My DIY Family Tree

I was given a branch from a Corkscrew Witch Hazel Tree a few months ago. I had no idea what I was going to do with it but I loved it’s uniqueness and KNEW I would find a purpose.

At first I just hung it on a nail that was in my brick fireplace but it looked too plain. FYI it looks much better in person when you can see all the depth to it.

Inspiration

Then, I noticed the perfect shaped heart that was formed by the curly branch. That totally inspired me and suddenly I had a vision of floating hearts for each member of my family. Yes, it’s close to Valentine’s Day, but I like it all the time since I kept it neutral.

Being in lock-down for so many months has really made me appreciate and miss my grown kids more than ever. I love having something visual remind me of them all the time.

Step By Step

1. I ordered the wooden hearts and carbon paper on Amazon and it arrived the next morning.
2. Since I didn’t have a stencil with the letters, I printed off some letters from Word that were the right size and font that I wanted.
3. I placed a piece of the carbon paper (shiny side down) between the wood heart and the printed paper.
4. Using the tool that came with the carbon paper, I traced around the lines of the letter very softly. Just enough for the carbon to transfer to the wood. Do NOT lift the paper once you’ve started since it’s hard to line it up again. Also don’t rub or lean on the carbon in other areas or it will smudge on the wood (just saying from experience).
5. Finally I tried my new Walnut Hollow wood burning kit for the first time. I just followed their video instructions on YouTube. I protected my hands with work gloves, wore a mask, safety goggles and had the sliding door open right beside me. It might have been a bit of overkill but you can never be too careful. Especially trying something new for the first time. I loved the smell of the burning wood 🙂

I found that there was too much of a contrast between the burnt wood and the almost white hearts. I wanted them to show up against the white brick a bit better but still wanted the grain to show through to keep it organic and natural looking.

I lightly brushed the hearts with very watered-down gray craft paint just to give it a little more depth. It also softened the burnt letters as well.

Family Tree

I love how this unique branch is just as unique as my family <3