Heritage Wreath and Tree

Here's one of the most fun projects I've ever done, without a doubt.  I've been wanting to do something like this for several years now.  My friend, Dee, had her Mary Kay open house last weekend and she had a similar one that her sister made.  After seeing it, I knew I couldn't wait any longer.  I had to work on my tree...and I wanted to make a wreath, too.  I have a lot of photos of my ancestors already on hand, from working on my heritage album.  I wanted to include not only my ancestors on my wreath and tree, but my current family as well.

To make them all have the vintage look I was after, I edited all my current photos into a sepia tone before printing them.  This was so much fun.  The little tree now sits on the end of my dining room table, so the lights show outside from the window, too.  This means we now have 13 trees in our home, counting the one on the front porch.  The number keeps growing!  I actually decorated a tree AND a wreath with my vintage tags.  The wreath is on the wall in my dining room.  I still have more tags to finish, so I'll be adding a few more.  I just had to show you this now.  I loved making this project!
Here's the wreath:

Here are close-ups of the tags:

Here's the tree:

... and some close-ups of tags on the tree:

...and more close-ups of the tags on the wreath:

I've mixed up and blended together all the ancestors from both sides of the family, along with current photos of family.  I really did not want them separate.  I did, however, add labels on the backs of the tags so we won't forget who is who.

If you have any photos of your ancestors, I highly recommend this project.  If not, you could easily make one that is current.  You could even print all the photos in color, for an entirely different look.  Give it a try.  I think the kids will love it!

December 18/19 and counting...

Happy stamping!