Family Tree Project

After the big family reunion luncheon celebration, we went back to Granny and Pawpaw’s house to work on a family tree project. The idea for it came from page 214 of the August 2010 issue of my Parents magazine. I think ours turned out cuter since I turned it into a 3D tree. A few weeks before the reunion, I had asked Kay, James’ aunt and organizer extraordinaire, to ask everyone to bring a photo of themselves to the reunion for the project. The adults could bring a couples photo, but I wanted the kids to be individual photos.

Family Tree Project

At the top of the tree is a heart that has a photo of Granny and Pawpaw on one side and on the other side, I wrote their birthdays and marriage date. The top branch is their children. The middle branch is their grandchildren and the bottom branch is their great-grandchildren. I had painted the wooden hearts used for the adults in three shades of green beforehand. On site, we punched out or cut to fit the photos of the adults, mod podged them to the heart and wrote the birthday/marriage info on the back. Some of the adults got into adding decorative touches. Yay Aundra! Kay helped with the photo adhering. I had meant to use an upside down clay flower pot as the base, but I forgot to bring one. The container from an edible arrangment that Granny and Pawpaw had received worked great in its place.

Adult Hearts

The kids, except for the babies and those who didn’t stick around after the luncheon, decorated their leaf or acorn themselves. I had brought glitter glue, sequins and markers for them to use to decorate. The markers didn’t get used and some wanted to paint, even though I hadn’t planned on letting them. I decided that since it was water-based paint, it was okay. Some of the kiddos required adult assistance. Kay, Rachel, Aundra and myself and maybe some others provided that assistance. I wish I had taken more pictures of the ones the kids decorated instead of just the one of my cutie pie, which I decorated. You can see the edge of the one Dawson decorated in the photo below.

Jessica's Leaf

I have to give major props to James. The night before we left for Midland, he drilled the holes in the main trunk for the branchs and cut the branchs to the different lengths. On site, he and his Dad drilled the holes in the hearts, leafs and acorns with Pawpaw’s drill press. Thanks Sweetie!

Jessica Looking at Her Cousin Dawson's Acorn