DIY 'Family Tree'

For Christmas and Hanukkah this past year, I wanted to make something special representing both sides of our families since we will soon become one huge and loving family this year. So I decided to make two family trees for both sides of our families that included our parents names at the top and then the siblings names, followed by the grandchildren. And by now, I'm sure you're saying, 'Yes Lauren, I get what a family tree is.' Anyways, I wasn't sure how I was going to go about doing this until I found this really beautiful piece out holiday shopping at Target (another love of my life) and thought it was perfect for the job!

Now I know this is a bit dated, but it turned out to be a really fun craft and gift idea to our parents so I thought I'd share this one. And now that we have a new little one already added to the family, (no, not us. My sister and brother-in-law of course) I have to whip up another name charm for our little Avery with the supplies that I have saved for her arrival.

Here is a zoomed in capture of the name charms.

This tree sculptures were actually candle (tea light) holders when I found it, but I saw much more to it once I got my crafty hands all over it.

Here's what you will need to make the charms:

- Metal ornament hooks (what's great about these is you can bend them as much as you'd like)
- Jewelry hoops, any smaller size will do, I chose silver (found in the jewelry isle of JoAnn's)
- Black felt with the peel and stick adhesive already on the back (this is to finish off the backside)
- Printed names (I typed mine out on the computer)
- Silver metal accent frame stickers (packs of 4 found in the scrapbooking section of JoAnn's)
- Glass beads or any other decorative beads you may find. I chose green to mimic the leaves on a tree.
- Hot glue, the key ingredient to ALL craft rooms
- A ruler
- Scissors

For this project, since the charms are pretty small you have to keep the hot glue usage to a minimum or else it will glob up easily because the charms are pretty small. The frames are about 1.5" x 1.5" in size before you decorate with beads and a hook.

In the near craft-future, I will try to document the entire project, step-by-step so you can see how I created it, but since this project was pre-Crafty Corner, I'm just sharing what materials you will need to use and hope for the best. (if you decide to try it out) I have faith in your inner-Crafter!

Until next time...

Meet Lauren, the Crafting Nerd

Anyone that knows me well enough is aware that I do love me some crafting! My friends and family have been feeding the fire by contributing to my addiction to the lovely JoAnne Fabrics with gift cards, large sewing reference text books and subscriptions to do-it-yourself & home decorating magazines this past Christmas and Valentine's Birthday. I know and LOVE how nerdy it is and all the possibilities that I can do with something so small as a button. And now that I have introduced myself to the blogging world, I have decided to welcome you into my craft room at home. I thought it would give me a chance to get my ideas in order and put them out there in hopes to inspire someone as I too find my inspirations elsewhere.

Be sure to check out What Keeps Us Blooming on Our Blooming House page to see what really gets us going! You can find it on the far left navigation bar, listing what sites we like and where we find our inspirations. Most importantly, these sites are what keep us going on our Blooming House, but there's always a potential craft project to be done inbetween because I find myself out shopping and frequently telling myself, "Well, I could just make that?!?!" Please feel free to send us some sites that you swear by! I'm always looking for new ideas! Who knows, it may help another follower out there somewhere in need.


So to getting back to my 'Crafty Corner', I'm setting up this new blog of my own that's located on Our Blooming House blog. I really wanted to make a separate page for my craft projects and inspirations on our blog because I think and hope that my projects will continue to build as it's what I love to do most.

For now, here is a little something that I would like to start off with as I was quite proud of the final product. (If you are thinking you have already seen this before, it's because it was posted on the Blooming page before I started it's own section)

Before Christmas 2009, I decided to finally take the plunge and purchase my own sewing machine. So I asked my MN Aunt (sewing guru) to help me out with what brands to search for and what to walk away from. In the end, in keeping with my budget, since these lil guys don't come cheap I learned, I bought my very own Brother: Innov-is Project Runway Limited Edition sewing machine. Now for those of you that do NOT follow Project Runway, now airing on Lifetime, shame on you, but there is time for you to catch up! I didn't plan on bringing home the goods with Project Runway printed in pink all over it, BUT it does kinda make me smile and remind myself... "Ha, you're a nerd, Lauren."

My very first sewing project was going to be small and something that I could figure out on my own as I was so eager to get that needle going, but I ran into a small issue. No fabric to work with that night and I wasn't about to wait for the next evening to arrive after a long day at work. So I ran down to my "donation" pile of clothes that I had been collecting down in the basement and low and behold, I found a few beautiful, but shrunken sweaters. They were in such great shape, just not size so I ended up cutting them up and....

...voila! Sweater Throw Pillows! 

My favorite part about the final project is the GAP tag (R pillow) and Abercrombie Moose tag (not shown, on L pillow) I saved and sewed it in as a design element. Silly, but a reminder that they were sweaters at one point. The button you see on the left was from a button collection that my MN Aunt had been holding on to until I started drooling over them one day and she told me I could "Have at it!" I tried to keep the original seam at the bottom of the sweater on the L pillow and just ran a stitch right threw the bottom without turning it inside out to keep the original sweater look.

And here's the best part about my nerdy project... I later discovered this couch display in Pottery Barn's February 2010 issue. Buttons on pillows! Needless to say I came up with this little ditty back in December of 2009, so who's nerdy now, huh?