Welcome!
In my recent posts around my son's birthday,
and
I refer to our "Birthday Tree"
which is a celebratory ritual of our family's.
( ~The 13th birthday tree is pictured below.~ )
A few readers and friends have expressed interest in the
tree
and so, here are a few details on the easy
and absolutely gorgeous creation you can make with little
effort and expense.
And of course, the reason it'll be gorgeous is because
of
your kids' smiling, beautiful photos
through the years will adorn it!
One of my kids' birthdays is in December
and he adores anything Christmas - related.
So, wanting to create something unique for him,
I decided that decorating a tree in his honor would be
perfect.
It was a hit with everyone; so now I make a tree
regardless as to the 'season!'
There are as many ways to craft the tree as there are
crafters!
I've done it differently each time and I'll fill you
in on the details.
Here's what you need:
1.The Tree~
Begin with a 3 foot tall (or so) tree.
It'll be a little hard to find at this time of year!!
Michael's and Walmart will have them on display
beginning in October though, right?!
You can get one here on amazon, if you have a
special person's birthday before then and can't wait:
2.
Choose a photo from each year of your child's life~
Look through your memory cards, computer files, etc,
and choose one birthday photo per year of your little
cutie.
I know; I know.
Hard to do, finding just one.
Confession:
For my son's 10th birthday tree last December,
I had a really hard
time narrowing it down....
For two of his
birthdays, there are 3 photos each !!
I keep a folder labelled "Birthday pictures"
on my computer
so that each year,
I can just copy
and paste the current year's shot right in and be up to date.
3. Print~
Each photo can be printed in wallet size at your
favorite photo "shop."
I use walmart.com.
Never had trouble with them.
They're super cheap, the quality's good
and they
deliver right to your front door.
4. Frame
Slip each photo in a tiny wallet sized plastic frame.
I use these.
They'll have little magnetic strips on the back,
but that's
fine.
You can easily pick them up at Micheal's too.
5. Number~
Adorn each framed photo with the year (or age.)
shimmer on each birthday picture!
Now you're ready to
decorate your tree!
6. Hang~
Punch a hole in the corner of each frame.
7. Affix the "Star" ~
Bedeck
the top of the tree with your child's new age.
I purchased
these"number sprays"
individually at
our local party store.
You can buy them here as well.
They're long and
intended for centerpieces;
so you'll need to tie
them into the tree's center with ribbon.
And
voila!
Your tree is
completed and it's beautiful!!
Congratulations on a
job well done!
Additional touches for your tree:
~ Happy Birthday sign~
Decorate scrapbook paperwith fancy
"Happy
birthday!" lettering.
I love Joelle's Boutique stickers for this kind of thing.
In the photo of the "13" tree above,
I used plain
baby blue circular paper.
~Personalize
/adorn with symbols
of
your child's interest
or
hobbies~
Here's a shot of my
son's 11th birthday tree
to show you what I
mean:
And the star on our recent 13th birthday tree~
You can choose to create "ornaments" or "charms" to
symbolize
a sport, art,
hobby or interest that your child holds dear.
A few shots of the birthday ornaments from my youngest son's
tree which show his affinity for cards, camping,
the stage, music and our Faith, among others~~
Of course, the possibilities are limitless!
~Tree "skirt"~
Well, why shouldn't your birthday tree have one?
Because the tree I use has an unattractive
plastic base,
I picked up this table runner
at
Dollar Tree!
Isn't it lovely?
It looks perfect
draped around the base.
Storage
of the tree ornaments~
We all know how
birthday prep can sometimes be...
Fun and exciting, but
stressful and crazy.
In order to have an
easy time organizing the tree for future birthdays,
I store all the
photos, number sprays, stickers, scrapbook paper and skirt
in a
Rubbermaid bin just like this so
I have easy access.
Thank you for spending some of your precious time today
here at my home on the web!
Have you signed up to receive my posts in your email inbox?
If not, just click here to
quickly and easily so we can be in touch regularly!
You might wish to follow on Facebook as well.....
This post contains amazon affiliate links....
In this way, I will receive a small commission on the purchase.....
at no cost to you.
THANK YOU!
