Birds and Trees Painting on Stained Wood

This bird and trees painting was made with my other piece of scrap plywood kicking around in the garage.  The fall sign below was the after thought of the birds and trees painting.   I create both with the idea of placing them together on the mantel for fall, but after finishing the birds & trees painting, I decided it can stand alone.

I used Martha Stewart Wood Stain for both boards.  I really love this product and used it on my wooden growth chart, as well.

After the stain dried (probably 30 minutes), I taped off the trees using Frog Tape.  Not every empty space was being painted, so I labeled "tree" with arrows in both directions to keep things straight.

Using an Xacto Knife, I trimmed the green tape to create branches and then painted the trees with white acrylic paint.

Then I repeated the taping and trimming to add more trees.  I didn't end up liking the stark white trees against the dark stain, so I started sanding down the white to create more depth in the trees and more of an aged look.

Next, I made 3 tiny bird templates and cut several birds out of scrapbook paper.  After placing the birds, I gave them a coat of matte decoupage and then coated the entire board with the matte decoupage.

The painting turned out better than I had envisioned.  I know it's my mom, but when she saw it, she called it "spectacular".

I have a thing for birds and trees (my daughter's bedroom).  My parents called me "bird" as a kid.

There is a wall in my entry calling for this piece.  I painted the accent wall a new color over the weekend and now have touch ups on the surrounding walls.  There's something about fall that brings on my desire to tackle the home improvement projects indexed in my mind.