Our Eternal Family 2x4

2x4 Tuesday!

I got this idea from How Does She... I loved the idea and wanted to do it for awhile now.

A few months ago a young man in my ward (church) died. He was the son of a friend of mine. He was the youngest, 17 years old, of her children and a sweet young man. I wanted to make her food and comfort her, but she had plenty of food. So I thought to myself, "What else do I do well that I can share with her?" CRAFT! So this is my gift to her. A family tree of sorts. The wires hold pictures and are removable. Corey is the young man that died, and I decided to do his name in white because he is now with our Heavenly Father.

I started with a 2x4 and cut it into six pieces; 8in, 7, 6, 5, 4, and 3in. pieces.

I sanded the edges and drilled holes in the ends to hold the wires.

I chose paper and cut it to the correct sizes.

I used Mod Podge to apply the paper. After it dried I sanded the edges again to rough up the paper a bit.

TIP: Use a ruler to press the paper into the Mod Podge.

Here they are all done.

Next I cut the names out on my Cricut. I used the Kristen font.

Then I applied them. Sometimes I applied the letters one at a time so that they were all crazy and off center.

Here it is all done. I added a dot of hot glue between each board to keep them in place. It won't hold forever. If you want it to hold forever than make sure you use wood glue.

Next I cut and twisted my wire. You can find this wire at Home Depot/Lowes. I found mine in the rebar area. It is called rebar wire. Mine is a huge roll and only cost $4.

Grip the end of the wire and twist it around the tip of your needle nose pliers.

Pull out your pliers and pinch the swirl together. Now it will hold a picture.

All done. I put a wire in every hole but they are removable.

I added a ribbon around the stack to hold it together and to add a bit more softness.

I hope my friend enjoys it. She is going through a rough time, one that I cannot even imagine, but maybe she can put some pictures on this and remember all the time she had with her son. Most importantly I hope she remembers that this is not the end, she will see him again.