DIY tree art

I think going to the Fort Collins 1st walk art show this past Friday with my girlfriends got my crafty side ticking. I have been wanting to recreate something like this that I saw in PierOne about 2 months ago, but this version cost $400 @ Pier One, which is not within our price range, and why would I pay that when I can DIY? Here was my inspiration:

So tonight I took the plunge. I had an old frame that was backed by a piece of wood laying around. Actually it was hanging in our kitchen but the picture inside no longer fit our new kitchen colors since I painted last month. So I thought  what do I have to lose if it doesn't work out (as other DIY projects in the past have not panned out)? So I went for it!! 

I started by painting my piece of blank wood an off white color that I had laying around from past projects.

Next I took my son's flash card box and used that as my boarder width to trace the exterior of my board using the flash card box as my ruler.  Next I painted in the boarder using the brown paint we had left over from painting our kitchen boarder area last month.  So far so good.

Now for the hard part, I had to hand draw a tree and branches, I'm def no artist either. I have always said while I may be crafty, I am not original. I can take many great ideas and replicate them, but never can I actually create my own craft ideas~go figure. But as I began to draw the tree it actually wasn't hard at all. It got easier when I started to paint it, bc I found that nothing had to be perfect. Infact the more rough and out of place some of the branches looked, the better.  Anyhow....so once I free hand drew my tree I began to paint it brown of course.  I used a super FINE brush. After the tree dried I went back with my FINE brush using my white paint to touch up some areas that may have gotten too big or too rough looking. This was super easy, fun and FREE! It doesn't get any better than FREE!
Once my picture was completely dry I placed it back in the existing black frame that I had but I choose not to use the plexi glass cover to protect the picture. BC afterall it was painted on a piece of rough wood and it actually looked more rustic and real w/out the plexi glass frame cover. VIOLA.

I like to call this the "Family Tree"

What I really like about this is I was able to tie in the color of our kitchen trim into the picture to bring the whole kitchen color scheme together. That is what is so great about having old paint lying around and finding a way to use it!

As you an see up close the tree def isn't painted in perfectly which makes it look even more realistic. I also didn't worry about getting my boarder painted in 100%, its supposed to look a bit rustic.

You can see the new problem that I have on my hands now the existing electrical box is now exposed at the bottom....hmmm what to do about that one. I may need to purchase a larger frame after all.

I think going to the Fort Collins 1st walk art show this past Friday with my girlfriends got my crafty side ticking. I have been wanting to recreate something like this that I saw in PierOne about 2 months ago, but this version cost $400 @ Pier One, which is not within our price range, and why would I pay that when I can DIY? Here was my inspiration:

So tonight I took the plunge. I had an old frame that was backed by a piece of wood laying around. Actually it was hanging in our kitchen but the picture inside no longer fit our new kitchen colors since I painted last month. So I thought  what do I have to lose if it doesn't work out (as other DIY projects in the past have not panned out)? So I went for it!! 

I started by painting my piece of blank wood an off white color that I had laying around from past projects.

Next I took my son's flash card box and used that as my boarder width to trace the exterior of my board using the flash card box as my ruler.  Next I painted in the boarder using the brown paint we had left over from painting our kitchen boarder area last month.  So far so good.

Now for the hard part, I had to hand draw a tree and branches, I'm def no artist either. I have always said while I may be crafty, I am not original. I can take many great ideas and replicate them, but never can I actually create my own craft ideas~go figure. But as I began to draw the tree it actually wasn't hard at all. It got easier when I started to paint it, bc I found that nothing had to be perfect. Infact the more rough and out of place some of the branches looked, the better.  Anyhow....so once I free hand drew my tree I began to paint it brown of course.  I used a super FINE brush. After the tree dried I went back with my FINE brush using my white paint to touch up some areas that may have gotten too big or too rough looking. This was super easy, fun and FREE! It doesn't get any better than FREE!
Once my picture was completely dry I placed it back in the existing black frame that I had but I choose not to use the plexi glass cover to protect the picture. BC afterall it was painted on a piece of rough wood and it actually looked more rustic and real w/out the plexi glass frame cover. VIOLA.

I like to call this the "Family Tree"

What I really like about this is I was able to tie in the color of our kitchen trim into the picture to bring the whole kitchen color scheme together. That is what is so great about having old paint lying around and finding a way to use it!

As you an see up close the tree def isn't painted in perfectly which makes it look even more realistic. I also didn't worry about getting my boarder painted in 100%, its supposed to look a bit rustic.

You can see the new problem that I have on my hands now the existing electrical box is now exposed at the bottom....hmmm what to do about that one. I may need to purchase a larger frame after all.