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Over the months, my son had built up quite a collection of train tracks but then for some reason suddenly lost interest in them! For a long time, they stayed packed away in our storage bedroom.
The idea of placing train tracks on a wall was inspired by two photos I had seen on Pinterest. The first being a photo from MOMMO DESIGN. Originally I had wanted to create a tree out of MDF wood and used it as a bookshelf, but scrapped the idea when I realised it would require a lot of work and planning. This is what I ended up with!
Materials used to make this Track Tree:
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- Blu-tack or you can even use command strips
- 3 x IKEA LILLABO train tracks. You can also browse places like eBay, by searching ‘wooden train tracks‘ if you are looking for certain parts that you don’t have
- Wooden alphabet letters. I actually bought mine as a set from a UK supplier on eBay, but he no longer sells them. However, a similar set can be found on Amazon here.
- Assorted decoupage paper, acrylic paint, and fabric remnants to decorate letters
- Modpodge glue
How to:
These are the four main tracks I used to create the tree shape. As long as you have a variety of these 4 pieces, it’s all plain sailing from here.
- Bridge tracks
- Straight tracks
- Connecting Point tracks
- Curved tracks
First I attached the blu- tack to the back of the tracks. Starting from the floor skirting board, I worked my way up the wall using the ‘straight’ tracks – making sure to place three tracks close to each other to create the thickness of the tree ‘bark’.
I kept going with the ‘straight’ looking tracks up the wall until I reached the height I wanted. When I got to the middle I then added the bridge tracks to the middle of the bark to allow the tree to branch out
I then started to use the ‘curved tracks’ to create the effect of branches. This can be designed any way you want but I stuck with the rule: one track facing inwards and the next track facing outward.
I used the tracks with two connecting points to make even more branches from one line of tracks. I had a go at this tree three times before I was happy with the end results. The first tree looked like this…
Here are the alphabet letters that I bought as a set, off eBay (you can find similar ones here)– I decorated them with fabric, paint, and decoupage paper. I had a helping hand from my friend with this part. We used the Mod Podge glue to stick it all down and also used it as a sealant to protect the letters. It took quite a while to decorate all the letters, so I’d suggest buying ready-decorated letters if you want to save time.
The last step involved arranging all the letters around the tree. I managed to place the whole alphabet around the tree in four rows. I needed it to have some sort of order to it so my son would be able to engage and learn from it.
Again I used blu- tack here to stick the letters to the wall. I did originally plan to use nails to keep everything in place, however, the blu-tack worked really well so I decided to leave it like that.
What do you think? Be sure to leave me a comment below – I love hearing your thoughts! Also apologies for the crappy photos, I had just figured out how to use my cheap camera phone at the time haha!
DIY IKEA PAX DRAWER TO UNDER BED STORAGE BOX
FROM CRIB TO KIDS READING BENCH
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Do you have an approximate size of this? Trying to figure out which wall to put this on?
This is an amazing idea. Wonderful job! I wish I had read this before I donated all my son’s train tracks.
Thanks Patricia! It was so fun to make 🙂
This is awesome! Such a clever idea and you it looks wonderful in the room.
I love this, Medina! It also reminds me of the alphabet story “Chicka Chicka Boom Boom”. The theme is wonderful. Very creative!!!
Wow this is absolutely fabulous. It looks incredible! X
Wow this is absolutely fabulous, would never have thought this idea, looks amazing.
Hugs Erin xx
Wow this is fantastic love it what a lucky child you have loved the picket fence there too xx
What a wonderful idea! I love this! Perfect for decorating a kids room 🙂
http://www.ikiwn.com
Wow this is so creative, and I love it. I would not have the imagination to think of this, amazing job hun xx