Here is a jewelry tree that I am just finishing up. Imagine that! I have had this stashed away because I ended up not liking it when I was done with it. It holds at least one piece of jewelry from each of my grandmothers and my mother. My sister made one of these to hang at Christmas time and I adored it so I tried to duplicate it. It is funny how different they turned out. My sister's tree is pastels and is so pretty! My sister-in-law made one as well out of really old jewelry pieces from her great aunt and has a lot of rhinestones. It is gorgeous. I am still not super fond of how mine turned out but I am happy to have it almost done. All I have to add is the small shaped pieces for my kids to play 'I Spy' with. My mother made the drawing of the tree on poster board so each of us could use it. She is a good artist. Most of my jewelry came from the local thrift store but there are a few cherished pieces in there. I do hope it will be passed down and cherished for a few generations. The back board is a piece of foam board that I used spray adhesive on to attach the black velvet to. I reinforced this by tacking the velvet to the back. I purchased the frame at a thrift store. The outline of the tree is simply a string of gold beads glued on the velvet. I used "liquid nails" for gluing the jewelry pieces on. It was a fun project to work on and my favorite part is trying to find the hidden objects.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI saw this on Pinterest and I think it's beautiful! I hope you set it up and enjoy it this Christmas!
Fondly,
Gramma Deenie
Hi Gramma Deenie!
DeleteThank you so much for the compliment! I definitely will hang it up and enjoy this Christmas.
Sincerely,
Marnie
OMG. I love, Love this idea. Thank you so much for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteYou are so welcome! Glad you love it!
DeleteOnce you have finished it, you will love & cherish it to pass down for your generations!
ReplyDeleteMy ex-Mother-in-Law, rest her soul, found this idea 35-40 years ago. My two SILs were not interested in making one, so she & I made one each. We gathered jewelry from family members one Winter, then made them during the summer and finished them by the next Christmas.
My ex-Father-in-Law made beautiful Grandfather clocks, mantel clocks, an entertainment center (gorgeous)/a tall jewelry box w doors and a giant room divider for me on different occasions (LOVE them all) & even a hanging clock on a huge gold chain for my parents ... from native walnut trees he cut down from the family dairy farm he had to sell when he had his heart attack & had all the wood cut & planed to build heirlooms, which he did.
So he made the solid walnut frames & backing for our jewelry trees, the background was crushed gold velvet.
We mixed our jewelry between families, so we each had some. On mine, I have my Mom's & her jewelry, Grandmothers on both sides, and I even added my child/teenager jewelry I would never wear again & my Brownie/Girl Scout pins, etc. Mine hangs year round in my Dining Room, but I only light it up right after Thanksgiving to the end of the year.
Mine is truly an antique now with even more antique jewelry on it. Hope to pass it down for generations through my daughter (my son doesn't have any children). Her youngest son will be the one to want it next (even at 9 yrs old, he is sooo much like me!!).
Wish I knew how to attach a picture to this response, but don't see how I can. If I can please, let me know & I will send it.
Forgot about a few more things my Mother-in-Law & I did to our Heirloom Jewelry Christmas Trees ...
ReplyDeleteWe used to be able to go to Goodwill, Salvation Army or Consignment Shops to inexpensively buy for a nominal fee, all the broken jewelry pieces, or were missing stones or rhinestones, etc. to use as 'fillers' in between our own jewelry pieces. We even broke some apart to use in smaller places
We also bought cheap long beaded or fake pearls or even the old 'pop beads' necklaces for the beginning 'form of the tree' & hidden underneath our good jewelry on top. But they sell their broken or missing stones jewelry in large glass jars now to sell ... for far more then we used to pay. Maybe Michael's or Hobby Lobby have beads or 'pearls' in bulk qty to use now.
As we were making the pop bead or pearl tree form underneath, we got the idea to intertwine a string of pin lights among them. My FIL drilled a hole in the back of the frame backing to drop the cord down to a wall outlet. This REALLY lights up all our jewelry, they just twinkle & sparkle!!!
Hope you like these ideas to use on your Jewelry Heirloom Tree also.
P.S. Any glue (we used Elmer's as about all we had to find, since it dried clear). But over the years, not often however, the glue will dry out & your jewelry, or other pieces, will fall off. So check them every Christmas to make sure some of them are not loose & need backup glue ... or accidentally sweep any of the jewelry or pieces up in your vacuum cleaner!!
Pat in Atlanta
Hi Pat! I didn't even see this comment come in until I was doing some searching today! I'm so glad you made the time to tell me about your jewelry trees and the fabulous ideas you shared! Thank you! I have had to re-glue some of the jewelry and I now use gorilla glue and it seems to be working thus far. I would LOVE to see your tree! I have no idea how to attach a picture or if it is even possible. I have my grandmothers jewelry and some from my mother and some from second hand stores too. I love your idea for lights in it! That is so neat! I'm sure your grandson will cherish your jewelry tree forever! :) Awesome memories! Thanks again for sharing!
DeleteMarnie in Northern Utah
Thank you so much all of you for sharing your beautiful Christmas trees.they are so unique.i love them,and intend to try and make one or two.
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