Families Are Forever – Love This Easy and Meaningful Family Tree Project

Family photos are something I have come to cherish in my life. I love the stories they tell and the history they reveal. By displaying these photos, whether they are snapshots or formal portraits, loved ones feel close by even when we are separated by distance or death.

Several years ago, I saw an idea in a home catalog for a family tree display that intrigued me. It was a cartoon depiction of a tree, about 5 feet tall by 3 feet wide, and was applied to a wall like a giant sticker. On the tree you could hang frames on the “branches” depicting the generations of a family tree. While I loved the idea, putting up a wallpaper-like tree didn’t thrill me, or the $30+ price tag. Instead I gathered up my bottles of acrylic paint and leftover interior house paint to create my own tree.

It took a few hours to get it to look just right, but the results were well worth it. I interspersed branches throughout that my clear, acrylic frames could hang on. To retrofit the once magnetic frames, I drilled two holes in the back to thread ribbon through, and each photo has a little piece of tape on the back to hold it in place.

The photos on my tree go back as far as my great-grandparents, as I knew my great-grandmothers, up through our children. My husband’s entire family lives in the Northwest, so seeing their faces each day on the tree makes them feel a little closer. We are reminded whenever we walk by of the memories we have shared with each person.

A couple of years after I completed the family tree, I was invited to an Uppercase Living party where I found a crown of words for my tree—Families are Forever. I treasure my family members and this just seemed to complete the whole picture. This simple phrase has come to mean even more to our family foursome as within the 2 ½ years, we grieved the loss of my only sibling Mark, and both of my grandmothers. I miss each of them each of them so very much, but as my tree reminds me, they are my family and families are forever. Their faces smile at us from our tree and their legacies will live on because they were loved.

Contributed by Sarah Chandler. Sarah is a Springfield native, wife to Jeff, and mom to Levi and Anne. She loves to be outdoors during all seasons and enjoys relaxing indoors by creating quilts and scrapbooking.