Memory Tree

We made another gift for DADDY today! Although this can be made anytime of year. I will proudly display this in our home for many years after Daddy opens it! ;-)

This is a quick project that you can do in minimal time. So perfect for last minute gifts. And you will most likely have the supplies if you are a crafty person like myself. LOL

Here is what you will need...

Hard Board (size of your choice, ours is 16x20)

Newspaper (torn in small to medium pieces)

Matte Medium

Gesso

Paints (different greens for each child's hand and grass, blue for the sky and brown for the trunk)

Sponges and paintbrushes

Paper Plate for paints

Spray craft varnish

First start with your Matte Medium and Newspaper pieces. Paint a little Matte medium on the hardboard. add the newspaper and paint more matte medium on top. Do this on the whole board. This gives your board some texture and dimension. Set aside to dry.

Once everything is dry, grab the gesso and paint over the paper. You will have to do a minimum of two coats to cover the paper. If you are wanting to leave it a white background, you will need more white coats. We wanted to paint ours different colors, so we didn't worry about covering everything. Again, set aside to dry.

TIP...in between coats, wrap your paintbrush in foil and stick in the fridge. This will keep is moist between coats. You won't have to worry about constantly rinsing out your brushes.

Now that you have your textured board ready to go, you can now sponge on your sky blue and grass green. I just used a kitchen sponge and cut it up into squares. It covers fast and gives it a nice effect. Make sure you paint your green down low. You want a nice tall tree to put those hands on.

Here comes the fun parts. It's beginning to look like something fun! Get out your brown paint. Use a brush to outline your tree. Give it some branches, then fill in the trunk with a sponge.

The really, really fun part is adding the kids hands. Each of my kids had their own color for their handprint, giving the tree cool look. I like it too because it makes each of their handprints stand out. We also filled in areas with finger prints of each color. It made it look like little leaves.

And you're done! A perfect gift for any occasion. And with Father's day this weekend, it's perfect! ;-)

Another look at our tree!