DIY family tree art

i wanted to make a family tree picture for jeremy's grandmother.  actually, i didn't want to make it...i wanted to buy it.  i LOVE this family tree artwork from red envelope.  our friends, the norgren's, have one hanging in their home (a gift jason bought for leslie after they had their son.  what a thoughtful husband!) and i fell in love with it the moment i saw it.  but i just couldn't deal with the $79.95 price tag.  i perused etsy.com and found loads of beautiful family tree artwork but nothing seemed quite right for grandma.  so, that left me figuring out a way to create something on my own. 

i took a trip to hobby lobby, the place where all good projects begin, and bought blue, brown, and four patterned papers in colors that coordinated with fabric i purchased to make some other things to decorate grandma's room.  i do think the family tree would look nice with leaves that are all the same color, but i wanted to make this one a bit brighter...to give grandma something less bland and more interesting to look at.  also, i used the colors to differentiate between her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

after deciding on a leaf shape and size that worked, cutting out the leaves was quick and easy.  i did it in the time it took the boys to watch one curious george episode.  the difficult part was drawing a tree.  i have trouble with free-hand design so i scoured the internet for tree images.  i printed out one that looked about the right size for this project and i used it as a very loose guide while drawing my own.  i traced a line here and a branch there until i had a unique tree that worked for this family.

i wrote grandma's and grandpa's name (bob & joy) on the trunk, their children's names (sue, bob & jenny) and their spouses on the branches and put the grandchildren and great-grandchildren on the leaves, growing out of the correct branch line.

if there were fewer grandchildren and great-grandchildren i would have preferred to put sue, bob & jenny, along with their spouses, on leaves as well.  i tried it but felt it looked funny.  i just didn't have the space!  but, overall, i am very happy with how it turned out.  i hope it brings some cheer to grandma joy.

the silver 13x13 frame was on clearance at target for $11.98, regular price $16.99.  ikea has the same size frame for approximately $7, though.  total cost for this project was under $14 and took less than two hours (over a few days).  not too shabby for a unique and personalized wall-hanging! 

i think this would be an inexpensive, yet special, gift to make for other members of our family.  i want to make one for myself!  i'm sure you have someone in your family who would love one too!