Jewelry Tree 05/18/2010
Is May too early for a Christmas craft? I think not! Over 40 years ago my mom got together with her mom and some other women and they each made a jewelry tree out of broken glass, marbles, buttons, beads, and jewelry. At Christmas-time my sister and I would study that lit up tree and even now I look at it and pick out pieces that were my "favorites."  My mom helped me make this tree...dad too.  I found this frame at a second-hand store.  ...painted it a glossy black.  I gathered all the jewelry I have been keeping but don't wear anymore...or never did. My mom found a bag of random jewelry at the second-hand store and we ended up with some really great pieces.  I spent several days thinking about the shape of my tree and what pieces I would include. The background of my mom's tree is burgundy and I like how bright the jewelry looks against the dark. I found black velveteen at Joann's. My mom broke green and clear glass into smaller pieces and found more stones, beads and buttons to fill in the spaces.  This is where my dad stepped in and drilled holes in the backing for the small Christmas lights.  I just marked a small circle with pencil where each light should go and he drilled, placed the velveteen on the board and glued the lights in for me...typing it sounds easy but I know he spent some time on it and every detail was done just right.  The fun part is placing the pieces on the tree. The hard part is getting them to stay. I used LOTS of white Elmer's glue to glue everything on (it dries clear). My mom helped me glue everything down (which took about 90 minutes...and that is with 2 people working on it).    One of my favorite pieces is this French Horn pin because that, along with the flute, is the instrument I played in High School.  CommentsDebbie 05/19/2010 20:00
I want you to know I file away your blog posts like this that I know I want to do someday... I have a lot of my mom's jewelry - you know, junk jewelry and some not so junk. And I have a bunch of stuff of my own like pins from my youth, similar to your use of the French horn pin. What a great idea Natalie (and parents)! Debbie 05/19/2010 20:02
And no, May is not too early for Christmas related activities... Apparently not, since I have clients contacting me about holiday sessions already. I am SO not ready to schedule for the holidays! Jennette 05/19/2010 20:36
You guys (all of you) are amazing! Love it! Katie Hoover 05/24/2010 11:14
i envy your craft skills...it looks great natalie!! Lisa Funk 05/28/2010 17:43
Okay, I was JUST going through my Grandma's stuff with my Aunt and found her jewelry tree just like these! I love it! I'm totally trying to snag it before my siblings or cousins do. Very nice. :) Leave a Reply | 
I'm Natalie. My man J and I have two sweet kids that I get to play with all week long. ArchivesJanuary 2012 Slovly.com Original watercolors by SLOV
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