House in Progress: Feelin' Woodsy

I've mentioned before that no image fills me with joy quite like that of a barren tree set in a stark, wintry landscape (I know, I know -- my sunny nature is infectious).

And now I've discovered the perfect complement to my growing collection of tree art: Mats made from Egyptian papyrus, which looks just like tree bark.

I discovered the paper at my local art-supply store, where it's sold in sheets of various sizes for a few bucks apiece. When I got it home, I simply cut the paper to fit a set of frames I had laying around (they were purchased from Aaron Bros. during one of their regular 1-cent sales). Then I laid the carefully trimmed tree images right on top, slipped the paper-backed images into the frames, and hung the grouping in our family room.

I love how easy it was, and how the matting material perfectly fits in with the theme of the art while adding rich color and great texture to the vignette.

Next up for the bark-mat treatment: My vintage tree photos from the Alameda Antiques Faire.

Since I had some paper left over, I got my Martha on and wrapped it around a cylindrical vase, securing it with a bit of raffia. Next time I hit the florist or farmer's market, I'll pick up some berry-laden branches or richly hued fall blooms to pop in for a cool autumnal arrangement.

A few other ideas: You could wrap the paper around some glass votive holders to add to the candles' warm glow, spray-glue it around a boring old lampshade for a textural new look, or layer the paper under a piece of glass on a tabletop for an interesting faux bois treatment.

You can find the paper for $2.40 to $8.70 per sheet right here.