Valentine Picture Tree

We can't go into Target without heading straight for the dollar bins,

 especially when it's filled with Valentine's stuff. 

They had the cutest little Valentine trees,

 so two quickly went into our carts. 

They had a lot of potential! 

Here's a picture of the original tree....

 

Very cute...and very red.

Nothing that a little spray paint can't change.

We ended up painting the trees with Krylon Brushed Nickel spray paint.  

 For the ornaments, we had so much fun playing around with

a box of epoxy resin that Nicole bought three years ago. 

 At Hobby Lobby we found some embellishments and

metal bottle caps in the jewelery section  to make our resin filled ornaments. 

First we printed off thumbnail prints of our family members we love..

that includes Nicole's cats and squirrels. 

Yep, if any of you are new... Nicole is a squirrel whisperer

that has rescued several dying baby squirrels. 

We decided to make our own picture ornaments instead of hanging Valentine ornaments. 
It was the perfect opportunity to use that box of epoxy resin. 
It only took us three years to figure out what to do with it and these were perfect!.
We had tons of fun playing around with it and are already thinking of other ways to use it.
We used a product called EnviroTex Lite Pour-On in high gloss finish.

It was our first time playing around with it and we of course learned a lot. 

A little goes a looooonnnnnggggg way.

First, make sure your two part mix is correct with equal parts.

We marked with a sharpie equal spots down each bottle to help us measure accurately. 

Second, glue your pictures down. 

A glue stick might be a good idea so it won't ruin your picture. 

Third, there are tons of bubbles, so use popsicle sticks to continually press

the poured mixture to clear the air bubbles as the resin sets up.

 

Resin will be completely cured/dry in 72 hours.

Nicole wrapped her base with cream burlap while I gave mine

a pleated look with silver tissue paper.

We used the prettiest light pink pearls to dangle

from each ornament and matching ribbons for the bows.

Of course we had to add a little "frosting" of glitter too on the top of the pot and heart.

Two different but similar takes

and two very happy results!

I think these guys are staying up all year round,

they just make us happy!