Friends & Family Tree

I had seen a picture on Pinterest of a tree with family photos all around & a tree that was being used as a headboard.  I just loved the idea!  What I had before just wasn't working for me & it hadn't changed in atleast 6 years, It was time to update.

A little bleh! Since I moved in 8 years ago & I am renting the house I live in, I have a sheet of fabric attached to the wall.
Plus the wood panneling runs from the floor to the top on that one wall only so I thought I would even the room out by adding the fabric to match the other walls (which can be torn down when we decide to move).

I had set to work on collecting photos of my friends & family so that I may do the same for my family room. I bought a lot of different styles of 4"x6" photo frames for individual photos along with a few 5"x7" for family groups. Found a majority of them at the dollar store for under $2.  I used regular craft acrylic paint; a dark brown for the trunk & branches and a dark green for the leaves.  I had bought a lighter brown thinking I would highlight the branches but the tree turned out so cool with out the highlights, I left it as it was. Before I started painting on the wall, I sketched a general idea of what I wanted for my tree's branches. I then drew a replica of my sketch on the wall with a pencil & kinda just filled in the width of my branches. I enlisted the help of my partner in sketching the general idea of what I wanted, but she claimed she had an artist block...  Since I was very picky about my lines, I set to painting the tree lines while my son & partner set to work on filling in the rest. (so glad for Spring Break so I could have extra slave labor!)

I animated my progress just for fun. :o) Next time, I will take the pictures with a tripod.

For the leaves, I had a sheet of laminated paper that I cut my leaf template out of. I then used a makeup sponge to sponge green acrylic paint onto my template.


Whew!