DIY Wedding Memorial Family Tree

• Shelf Board
• Full Sheet Label Paper
• Dark and Light Shade Brown Paint
• Paintbrushes
• Cup Hooks & Chain

Directions:

1. Start with a memory or story that you always connect with your loved one. Paige told us about her father’s cars and the way they bonded over them.
2. Then choose any iconic images your mind associates with that memory (i.e. a drag-race car).
3. From these two things you can create iconic imagery that embodies the memory/story in a vintage-cool billboard-style that is meaningfully nostalgic.
4. You can find free photos at flickr.com/commons or commons.wikipedia.org. You can also find clip art and other graphics at clker.com and mycutegraphics.com. Use websites like canva.com and use their drag and drop program to create your billboard. All of these websites are easy to use and FREE!
5. Print your billboard out on full sheet label paper. Then remove the backing to reveal the adhesive. Place your printout on your board.
6. Add a decorative border if you want.
7. Water down brown paint to a watery consistency. Brush a light layer of brown paint wash over the sign to give it an antique look. Let this dry for two hours. You can even use fine grain sand paper to rough up the image and add “age” to it.
8. Seal the board with a layer of poly coat sealer, which you can also find at craft or hardware stores.
9. In craft stores or home and garden stores you can find chains and cup hooks. Measure in from either side about two inches and mark where you will screw in the chain hooks. Screw in the cup hooks right into the wood and attach the chain to connect the individual billboards. Screw cup hooks into support beams or walls and hang up Memorial Family Tree.
10. This isn’t a decoration that you need to take down once the wedding is over. The poly coat will help protect it outdoors for years to come. The beauty of the tree is that you can add to it to honor other loved ones as the years pass.

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