Vintage Window Family Tree

My cousin gave me a beautiful six-pane window from an old house.  I had been wanting to try doing something with an old window, so I was really excited.  After toying with a lot of ideas, I decided to make a family tree to hold old family photos on.  After sanding off all the the old paint that was flaking, I painted the frame (including the little pieces between the glass panes) with magnetic paint.  I had never used magnetic paint before, but it was simple and I liked the results.  The paint has metal shavings mixed into it, thus magnets will stick to whatever it is painted on.  I also painted the trunk and branches of my tree with magnetic paint.  After that dried, I painted over the magnetic paint with brown paint for the frame, and black for the tree.  I used a dry brush technique for the distressing (use hardly any paint on your brush at all, wiping most of it off before you touch your surface), and then I randomly added leaves.  I really love how it turned out, and I think the old window makes an awesome background for a family tree and photos!