Put a giant family tree on your wall!



photos on ribbon branch How do you display your family photos? Most people put them into nice frames and hang them on a wall. If you are feeling a bit creative, you can display those photos in a way that reflects your family tree. Here is a step by step guide to help you put a giant family tree on your wall.

Step One: Organize your family photos.

Sort through the box of photos that you haven’t done anything with yet. Consider taking some of the photos that are currently on display out of their frames. Use your kitchen table to lay out the photos so that they match your family tree. Make a row for each generation.

Step Two: Select a wall.

Choose a wall in your home that has a lot of empty space on it. It could be a hallway, or the wall that is next to a staircase. Ideally, you want to select a wall that is located in a place where your family members can easily view it. Avoid walls that are hidden behind furniture or that have windows in them.

Step Three: Create a giant tree.

There is more than one way to do this. If you have some artistic ability, you could paint a giant, leafless, tree directly onto your wall. Start with the trunk. Add some large branches. Focus on placing the branches in a way visually represents each “branch” of your family tree.

Would you prefer a less permanent design? Make the trunk out of a brown fabric. Tack it to the wall. Use some large pieces of the same fabric to make a few big branches. Use brown (or green) ribbon to create some of the smaller branches. Again, you want to create a design that will make it easy to place photos of several generations of your family on to. You can move the branches around later on if you need to.

Step Four: Add the photos.

This is the really fun part! Start at the top of the tree. Place photos of your great-grandparents up there. The next “row” of branches is where you should put their children (your grandparents). Move down the tree, adding photos of relatives from one generation.

Those of you who painted a tree onto your wall may want to place the photos into small frames before you attach them to the tree. Make sure that all the frames go together visually. Or, you could matt them in black (for formality) or green (to evoke leaves).

If your tree is made from fabric and ribbon you have other options. A simple, yet elegant, design choice is to add the photos without any frames or matts at all. Use paper clips to attach each photo to a ribbon “branch”. This makes it easy to move them around as needed.

Check our Pinterest Boards for more inspiration!

DIY family tree, DIY for the whole family, DIY family tree art

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