When I began decorating Nolan's room, I knew that I wanted to display his name somewhere. I also knew that I wanted to display them in a less common fashion. For example, I didn't want for his name to just be in a straight line above his bed. I don't know why, but I always have to do something with a twist. I'm not satisfied to just do the same thing everyone else does. My occasional picky-ness led me to the idea of a tree.
But first, I had to find letters that I liked. I eventually choose some 3-D metal wire letters from Urban Outfitters. They were on sale for 2 for $8, and I thought that was pretty affordable compared to letters I saw elsewhere.
(I just checked Urban Outfitters and they no longer are selling the ones that I bought, but they still have some neat ones! Click on the link in the above sentence to see what Urban Outfitters has available.)
Here's a picture of the Urban Outfitter N, so you can see what they look like:
Oh, somebody grabbed the N!
Cutie!
Ok, back to business!
Once I had the letters, I started sketching and that led to a tree that would be a white silhouette with just the trunk and a few branches. The letters would be displayed at varied heights, as if hanging off the branches. At this point I enlisted my mom's help. She came over with a roll of paper - ok, it wasn't just any kind of paper - also known as a roll of wedding aisle runner. It worked perfectly too!
Here's how we made the tree:
Step 1: We taped 4 sheets of paper on the walls from the floor to ceiling with tape. You want plenty of width for the branches. Next sketch out your trunk with a marker on the paper following with the branches. I recommend using a dark marker, so you can step back and really see how the tree is shaping.
Step 2: Once you have the general shape you like, take the paper down and cut out the tree. Tape the trunk and branches back onto the wall, like the below pic:
Step 3: Trace the tree with a pencil. A pencil is very forgiving on your walls, so don't worry about using it. A marker may be seen through your paint.
Once you are done tracing, remove paper. I actually saved my tree trace in case I wanted to replicate it or if someone wanted to use it.
Step 1: We taped 4 sheets of paper on the walls from the floor to ceiling with tape. You want plenty of width for the branches. Next sketch out your trunk with a marker on the paper following with the branches. I recommend using a dark marker, so you can step back and really see how the tree is shaping.
Step 2: Once you have the general shape you like, take the paper down and cut out the tree. Tape the trunk and branches back onto the wall, like the below pic:
Step 3: Trace the tree with a pencil. A pencil is very forgiving on your walls, so don't worry about using it. A marker may be seen through your paint.
Once you are done tracing, remove paper. I actually saved my tree trace in case I wanted to replicate it or if someone wanted to use it.
Sorry it's hard to see the penciled lines!
Step 4: Tape off your trunk for painting and then start painting! I used a small roller on the trunk and then different size brushes for the branches. If you add thin branches, use a small angled brush.
Step 5: Enjoy your tree! As you see in the above and below pictures, I've added hooks to attach my letters to the tree.
Nolan's tree made the room feel so much larger! It also serves as a nice visual statement, especially since it's in one solid color. Noley Bear noticed the tree right away and just stared and stared at it. He knows what trees are, but this one doesn't look quite like the ones he's use to. :)
Now all we have to do is add our letters!
Be back with another post on the finished tree!
