Artsy Fartsy Friday {Linky Party} Classroom Tree

It is time for another Artsy Fartsy Friday Linky with Miss Law's Kinders and Sew Much Music. This linky will continue every Friday all summer long!  Still don't know what this linky party is about? Check out my previous post with all the details right here. 

Want to link up? 

1. Grab the Artsy Fartsy image and link to one of our blogs. 

2. Blog about a craft or project you have been working on this week. 

3. Link up at the bottom! 

Now on to my Artsy Farsty project for this week: Classroom Tree!

I have a songbird theme in my music classroom.  I have always wanted a tree painted in the corner of my classroom so I could place little songbirds on the branches.  I got my wish! 

Along with my wonderful mother-in-law (the true artist), we created a real-life tree mural in the corner of my classroom.  It is only in the beginning stages.  I hope to add some green pompoms for leaves and some little song birds. Maybe a music quote, too?!

Here is how we did it:

1. We began with a sketch of the tree. This was clearly my mother-in-laws sketch! I am not an artist, AT ALL!  

2.  We then went to Wal-Mart to buy the paint! Hint: buy the small paint samples.  You will only need one of each color! We purchased a dark brown, medium brown, and light brown.  You will need a quart of paint for the base color. 

3.  Next, draw the tree outline on the wall with a pencil.  Tip: Make sure to step back to check for correct branch proportions.  

4. Fill in the outline with the base color.  We used a small roller to do the wider parts of the tree, then a hand brush for the small branches. 

5. Add more color! This is the fun part!! Using a 2 inch paint brush, lightly dip the brush into the lighter colored paint.  Apply very gentle and dry brush strokes over the base color to get a "brushy" look! (Is that a word?!). Once you have finished with the lightest color, do the same with the darker color. 

6.  Finally, using a very small brush roughly outline the tree with the darkest color. You can see my outline on the right side of the photo above! 

7. Masterpiece! 

I LOVE that my tree goes all the way to the ceiling and looks realistic! I can't wait to add the final touches and show you! 

Thanks for stopping by for Artsy Fartsy! Want to link up? Add your link below and don't forget to comment on the two link-ups in front of you and the linky after you!