• A wooden serving tray available at most craft stores for around $15.00

• A Tree of Life Pattern (with Birds of Paradise) available by clicking here

• Folk art bird patterns of your choice:
  • Parrot
  • Thistlefinch
  • Dove
  • Peacock

• Two paintbrushes: a # 1 Round and #2 Flat (or any small brushes you have on hand).

• Acrylic paint in the following colors:
  • green
  • white
  • red
  • black
  • ocher

Directions:

1. Print the tree of life pattern and trace it on to your wooden tray. See the "How to Use the Patterns Directions" below.

2. Optional: Print the birds of your choice and trace as many as you like onto your tree of life pattern which is now on your tray.

3. Paint the tree trunk using black paint.

4. Paint the leaves using green paint.

5. Add red to the flowers at the bottom of the tree.

6. Paint the bodies of the birds using ocher paint.

7. Paint the wings of the birds using black paint.

8. Add details using white paint (see finished piece).

9. When the paint is dry, add a clear water-based sealer to protect your artwork.

10. Use the tray as you would use any other serving tray.

How to Use the Patterns:

Enlarge or reduce them on a photocopy machine OR instead of printing them, save them to your hard drive and modify them in an image creation program like Paint or Image Composer.

Take a sheet of transfer paper (find that at any craft shop), lay it on the stool velvety side down, lay the printed pattern on top and trace over top of the lines with a ball point pen. The lines should appear on the wood.

You can make your own transfer paper by taking a soft pencil and rubbing it all over a sheet of tracing paper. Again, lay the tracing paper (pencil side down) on the stool, lay the printed pattern on top and trace over top of the lines with a ball point pen. The lines should appear on the wood.

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Resources:

• Folk Art Articles
  
• Folk Art Patterns