The Train Track Alphabet Tree

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Hi everyone. My name is Medina Grillo, I am from Birmingham, Endland and I have a real passion for decorating on a budget. Growing up in different parts of the world, has given me a good appreciation for different design styles and culture. My 2 year old son also inspires the themes behind most of my work. He doesn't enjoy your conventional toys and games so I am usually forced to think out of the box when it comes to keeping him entertained or designing his playroom.

I wanted to create something different and one of a kind. I thought about designing a tree using MDF wood after being inspired by something I had seen done on eBay. I decided that it would probably cost me a fortune as I would have needed a carpenter to install it all!

I considered the idea of creating a tree out of floating shelves (an idea I will definitely pursue in the future) but didn't have the funds to buy the amount of shelves I would need at that time so that was a no no too.

It came to me when I was packing away my sons track tree one night, that I could use his train tracks to create a tree! I couldn't sleep all night after that. I couldn't wait to try it out!

What I used:

Blue tack
Ikea train track pieces
Wooden alphabet letters
Modpodge glue
Assorted fabric and decoupage paper.

How I did it:

1. I stuck blue tack on each piece of the track. I decided to go with three lines of the train track to give the amount of thickness to the tree trunk.

2. Work the straight looking tracks up the wall to whatever height you want. Once I got to the middle I then added the bridge tracks.

3. I then started to use the curved tracks to create branches. This can be designed anyway you want but I stuck with the rule : one track facing inwards and the next track facing outward.

4. Use the split tracks to make even more branches from one line of tracks.

My first tree looked like this...

In the beginning I used it to display my sons pictures and artwork. However I wanted to make the tree a little more interactive, so I decide to add the alphabet to it which I thought would be appropriate to our playroom design.

Alphabet Letters:

I covered each letter in assorted fabric colours and sealed with modpodge glue. I painted some letters as well. This part probably took the longest time (even with help from one of my friends). If you want

to save time you could probably buy Letters already decorated or even use alphabet wall stickers.

5. I then arranged these letters around the tree as seen in the pictures , secured in place with blue tack. And I have to say the blue tack worked a treat. I had only originally planned to use the blue tack to help me decide where to place everything ( I intended to use my glue gun after ) , however it stuck so well to the wall I left it like that.