DIY Thumbprint Tree

I’m very excited that my sister Erin got married a couple of weeks ago!  As her matron of honor I tried to help with as many of the wedding preparations as possible.  When my sister mentioned that she wanted a thumbprint tree to fit in with the fall theme at her reception I happily offered to DIY one for her.

I started off by scouring Google for images of thumbprint trees.  Fortunately, there was no shortage of inspiration images available out there.  I spoke with both Erin and her fiancé, Matt, to see what their thoughts were on how it should look.  Once I had a rough idea of what I wanted to create I opened up Microsoft Publisher and working on a draft. 

I printed my draft and copied it in black and white onto a transparency, which I then shot onto a 24” x 36” canvas that I had purchased for 50% off at a local craft store.

Using a pencil, I lightly traced the outline of the words and tree.

I used a basic, black paint pen to fill in the words along the bottom.

And then I painted the tree.

In the end I was left with a canvas that looked a little something like this.  Not bad if I say so myself!

The tree was placed in the foyer at the reception hall to be used in place of the traditional guest book.  It was a big hit and by the end of the night Erin and Matt were left with a tree filled with the thumbprints and signatures of their dear family and friends.