Fall Photo Tree Craft

Display your special photos and snapshots in a fun, unique way. It's sure to impress all your family and friends!

Supplies needed:
- One piece of foam board (like poster board, only thicker)
- Pencil
- Brown paint
- Paintbrush (preferably one that is ½" in width)
- Pattern for leaves (the leaf pattern in the example was found on the internet using Google images under "maple leaf outline")
- Scissors
- Several sheets of standard white paper
- Paint in fall colors (orange, burgundy, etc.)
- Exacto or utility knife (optional, but recommended)
- Popsicle sticks
- Glue (a glue gun works best, as it dries quickly)
- Craft foam (to be used as a border for your pictures. It can be in any color you would like)
- Photos (it is suggested that you scan and print your photos, using the copies for the tree and keeping the originals)

1. On your poster board, trace the skeleton of a tree. The sketch does not have to be elaborate. Simple lines will do. Examples of bare trees can be found on the internet. This outline is to determine where your lines will be when you paint them and to make sure your photos will not overlap.

2. Using your brown paint, paint over your lines. Start with the limbs. The base should be thick, gradually narrowing to the tip. When the limbs are finished, fill in the truck. Start in the middle and alternate sides, gradually creating the desired width of your trunk. Allow tree to dry.

3. If you haven't already, cut out the leaf pattern. Then on your white paper, trace the pattern. Trace as many as needed for each of the limbs on your tree that you would like to display photos. After tracing the amount you need, cut them out.

4. Now you will paint the leaves. You can either buy specific colors of paint or you can use brown, red and yellow paint, mixing the colors together to create fall colors (i.e. red + yellow = orange, red + brown = a rusty, burgundy color, etc. Just remember to add little by little to get your desired color). As the paint dries, the paper will curl. Don't worry about this. It creates the desired effect.

5. While you wait for the painted leaves to dry, cut out your tree. Scissors work, but an exacto knife or utility knife makes the process much easier because of the thickness of the foam board.

6. When your leaves are dry, flip them over so that the painted side is face down. Glue a popsicle stick vertically in the center of each one.

7. Arrange the leaves on the tree as you would like them to be displayed.

8. It's time to glue your photos to your leaves. First, using the craft foam, create a border for your photo. An easy way to do this is to place the photo on the foam and cut around the photo, leaving an equal amount of foam on each side. Glue the photo to the foam and then the foam to the center of the leaf.

9. Next, glue the leaf to the limb. It is best to do each leaf individually, so your display stays intact. After the last leaf is glued to the tree, your project is complete!

How you choose to display your photo tree is entirely up to you. To display on the wall, it is best to use command hooks, which leave no holes, being this is a seasonal decoration (if you so choose). You could also display your tree on the floor. Take three thin strips of wood and glue them together to form a right triangle. Then glue the "L" to the back of the tree. Whichever way you wish to present your tree, your family and friends are sure to enjoy!