"Scrappy" Family Tree

My mom recently celebrated a

milestone birthday and my sister

and I wanted to make something

for her that was better than the

average pair of house slippers.

We decided on a family tree.

I combined different elements from

several ideas I've seen and this is

what we came up with.

I am SO, SO pleased with how this

turned out...and it was honestly very easy.

The entire project too under 2 hours...

from printing photos to clean up!

You can make one too.

Here's a simple step by step.

If you'd like more details or

have questions, just email me.

I used various sized circle punches

for the photos and other filler circles.

Some of the photos took a try or two

to get them the right size to punch out.

Then I free-hand cut the grass/landscape

and tree trunk from scrapbook paper.

Here's one tip. I laid the entire thing out

on the canvas then picked up each piece

and glued it so I didn't loose the overall

layout - since things obviously fit just right.

Here's a close up of the details.

And, in case you were wondering,

my mom l.o.v.e.d this gift.

I think she'll treasure it.

My grandfather even chipped in

and sent me photos of he and my

grandmother while they were dating

and of my great grandparents

(whom I was lucky enough to know!).

To tell you the truth,

I cherish this project too.

I'll be making one for us soon.

You should make one too...

great Christmas gift idea!

I'm happy to be sharing this as

part of Heather's "Life Made Lovely"

over at Blessed Little Nest.

And over at Today's Creative Blog: