DIY Gratitude Tree

One morning, while upstairs putting on my makeup, I had the news on in the background and, as always, had my ears tuned to the weather segment. It was finally time for Mr. Al Roker to have his turn and he weaved his weather magic and soon I knew just what the temps would be all over the country.

But when it came time to talk about the west coast, specifically my beautiful Pacific NW, he just kind of casually waved his arm and said, “And there will be rain in the Pacific NW.” I stopped dead in my tracks…eyeliner in one hand and coffee cup in the other, unsure if I had heard correctly or if in my usual morning stupor I had misunderstood him.

Because, you see, outside my bedroom window all I could see was glorious sunshine and beautiful crystal clear blue skies. Huh??

“Mr. Al Roker”, I thought, “There might be some rain somewhere in the great Pacific NW today, but please be more specific so that everyone doesn’t buy into the lie that all we ever get is rain, rain and more rain!”

I was deeply insulted.

And I’m going to just say it…I think the Pacific Northwest is highly under-appreciated. Ever since I finally came to terms with being an Oregonian, I’ve felt very defensive of my state. I mean, I’m not out hugging trees or anything…yet. 😉

So, when I was given the opportunity to try out Behr® Marquee™ Paint and Wooster® paint brushes, I turned to my beautiful home state for inspiration.

Every year around this time, it’s so easy to get caught up in the festivities of the season. But we really want our kiddos to have opportunities to express their gratitude and what better way than with the beautiful visual of a tree filled with leaves filled with grateful sentiments?

I started out by taking apart the picket fence I used in my Fall Mantel two years ago.

After lining them up like perfect little picket fence soldiers, I attached a board to the back to hold them all securely in place.

Next, using the Wooster® PRO mini-roller brush, I painted the boards two different colors.

The first coat was Behr® Marquee™ Sturdy Brown #MQ2-48. I was absolutely certain that because of the texture of the wood that I would need to do two coats but this covered amazingly well and I didn’t even need to go back over it! I was also so impressed at how quickly it dried considering I was working in a garage that was about 30°. Brrrrrrrr!

Once the first coat had dried, I went over it with Behr® Marquee™ in Scribe #MQ2-31 and after it had dried I did a light distressing so that the darker tone would show through and give it a nice aged look.

Next, I used ScotchBlue™ Painter’s Tape Multi-Surface with Advanced Edge-Lock™ Paint Line Protector 2093EL  to tape off the tree design.

It stuck onto the rough wood so wonderfully!

I decided to go with more of a Pine tree design so that this project can bridge the gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

And, of course, to pay homage to the vast number of evergreen trees here in Oregon!

Using the Wooster® angled brush I carefully painted on Behr® Marquee Rare Wood, working my way around the outline of the tree.

I always taking the tape off and seeing those neat, straight lines with no drips!

To create the tree trunk, I simply attached little sticks using hot glue.

I found these beautiful paper-y leaves at the craft store and we began writing on them all of the things we are grateful for.

The leaves were attached to the board using mounting putty.

As the last of the leaves begin to fall outside, this tree is having the opposite experience.

And these are definitely the most beautiful leaves we’ve ever seen!

Oh and as I type this it’s a beautiful, crisp, sunny day.

Take that Mr. Al Roker! 😉

*I am proud to be a 3M, Behr®, and Wooster® – sponsored blogger, and, as part of my responsibilities, I get the opportunity to evaluate products. Opinions are my own and additional product used in the project were selected by me.* 

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