Art to Honor My Brother

Operation Home Blog
by Operation Home Blog
10 Minutes
Easy
After I lost my brother, Alex, in Afghanistan last November, I wanted to create art for our home in his honor. It had to be special and memorable, but not totally in-your-face. I made a few simple additions to our frame wall (details for that in my blog post), along with some art created with an old Rubik's cube that he'd discovered in his barrack. Apparently, he'd played with it non-stop after he'd found it. It was returned to us by one of his teammates, along with the rest of his things.
I decided that I wanted to somehow mount the Rubik's cube and hang it on the wall in our son, Lucas's room. My light bulb moment came when I found this Melissa & Doug tray in Lucas's closet that had come with his modeling clay set...
I simply painted the back green to coordinate with Lucas's room and attached picture hanging hardware to the back of the tray. I wanted the blue side of the Rubik's cube that Alex had completed in front, since I figured he'd be proud of that. I threaded floral wire through the Rubik's cube accordingly to make that happen...
...and secured the wire through four holes I'd drilled in the back of the tray...
Then, I simply hung Alex's art on the wall above Lucas's nightstand...
I think out of all of the DIYs and crafty projects I've done, this is my favorite and the one I'm most proud of. I think Alex would've liked it, too...
It adds the perfect amount of color and sentiment to Lucas's room. I love that there's something of his in there. Something that we can remember him by, but that isn't blatantly obvious to others who see it. It's like our little secret (that I've shared with the internet).
Operation Home Blog
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  • Jackie Prim Jackie Prim on Mar 30, 2016
    I think your brother was very lucky to have a loving sister like you. I am so sorry for your loss. I love what you did. Simple and touching.<3
  • Cindy Cindy on Mar 31, 2016
    So sorry about the loss of your brother. To his family, I say thank you for his service for his country. What you created was a perfect way to remember him.
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