kettle with water. Choose a heat safe Pyrex or pan. Lay the Sisal in a single layer in pan. Pour boiling water over Sisal and add White Vinegar. Sisal will straighten. Lay on tea towel or paper towels to remove excess water. I do two baths of the boiling water and White vinegar. Bunches come apart much easier and all fibers are straight.
Yes, I found hot water did wonders to straighten the fibers (and it controls the dust)! I haven’t used vinegar, but I’ll try it. I add a little hair conditioner to the hot water and that makes it easier to brush afterwards. Don’t use fabric softener! It will make the fibers dye unevenly.
@@rkkolb Do you bleach the fibers with hydrogen proxide?
@@SchonGross I leave them natural or dye them with fabric dye. I have bleached them with chlorine bleach and they got a little whiter, but not a lot. Have you had luck with peroxide?
@@rkkolb I successfully bleach skulls and bones with Hydrogen Peroxide. Bleach causes yellowing and damages the bones. I was asking you before I did an experiment. I will try it today and let you know including the strength of HP I use.
Rachel, I tried household hydrogen peroxide, cream 40% Hair peroxide and 40% liquid hair peroxide for various lengths of time including overnight. I covered the bowl with aluminum foil, similar to getting highlights and placed the bowl was put in hot water, similar to what would be done when getting highlights to develop. I was able to get about 50% lightening of the sisal. I don’t think achieving only 50% lightening is worth the time and effort. The fibers are light cream, not white.
Love your turning jig! SO clever.
Great video! I know it won’t be as easy as you make it look but I am excited to try it
Very cool 🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄
Lovee it! Thanks!
Wow! So cool!
Very cool
Very nice
Love ❤️ it!
Thank you!
SUPER
Se ve tan fácil q lo intente pero no se ven igual a los de ella, pero aun así me gustaron mucho, gracias x compartir
Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge! Do you think jute would work instead of sisal…I’m not sure where to get sisal,but I have a lot of jute…😊.
I haven't tried jute, but I'd say its worth a shot if you already have it! I don't know how it takes dye, but I would think it would work. You can find sisal rope at most hardware stores if you want to give that a try as well.
@@studio59handmade I have some soaking in alcohol ink right now…hope it works 😊
Hi great video! Can you tell what kind of rope to get what gauge wire to get? Thank you!
Hi Kristen, I use sisal rope and I use 18gauge wire for trees over 9” tall, and 20 gauge for shorter ones.
This is a great video, thank you. I love your twisting setup as I tried my hand at a couple today and the twisting of wire is hard on my hands. Are you using a large comb to brush the sisal out or a fine tooth comb? Do you add the whole sisal package (without the wrapper) into the water or just the different sized pieces? Thank you again so much!
I've changed my method since taking this video. Now, I cut rope to about 8" length, untwist it, soak it in hot water, comb it, dry it, comb it again, and then cut it to various lengths. It sounds like a lot of work (it is, I suppose), but it cuts down on the dust and gives you nice straight fibers to work with. I hand twisted my first generation of trees and that got old really quick!
Hi, I am rewatching your video again and wondering do you crimp the edge that's by the eye hook? I am finding mine is going all over the place. Also, what do you put on the end to hold the wire? I put a screw on the end to hold it but it gets so twisted I can't undo it. hahaha
I do pinch the end by the eye hook and run the drill to twist it a few rotations. If I don't do this, it gets pretty wonky when I start to twist the fibers. For the other end of the wire, look at the video around the :23 mark. I thread the loose ends through a hole and then I wrap them around a screw on the other side (you can't see the screw). After the tree is made, I just cut the wire and the pieces fall off the screw or are removable with a pliers. Hope that makes sense!
What type of rope are you using? I have tried using Jute rope but it’s too brittle
I use sisal rope and it is really nice to work with. It does make a lot of dust, though!
@@markspantryandbottleshop545 Thanks, great video btw
What wire gauge do you use? Thank you in advance
I use 18 gauge for taller trees and 19 for anything 7” or shorter.
I hops they protect their lungs from fibers.
Very cool