mod podged hand trees from at second street

welcome to our holiday-inspired “bake, craft & sew along.” we will be baking, sewing & crafting up a storm, preparing handmade gifts for this holiday season. dust off your sewing machine, & head on over to skip to my lou for some fabulous sewing projects. a southern fairytale is spotlighting lots of edible yummies & holiday-inspired recipes you definitely don’t want to miss. & to check out ALL of our crafty & creative projects go HERE.

I am so excited to be part of this Holiday craft along. My family has been making homemade Christmas gifts since I was a kid. It’s my favorite holiday tradition. I can’t tell you how many Christmas mornings were spent in tears as we opened each others gifts. These Mod Podged hand trees are the perfect gift for a parent or grandparent and can be made by adults and kids.

This is a quick and easy gift that is not only sentimental but looks beautiful. I still smile when I walk past mine.

What I used:

-Wood Picture Boards (I got mine at Tai Pan Trading Co., they were damaged and 75% off.) You could also use a canvas.

- burlap

-scrap fabric

-scissors

- Mod Podge- I used matte, but I think anything you have is fine.

-Permanent marker – to sign name at the end

These are the boards I used. I needed more surface area so I used the back side as my front.

Some of the Fabrics I used: I liked using a heavier fabric, but anything would work. Make sure you have lots of variety. You want the fabrics to work together while still having as many different colors as possible. You don’t want all the fabrics to blend together. I used eight different fabrics.

Step 1: I removed the hanger and stickers from the back of my board. I saved the hanger and placed it on the other side when it was time to hang my pictures. Step 2: I covered the entire board with Mod Podge and layed a piece of burlap, bigger than the board, over the top. Then I used my sharp sewing scissors to cut away the excess burlap till it was straight and flush with the board. If you are using a canvas I would try wrapping the canvas and stapling it to the back instead. Step 3: Cutting the leaves and hands out. I did all the cutting. I didn’t trust my kids with my sharp sewing scissors. I was afraid someone would lose a finger. If your kids are older you might want to let them do this part.

I cut three different sizes of leaves for each pattern.

Tracing and cutting the hands before starting with the Mod Podge, make things easier when everything is covered with goo.

Step 4: Glue everything down.

Step 5: Once all your leaves are on. They plastered the back of the trunk with Mod Podge and placed it on the picture with the hand in the center of the leaves. You might need to trim some of the trunk so that it is flush with the bottom of the board. Now they can finish it off by painting over the entire tree with the Mod Podge. It dries clear so don’t worry if it looks a little messy.

The leaves dry stiff and look cute if they start to come off the board.

We finished ours off by each signing their name to a leaf with a permanent marker and adding it in the bottom corner.