Family Tree

Hand-Painted family tree.


Because every picture...has a story to tell.

This was a project I re-did after moving into our larger home. In the old house, we had three bedrooms and only 1,000 crammed square feet. I painted the first tree on the hallway space above my first attempt at wainscoting. I had no nail gun, and borrowed the miter saw from my mother. Needless to say the end result was okay...but not perfect.

(OLD TREE)

 

 

As cute as it was. It was very small and would not hold very many pictures. The reason I hand-painted the tree to begin with was because all of the tree picture frames and large wall decals were really expensive. Being a frugal girl I wanted a cheap alternative. I've always been pretty good at drawing. I took a couple classes in school and was fairly good at shading. I can't paint for shit though, in all those years and all those classes I could never do a decent canvas painting. Give me paper and charcoal and I can give you something incredible. Give me a paint brush for a regular room and I'm good. Anyways the point is I didn't go into this as some great artist. I was okay, sometimes rather good but not with a paint brush.

 

The first thing I did to prepare for this project was study tree silhouettes. The easiest thing to paint is something solid. The less detail in shades the better. I studied and found a few youtube video's and then I started drawing.

 

STEP ONE:

 

Pick your design

 

STEP TWO:

 

Practice drawing your design on paper. (The more familiar you are the better.)

 

STEP THREE:

 

Draw your design as best you can on the actual wall. (I suggest starting with pencil than going over with sharpie, that way you can erase anything that doesn't work.

 

STEP FOUR:

 

Choose your color....and get painting.

 

STEP FIVE:

 

Pick similar frames for photos. I used wooden unpainted frames from Michaels. Not only were they cheap, but they were also without glass, backs, and super narrow.

 

My hallway is small and pictures were knocked off the wall before I replaced them with flat wooden frames. There is no glass, and the frames are less than 1/2 inch thick.

I nailed them at the top and bottom so there would be no swinging, or knocking them down. Here is the finished product. Or as finished as it can be, I intend to add new photos every year.