I aquired Momma Kate's (my grandmother) Christmas tree "plaque" last September when my Mom moved to Missouri.
As you can see it is in need of some repair and restoration. The "Tree topper" is missing along with some of the ornaments. The rick rack edging is barely hanging on in a few places.
What makes this project so SPECIAL is that not only did it belong to Momma Kate and hung in the hallway/entrance for many, many years......ALSO and even more special is that we, Momma Kate and I, made this together along with one that I made for my other grandmother, "Grandmother". I have hers as well and now they will BOTH be part of my decor.
My Grandfather, Clovis cut the backs and trees from old panneling he had. Momma Kate and I covered them with felt and rick rack. We then went through her boxes and jars of either broken or discarded jewelery to add as the decorations.
My daughter, Lori has special memories of going through the jewelery as well.
Now that you have the history....here is what I did to restore the original. You can see some staining to the left of the tree. I don't know what exactly caused this. There were also a few bug holes eaten into the felt. I added some colorful stars to hide the holes and distract from the stain. The Poinsettia added to the top came from Momma Kate's dresser drawer....button cover...I thought it was appropriate and fit nicely. Some of the "pearls" looked as if they had been pulled off. The ones hanging were glued back and a couple were replaced with clear round beads. One of the "ornaments" at the bottom right had the stone missing. I was unable to find the exact size but was able to find something "usuable" from Momma Sue's(Mother-in-law) craft supply collection.
