Friday

Cardboard Yes, Expensive No

I am absolutely positively head over heels for family trees.I think they are a great way to add some meaning to your decor. The best part is that there are so many ways to make one on the cheap. So when I got my Bed Bath and Beyond ad in the mail the other day and saw this: 

Wallverbs Family Tree 11-piece Fames and Plaque Set  

Drooling began.

I was ready to take my 20% off coupon and head to the store when reality sank in. $40? Coupon or not coupon it's not gonna happen. At first, I asked my hubby if he would cut some shapes like these out if I drew them for him. He said he would! Then again he has been promising to build me a strawberry planter for over a year now, which turned out to be a good thing because now I have decided to make one out of recycled tires instead! Like the strawberry planter, with a little time, I can come up with a million ways to make something for free. 

So I was browsing around blog land at Funky Junk Interiors last linky party when I saw this: 


The wheels started turning my friends! I already have like a million little black frames. I already had a large stash of toilet paper rolls...uh, huh, yeah, that's right. I have totally got this! Out came the paintbrush and the toilet paper roll stash!


I started by cutting my toilet paper rolls into little sections, nothing scientific, I just eyeballed it. I also cut out a few branches from paper towel rolls.

I tried painting one whole, believe me it's easier to paint each little section.
I watered down my paint a little and painted the inside and outsides black. They got a little soggy but they stiffened back up as they dried.

See why I don't bother trying to make this table look pretty?
When they were dry I took them to my wall and hung them up using sticky tack.



I LOVE it. Eventually, I'll actually get some pictures taken of the whole family, not just the girls. 


The total cost of this project was 1/4 of a bottle of paint, so about 50 cents. Gotta love that!

I linked to





83 comments:

  1. Cute! What did you use for the branches??? I like it! Way to be creative!

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  2. How did you attach them to the wall?

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  3. The branches are made from paper towel rolls and I attached everything with sticky tack. Well, not the frames of course. :)

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  4. I might have to steal this idea, this is awesome! I wonder though if sticky tack would work well on textured wall, or if I would be better off just painting the whole thing?

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  5. My wall is textured and I had no problem getting it to stick.

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  6. So fabulous! I'm utterly amazed you came up with something so lovely from so little! I shared this on FJI Facebook this weekend. :)

    http://www.facebook.com/pages/Funky-Junk-Interiors/175378011140#!/photo.php?fbid=10150167943191141&set=a.192514281140.164586.175378011140&theater

    Donna

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  7. How ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!! By the way....I found this because of FJI's post...Now I'll be passing it around on my little Blog..LOVE it, it's very clever!

    Chrissy

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  8. This is really turning trash into a treasure and your wall looks just fab.

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  9. Seriously cute. You did a great job. FJI sent me your way!

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  10. totally cool love it shall have to try this

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  11. Fabulous!!! Why can't I think of things like this? But I may have to copy.

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  12. Oh my gosh!!! YOU ARE BRILLIANT!!! I was going to buy the same thing~BUT....now I think Im going to use your idea!!! I LOVE IT!!!!

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  13. Wow! This is amazing!! It's so pretty and wonderful!

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  14. Saw this on Someday Crafts and I LOVE it!!! What an awesome job! I may have to steal this idea!!!!

    Kelly

    livingcraftilyeverafter.blogspot.com

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  15. This is gorgeous. I am in love! Wish I had a wall to do this on at my house! I am featuring this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com. Grab my "featured" button.

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  16. Found this on Knock Off Decor and LOVE it! Can't wait to steal the idea. Thanks!

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  17. That is sooo awesome. Love it. Will have to try it.
    Brooke

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  18. This is so stinkin' cute! I am a new follower. :)

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  19. Wow! I love it! You're amazing!

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  20. That is amazing! My husband and I are also in love with the BB&B family tree!

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  21. Ahhh, I LOVE THIS IDEA!!! I'm so glad my TP art (partially) inspired your family tree. It's seriously beautiful. Such a great idea.

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  22. Hope you don't mind, I wrote up a little post about your family tree...

    http://bontempsbeignet.blogspot.com/2011/04/90-inspiration-10-toilet-paper-rolls.html

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  23. ok this is AMAZING girl! Like WOW! I have been wanting to make something that I can feature my family with and I love family trees but $$$$ is so tight right now. Thank you for this incredible idea. I think I will start on mine tonight! I feel so inspired! I am your newest follower! Your hubby has to be soooo IMPRESSED!

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  24. I'm writing a post. I have to share this with my readers! You are amazing and an inspiration!

    Have a great weekend!

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  25. I love this. You have another new follower. :o)

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  26. Wonderfull. Love it.
    I wanted to share your idea in my blog too.

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  27. this turned out fabulous! love love love it!!

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  28. What a wonderful idea! I was going to fork out the cash at Bed & bath, but now I'm going to save money & have a fun project to boot. Thanks!

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  29. Look at how adorable this turned out!! I have seen the tp frames & wall decor before but nothing I liked and then I came across your blog and voila! It is exactly what I was looking for! I am new to crafting/blogging but am going to try this & gotta love the cost ;) Do you mind if I link to your post when I get around to trying these? How many tp rolls did it take you & where can I buy sticky tack? Does it remove easily from the walls? Thanks so much! Love your blog!!

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  30. Thank you so much! It only took like 5 tp rolls and 2 paper towel rolls. Sticky tack can be found just bout anywhere in the office section or where you find poster board. It comes off super easy and doesn't leave any marks. I would be flattered if you link to my post!

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  31. You are so inventive. I love the no dime concept, fits perfectly into my budget. I love what you can come up with.

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  32. I love ths family tree & i just made it today... THANK U. THANK U. THANK U. for the cool ideas:D

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  33. No Dime Design, you are an inspiration for me! Your designs reached Romania, too. I'm in the middle of this project and I'm super excited. God bless you!

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  34. Hi, I featured your family tree on my blog, All Things Paper, today. Lovely work!

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  35. found you on http://www.allthingspaper.net/ today and love your idea, very inventive. Totally love the $$$$$ aspect too.
    TFS

    Tonniece

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  36. Thanks All Things Paper for featuring me! Tanks to everyone visiting from her site too!

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  37. This is so awesome! found you through All Things Paper (subscribed to your posts now RSS). cant wait to try this - great way to recycle.

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  38. Hi! i got here through all things paper; i love what you've done! i've been wanting to do this (a vague idea in my head) for a long time!! Your work is gorgeous!

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  39. I love this!! I found your blog through the Iron Crafter's challenge.. I entered my project as well-- hope you'll check it out!

    -Bonnie @ Revolutionaries
    http://bonniegetchell.blogspot.com/2011/10/project-for-fall.html

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  40. What a fabulous looking wall! Great Job:)

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  41. I popped over from FF&J's. This is a fantastic creation!!! Can't you tell by all of the people vising you? I really turned out well, love it. :)

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  42. Thanks for visiting everyone from FF&J!

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  43. I like yours even better than the inspiration! I *never* would have guessed that you used tp rolls. :)

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  44. Great project! I voted for you in Fireflies and Jellybeans. I am a new follower too. Hope you can visit my blog and follow along too.

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  45. Thanks everyone! It's great to meet new people through thrifty crafts :)

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  46. Megan,
    For six months I have been looking for The Perfect Thing genealogy oriented to put on the bare sofa wall in my new apartment. The BB&B catalog came last week and I fell in love with the layout but for $40 it wasn't going to happen. I found Knock Off Decor today when I googled wallverbs family tree. I like yours even better. Creative, you did it yourself and it's more personalized. Thank you for sharing!
    Do you have a template for the tree limbs?

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  47. I am glad you liked it. I do not have a template for the arms. They would probably look different for each project as to look proportionate to you frames though any way. I cut a bunch of different ones and then just used the ones that I thought looked best.

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  48. ABSOLUTELY LOVE this!! I was looking on Pinterest for ways to decorate my house really cheaply. I am not a decorator so I have never really tried but I am definately going to start with ths poject!! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  49. I got a wonderful family frame for Christmas and when I saw this I knew what I had to do with it. Mine will start in the center with my great grandparents and my grandparents and with branch out to my grandbabies...I so love this idea and also that you were caring a giving enough to share all the little details of how you did it...because I had already been to Wal-Mart looking for black vinyl...but love that I didn't find it but when I got back here and read down how you did it...love that too...this is just too stinking good...Thanks!

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  50. Thanks for the inspiration. I had got a 10 piece frame set as a gift and it fit so perfectly with 4 5X7 and 3 4X6 frames. My husband has 3 brothers - so fir the 4 of the brother families in 4 frames. 3 $X6 fit me and my 2 brothers' families. Center 8X10 held us with both the parents :) 2 wallets included childhood photos of me and my husband. This all made into a beautiful tree using this idea. Thank you so much..

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  51. Could you please email me the template for the branches? I would love to make something like this on my wall. I love your idea. It is beautiful. Thanks so much. emaciaz@sbcglobal.net

    Maria

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  52. Sorry, there is not a template.

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  53. How exactly do you do the branches? I love this but am a little confused...

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    1. I just cut out two branch shapes out of a paper towel roll. When you paint it the piece will get soggy and lay more flat as it dries but with a little curve to it, giving it a more 3d look. Of course you can manipulate it so it does what you want.

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  54. I have a completely obsessive compulsive question. How do you plan to dust it? Did you seal it with something? I've thought of doing something like this but wondered how to keep it clean.

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    1. Ha Ha! You know, I would never have thought of that. It was right under my vent and when I took it down about 6 months later there wasn't hardly any dust build up. I was was going to do it I would say to use something light, like one of those disposable swiffer dusters.

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    2. I was ready for a change. I don't have a mantle to decorate seasonally and this little area is the perfect substitute for that. It never looks the same for long!

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  55. I am SO sad this would never work in Hawaii, where we live. (especially the part about the sticky-tack. And the part about the soggy painted cardboard. Minor details.)
    MAN! Any ideas for how I could make this work in 80% humidity? :D

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    1. We have high humidity here too. With the fish tank and the turtle tank, if I don't have my fan running, it's not unheard of to reach 70% humidity in my house. If you need them to dry faster you could use a fan over them or maybe color them with a permanent marker. As for sticking them on the wall, I've heard of people attaching them with sewing pins.

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  56. Very creative! Thanks for the great ideas. These are awesome and perfect for the kids! This is a very resourceful way to do a family tree wall art. We did a toilet paper roll snake project out of the same materials you used. You should check it out!

    http://earlylearning.momtrusted.com/2013/03/year-of-the-snake

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  57. This turned out really cute!

    Helen
    Blue Eyed Beauty Blog
    Exercise Encouragement Group Blog

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  58. I am planning to do this for my home as well. It wud be great if you could tell me what kind of sticky tack u used to stick it to the wall. I am using Scotch removable clear mounting squares - http://www.thesupplytree.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MMM859&ga1=bg1&gclid=CKTp7qPg4LoCFe1xQgodcwsAgw and those things still keep coming out :( :(. Mine is a textured wall and it wud be great if you could share how you stuck it to the wall. Thank you so so much. Wud greatly appreciate your reply

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    1. It's just regular white/grey sticky tack. I rolled it up into tiny balls and spaced the balls out around the edges. I hope that helps!

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  59. Hello,

    great idea! Do you sell DIY-photos??? We are a german deco-magazine and are interested to buy this photo for our next issue.
    Greetings
    Sandra

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  60. This is a fantastic idea I love the fact that you reused an item that most people would just throw away.

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  61. Love it!! Doing this this weekend!

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  62. Hi! I did a round up about crafts with toilet paper rolls and yours was great so I thought it would be great to include it, I hope this is ok for you. I provided your link and give credit to your site, here's the post in case you want to check it: http://sweethings.net/15-different-uses-for-toilet-paper-rolls/
    Hugs,
    Pili

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  63. Perfect!!! DYI branches please!

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