Friday, December 18, 2009

Kristin's Sheet Music Tree

Not to long ago, I shared a post in which I took a very old music book and framed the cover. I have been using the sheet music on various projects that I hope to share soon.
But it was my friend, Kristin of The Goat blog, that had me in awe of a very old Christmas tree that was made of sheet music. I asked her if she would mind if I could share her email and pictures with all of you and she so graciously agreed. I will allow Kristin's email to explain more about the tree.

"Hi Leigh!
Here are the pictures of the tree I was talking about. It's been around since Thanksgiving of 1996 so it's not as gorgeous as it once was. The sheet music is cut into strips, cut and assembled onto a tree frame. There are buttons on wire, real photos of people that we don't know and old christmas cards were used as decoration. The wine corks were used as the candles and the tops are mat board painted to look like a flame. The lights have green cording, but back then that's all they had I think - I'd use white now. The tree just glowed - goodness it was beautiful.
It's been up in the attic for about 5 years now, but no one wants to throw it away! The tree is actually not usable at the moment. We've had it for about 12 years total and it's too dusty, the lights don't work, the base is wobbly - it's time has come but none of us want to disassemble it. So it sits in the attic where we all go up and say - "oh look! I just love those pictures, the buttons, the cork lights, etc"
The cork candles were actually just made by the same guy who made the tree. He cut out flame shapes and cut a slit in the cork and put them in. He painted the flames, too - forgot that part. I actually think my sister made a few dozen of the cork candles while she was working for the guy. He used Matboard so that they would stand up straight for years :)
Have a great weekend!
Kristin

Thankyou Kristin for sharing this creative idea. And now....Krsitin's Sheet Music Tree...
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Fabulous!

10 comments:

Blondie's Journal said...

Awesome, Leigh!! Kristin has some time and patience along with a lot of creativity! Love it!! :-)

Happy holidays, my friend!

Denise Vakili Fine Art said...

Wow, how creative, and eco-friendly, too! Happy Holidays, Leigh...best wishes to you and your family! - Denise

Its So Very Cheri said...

Leigh-
I LOVE that tree. Now you've got me thinking about recreating something like that.

I have been having so many Google issues and even though 4 zillion of my posts hit today it still isn't working. I did a test post after they all hit-hours ago and it still hasn't posted.
I hvae been so bummed about it and Google couldn't help with how to fix it at all.
I hope you have a very Merry Christmas.
Cheri

Anonymous said...

Hi Leigh! Oh, this is precious! How amazing. Wonder where she got this idea? I love it.
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Mid-Atlantic Martha said...

Now how cute is that! What an amazing little tree.

Jane said...

Ingenious! Do you have directions for making this? It would be a perfect tree for my sister...a former opera singer.

Merry Christmas!
Jane (artfully graced)

Kristin - The Goat said...

This tree was not made by me. My Mother purchased it at an auction. Companies would decorate a tree and donate it to the event and people would bid on the tree that they wanted. My mother made sure she got this tree :)

The artist/creator of the tree is a man named Todd. He bought either a table top tree and took all the "needles" off of it and used the frame or he purchased a tree frame already nekkid.

As far as I know he folded a piece of sheet music in half or in fourths and cut it into fringe. Then attached it to each branch. After wrapping the tree completely in sheet music, he made the ornaments. It sounds so easy, but I think it took him a week or two to make it. The ornaments are photos, matt board, buttons, keys and the cork candles.

If you have any other questions, just ask. I'll see if I can answer!

Thanks so much Leigh for posting about this tree. I wish it looked better. It was so gorgeous at one time. Age really takes it's toll with paper.

Kristin - The Goat

Debra from Bungalow said...

What a tree. Very unique and eco friendly too!

Merry Christmas Leigh!

Cindy Lee Bergersen said...

Well my dear!You and your site are SOOOO charming!Love the soundtrack too.Ijust wrote a couple of posts on have a Merry Non-Ambitious Christmas.It's about the spirit of the year not the over the top decorations. Your post catches the spirit of the times in a very lovely creative way...please thank Kristen for all of us...

Best
Cindy

Bonnie said...

Wow ! that is really really cool !!