This is a scan of a hacienda cardboard tree that you may copy to replace missing ones. You should be able to print this file. Installation article to follow

As you can see above I scanned the back of a cardboard tree that is used occasionally on a few haciendas and created a pdf file of it everyone can print off and use. In doing so you may need to click on "FIT" rather than "Actual" to get it to print all of the tree on the page. I did this and the tree was the same as it should be at about 2 1/4" tall. This is not all that hard to do but a bit tedious. First print off the tree from the pdf file. It should be the exact size you need. Then cut out and paste to a piece of cardboard. When dry cut out with a hobby knife. I use a pointed one. The first photo shows the tree we are making. Notice that it has glitter UNDER the blue-green water color paint. I used two different grits of glitter. Next photo shows the cutting process and the third shows the tree cut out. THIS IS THE REVERSE SIDE SO BE SURE AND TURN IT OVER FOR THE PROPER EXPOSED SIDE. I painted over this side as mine began to warp badly and that straightened it out. The reason this project got started is the tree on the house was badly warped and I wanted to iron it flat.

Continuing this project with painting and glittering the tree. First Photo is the painting of the side we just reversed - the cardboard side not the paper side. Notice the plastic cap from a pill bottle - this is a bottle of mixed up paint I use and these snap caps keep it in good shape for a long period of time. It is Latex wall paint and tinted with a little yellow or brown in it to match older paint jobs. Photo two, Then I used some very fine German glass glitter and in photo 3 I found some old larger glitter as the tree had the larger size. You can also get it new.

Continuing. This first photo I used the blue and green and mixed them in the cover to get the right shade. It allows some of the glitter to show through. The next photo shows the bit of luffah sponge I put above the branches (trunk) as I didn't know when I got this what went there. The last photo shows the completed project. Notice the Princes Pine (Lycopodium) that was used in the firecracker type "urns". The other large hacienda has this rare feature as well. The little Santa is one I made by hand. Tom

Tom, thanks for posting all the photos and steps. The pdf file worked for me - the tree on my printout was 2 1/4" high.

Great Tutorial Tom! Im lucky to have one of these trees on an original, and I LOVE how different they are from every other tree out there and the fact that they just painted the trunk of the tree onto the house.
Thanks for showing us how to get the texture right too, I keep wanting to buy some glass glitter to experiment with. Might have to use this as a reason to do a repro Hacienda in the future.
-Brian

tom...

ordinary water colors!...(where have i been?...sleeping, i guess)...going to try on some mica flakes too...

thanks for the tip!...i had used an acrylic wash before...but results were a little harsh...the transparency of water colors is perfect!...

my very best regards...howard...

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Has anyone else tried printing this out? Tom

Tom, I printed it off, mine came out 2 1/4 tall too, by 1 1/2 wide. I measured the width on the widest two branches 1 up from the bottom.
Thanks
-Brian