Scavenger Chic

DIY Birthday Reminder Calendar, Family Tree

• By Joan
• February 23, 2022
• 3 Comments

DIY Birthday  Reminder Calendar

I’ve wanted a birthday reminder calendar for quite some time now and I wasn’t really impressed with what’s available online.   Online versions mostly have a plaque with the months listed horizontally and then you hang your birthdays from the plaque with  little hearts or circles. 

I thought I could do better, or at least have something a bit more rustic, a bit more scavengey.

These are most of the supplies I used for this project.  The only item I didn’t have on hand was the air dry clay. 

I’m sure I missed a few items to have on hand but this will get you started.

What you’re seeing is air-dry clay, shutter slats, a small paintbrush, various acrylic paints, spray varnish, an old 2×4, backer board (not shown), E6000 glue, builders adhesive and  Metal Alphabet And Number Stamp Kit Tools Set With Wood Box – 5/32 Inch.

I knew I would miss something in my supplies…you’ll also need a rolling pin to roll out the air dry clay to about 1/4…

…and leaves, I can’t forget the leaves.  These leaves are from my Euonymous bush which is, thankfully, an evergreen.  The deer eat all the leaves below 5 feet during the winter, but my bushes are old and reach upwards of 7ft tall.

Arrange your leaves vein side down on the clay.

Go over the leaves lightly with a rolling pin to leave an indentation of the leaf.

Cut out the leaves with a sharp knife.  While the clay is still damp, smooth any rough edges with a wet finger.

Use the letter and number stamps to write out the name and birthdays of all you’d like to remember.

I’ve also used these stamps to personalize a couple of baby frames like this one.

With another ball of clay, create a tree trunk and a few branches.  Mine is about 10″ tall.

Add a few lines for bark down the tree trunk.

Allow all your pieces to dry for several days.

 

When dry,  paint the leaves and tree trunk.  Both pieces needed 2 coats of paint to cover thoroughly.  Start with a solid color medium acrylic brown on the trunk and green on the leaves.  For the second coat on the tree I added a couple drops of black to the sides of the tree and a lighter shade of brown for highlights.  If you add the lighter and darker colors to the base color while the paint is wet it will blend right in.

On the leaves add a few highlights of lighter green to the darker green color on the second coat.

When the paint is dry, apply a clear coat of spray varnish.  The varnish will seal the leaves, leaving you ready for the next step.

The names and birthdates are lost with just the green paint.  

Water down white paint, about 2/3 paint to 1/3 water.  You’re not going to use much.  Apply a swipe of paint over the names and dates on your leaves.  Immediately wipe off with a paper towel.  The paint will highlight the stamped images.

If you do not have the letter and number set, you may want to consider a paint pen or sharpie to mark your leaves.

I gave my leaves one last coat of the clear varnish to shine them up after the dulling effect of the white paint.

Roughly lay out your leaves and tree to give you an idea of how big you would like your wood backing to be.  Add a couple inches for marriages and births.

I was going to use  the piece of thin plywood the tree was sitting on for the backing, but this piece of masonite I found in my workshop was already the perfect height and width (19×23″).

This old 2×4 will be the frame.

Cut the 2×4 in half so you’re left with 2×2 pieces of wood.

Miter the ends of the 2×2’s to create a frame to fit around the backing board.

With a table saw I dadoed a groove in  the 2×4’s in which to insert my masonite backing board.  To make a perfect fit  did require trimming a little off the miter cuts on the corners.

If you don’t have a table saw, simply nail the backer board to the back of the 2×4 frame.

This is my dadoed channel with the masonite board inserted.

The 2×4 frame is glued and nailed together but what to do for a background to cover up the masonite board.  Here I’m trying out plaster lath strips and shutter slats.  I also considered paint, pallet wood and beadboard.

I ususally lean towards darker colors, so the shutter slats won.  I also liked the contrast between the slats and the leaves.

If you’re using the shutter slats for your background make sure you clean them off before attaching your leaves.  All that grayish tint is some kind of decades old grime.

Use the builders adhesive to attach the shutter slats to the backer board.

Before I glued my leaves, I thought, what a nice looking tray.  Just add handles.  These handles are not attached, just sitting here for effect.

Use the clear E6000+Plus Multipurpose Adhesive to attach your birthday leaves.  

Did you notice, I left plenty of space around the tree for any additions to the family.

I don’t know if your tree is as lopsided as mine, but the bottom right corner of my tree has one October birthday, one November and 6 December birthdays.

If you don’t need birthday reminders this setup would make a great family tree.

Until next time, stay inspired.