The Tree of Life

THE DOUBLE TREE OF LIFE

My inspiration was this metal wall art found on Amazon.com. Unfortunately, my budget couldn't afford this piece and I knew nothing about how to cut and shape metal. So, I decided to try and figure out a different way to make a tree of life.

I decided to make a double tree of life since I was soon going to be married soon, and to me, it symbolized our two lives becoming one.

 

 I decided to make my double tree of life out of foam board. So here are the materials you will need for this project.

Materials:

- Four  20" x 30" x 0.18" foam boards (I bought mine at JoAnn's Fabric)

- Glue (I used gorilla glue)

- Modpodge

- Craft knife/Razor knife- (I used this one- http://www.joann.com/fiskars-teresa-collins-softgrip-heavy-duty-detail-knife/13672522.html)

- Tissue paper- color of your choice (I used brown).

 

Steps:

1. I drew on the design that I wanted, split between the 4 boards. (Hint: If it's too much for you to free draw the image on the board- you could find an image off the internet, split it into 4 sections, and then print large photos of each section similar to the size of the board. Then trace it onto the board)

Step 2: After my design was drawn on, I began cutting out the design
Hint: It's really important that all parts of your image on the board are connected- this will make it easier when assembling your final board and ensuring that there are no loose pieces.

Step 3: After all the pieces were cut out, I flipped the board over. To glue this together, I thought it would not be strong enough to just put glue inside the middle pieces, so I cut small sections from extra foam board to lay overtop all of the connecting sections- and glued them down as additional joist pieces. (sorry no picture of that)

 Step 4: I wanted it a different color, and I also wanted to hide the lines that connect the four boards together. So I decided to modge podge brown tissue paper over the entire double tree. This added color and sealed the seams- so it looks like it's one unified piece!

 

It's a great, unique statement at an affordable price. Good luck!