Family Heirloom Jewel Tree

Click on the photo for a fabulous close-up!

“Who are the Jewels in your life?” That question reminded me of the reason I created my Jewel Tree.

My Mom never threw anything away and saved her family’s bits and pieces of jewelery and all my childhood treasures – cute brooches, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, pins and even buttons from special clothing. I seem to have inherited the trait and I kept every little treasure since then – my son’s shark tooth necklace from our trip to Hawaii, my daughter’s first earrings, my husband’s gold birthstone ring and of course all my odds and ends, such as broken necklaces or a single earring.

A friend showed me her “Christmas Jewel Tree” and that set me off – of course I had to take it one step further, making it into a piece of art, not just a Christmas decoration. All of a sudden I was rummaging through drawers, searching in boxes of old clothing, my jewelery box, my daughter’s jewelery box and even the ‘catch-all’ drawer in the kitchen, amassing a surprising amount of treasure.

I started hitting the garage sales, looking for the perfect wooden picture frame – it needed to be ornate, preferably gold tones and a size to fit a special wall I designated. I also bought bits of jewelry at garage sales, preferably gold toned, pearlized, white and most especially, rhinestone – bling, bling, bling – the more bling the better for me!

I cut a piece of thin plywood just a little smaller than the frame (“21 x 25″) and covered it with black velvet, gluing with Alene’s Craft Glue. I hand drew the outline of a Christmas tree shape on paper, being sure both sides were the same and laid it on the velvet, trimmed, tried again and again until it looked to be in proportion to the frame and had nicely curved lines. I then drilled holes at random in the plywood, so I could insert a small set of Christmas lights to add a more festive touch.

At that point I started laying out long necklaces of pearls and gold chain, trying to match sizes, making the outline of the tree. When I was satisfied, I spread a line of glue around the outline of the tree, removed the paper then put the chains onto the glue, curving them around the corners and adding more as I went when I felt it needed to be a wider outline (nearer the bottom).

The hardest part was deciding which pieces of jewelery could go on the bottom layer to be the base. I knew they wouldn’t show but just provide a fairly solid backing to place the more important pieces.

Once the inside area was pretty well covered, I started placing my special jewelery – first things that didn’t have a huge emotional value then topping them with my prized posessions. I sent out word to my female relatives and friends that I was making a family jewel tree and if they had an odd earring, brooch, necklace, pin – whatever they could part with, I’d love to add them. My family is wonderful that way and soon I had lots more pieces to add.

My Mom came up with stuff that belonged to her Dad, her Mother, my Dad, my brothers and even some of her precious pieces. There were earrings her rock-hound brother made of stones he polished then set into gold, there were buttons from my Grandfather’s WWI uniform, shoe buckles my Grandmother wore, a pin my Mom’s first employer gave her, my Dad’s old Alaska black diamond cufflinks, and even an old English coin which belonged to my Dad’s ‘Pappy’.

As I placed items on the tree, I kept a list of where they came from or to whom a certain piece belonged. It is now thumbtacked to the back of the plywood. I realized the Christmas lights were not necessary – just more work and it had to be near an electrical plug-in and the cord hanging down the wall didn’t look great. I wouldn’t bother with lights another time.

Now, if your jewelery is very, very special I wouldn’t recommend putting glue on it – and if you ever want to wear it again don’t put it on your tree! I’m not saying the glue will damage anything, but use caution.

Each time I pass by this piece of artwork – for that is what it turned out to be, a very valuable piece of art as far as I’m concerned, I say hello to my Mom, my Grandparents, my Aunts, cousins and dear friends. Some may be gone from my life but they live in my heart and are as close as my “Family Jewel Tree”.