The 1500 Tree Project

I’ve always had a “thing” for orphans and adoptions. I can’t quite understand why, but it’s always been there. When I was younger, I loved to write stories centered around orphans looking for their forever home, when I was in PA school one of my favorite rotations was in Adolescent Medicine because it allowed me to work in the city’s group home, and now that I am a mommy to three littles, I not-so-secretly hope that one day we can further expand our family through adoption.

To me, there is no better gift to give a child than Christmas mornings, birthday parties, endless hugs, sibling rivalry, and someone sitting in the audience at a school pageant.There’s just something about the idea of bringing a child into your home … a child that would otherwise never know the love of a family.

Several years ago, before I became a mommy myself and before I truly understood the love a mother could have for a child, one of my best friends adopted a little boy from Russia. I had come home from college for the summer and she stopped by my parents house with her new little boy (he was about two years old at the time). I don’t remember how it came up in conversation, but I remember her asking him “Mikey, where do babies come from?”

In the sweetest, softest voice he replied, “from the heart.”

Could anything be any more true than that statement?

Regardless of how they come to be in our lives, they become our babies through matters of the heart.

Okay, so you get it right? I have a think for adoptions.

A few weeks ago, through the ‘friends’ I have met through blogging, I came across a mommy’s Instagram page called The1500TreeProject. The picture captured the smiling face of the cutest little boy from Taiwan. His momma, creator of The 1500 Tree Project, was designing, creating and selling canvas artwork with proceeds being used to fund their second adoption.

Adoptions and crafts?

Consider me sold.

Within minutes I had scoured her Etsy page and purchased my favorite tree. I was in love with the idea that this new piece of artwork, that would hang on the wall of our new home, held such a wonderful meaning and carried with it so much love. (The fact that the colors matched our new home perfectly and was titled ‘Faith’ was just an added perk).

But buying one tree from The 1500 Tree Project, just didn’t seem like enough. I want to do more for this momma. And so, through the magic of the internet, I was able to ‘meet’ Angela and ask her a few questions about her family, their adoption and her project.

And so, without further ado, let me introduce you to Angela, creator of The 1500 Tree Project and my first Guest Blog Post:

We are a family of three, choosing adoption to become a family of four. My husband and I are high school sweethearts (awww) and we adopted our first son in 2012. Future Big Brother was born in Taiwan, and came into our arms when he was 6 1/2 months old. He is a fun-loving, high energy toddler now, and we are so happy to be adopting from Taiwan again!

Many people come to adoption after the heartbreak of infertility, but that is not our story. I have always had a passion for adoption and orphan care, a passion I shared with my husband when we became engaged. We always felt we would adopt “one day,” but when it came time to starting our family, we both thought…why not adopt first? God was tugging our hearts and we are so happy that we followed His lead! There are many children, in the United States, in Taiwan, and around the world, who are waiting for families.

We spent three beautiful weeks in Taiwan when we adopted our first son. We fell in love with our child, his country, and the orphanage we spent our time in. We knew, right then and there, that we wanted him to be a big brother, to a sibling who shared our family and his birth country. And so, we applied to adopt again, right there in Taiwan, and rejoined the waiting list! As most people know, international adoptions are expensive. There are fees associated with our applications, home study, legal documents, notarization, translations, background checks, fingerprinting, travel, visas, court costs, and more! And so, The 1500 Tree Project is our way to fund this big dream of ours.

1500 trees made.

1500 trees sold.

1 fully funded adoption.

As a nature lover and mama, I find inspiration from the world just outside our windows, and I try to capture it with a playful and artistic twist ( I love bright and happy colors!) Each tree has a name and personality, adding a bit of sweetness and spunk to any room. Personally, I appreciate the biblical symbolism of trees. “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes: its leaves are always green. It has not worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-8. But also, the strength and diversity of trees inspires me, so I try to capture that in each of my designs.

Each tree in The 1500 Tree Project is handmade with love, hope, and joy. We also use acid-free paper and adhesive. Each element of the artwork is cut by hand, and over 75 leaves are used in each tree. The finished project measures approximately 6 inches by 6 inches and has an estimated 90 minutes of love and attention poured into it. I use a 1.5 inch-thick gallery wrap canvas, so no frame is required. The piece arrives ready to be displayed on a wall, mantle, easel, or shelf. Each piece also receives a unique number on the back sharing the exciting news of where you fall in the journey.

Joy is the heartbeat of our shop and the passion behind everything we produce. The 1500 Tree Project is love, joy, hope, and family all wrapped up into one little tree.

The “Faith” tree is now in our home and I really hope you will consider adding Faith (or Sky, Honey, Scarlet, or Ariel) to your home and help give the gift of family to a little one in Taiwan.