Hey everyone! Today I want to let you know about a fun project I completed more in the "arts & crafts" arena! It seems like every relatively simple idea I think of turns into a long, dramatic, timely project that requires way more effort on my part compared to the average person! Sometimes I wonder if I WANT things to be more difficult :) I believe it's just that I have a certain vision in my head and so I go to great lengths to make it happen. For example, when high school prom rolled around every year, it was always a huge family ordeal. My dad would always say, after hours of shopping trips, "Natalie, your dream prom dress only exists in your head! Not at any store!" Anyways, my point is that I love so many attributes from different things that I often times want to blend them all together and make it my own. This results in one project having way too many qualifications. And that is what happened with a simple framed map I wanted to hang in our hallway...
Ahh yes...there she is all complete! But there were many specifications I created along the way:
1. It had to be the right kind of map. Do you have any idea how many kinds of maps you can purchase out there!? Sometimes there are just TOO many options! After much debate, I chose this United States map from allposters.com. I believe it is from the 1930s but the colors were perfect for what I was envisioning. Not too "elementary school" map but not too ancient looking aka- "I'm hanging in the office of an older business man close to retirement, right above the ginormous mahogany desk, circa 60 years ago" . It's the perfect mix of aqua blue and vintage flair while still including all of the cities accurately. I also wanted the "land" part of the map to be light enough so that the pins would show up well!
2. It had to be the right frame. And boy do I love it!! This frame beats any regular poster frame I've ever seen! I've been eyeing the Cut It Out frames online for a while now amidst their growing popularity via Pinterest and I finally found a reason to buy a BIG one! The size I ordered is 20x30 and then I trimmed the map down a little to fit. Here is where I purchased the frame: http://www.cutitoutalready.com/index.php I ordered the Balboa shape! Sidenote: the man I spoke to on the phone about my order from their store in Utah was extremely nice and got my frame to my house right in time for a party we were having! Great customer service!
The frame came in natural wood so you can paint them any color you like! I knew white was my favorite look and would match the map the best so I used a free quart of white paint I picked up months ago at Ace Hardware when they had a free paint day!
It took 2 coats to get good solid coverage and then I went over the frame with a paint roller to remove all the paint brush strokes I could see. Can't stand that! Brush strokes make my eyes bleed!
Once the frame was all ready to go, I still needed to get the map ready. The frame came with a cardboard insert so I decided to use this as my base for hot gluing the corkboard squares and map. With the cork on the back, all of the push pins of "where we've been" will stay put! The frames do not come with glass so the paper map needed to be attached to something sturdy to stay in the frame.
**Insert photo of back of map
And there you have it! I cannot tell you how much fun I had pinning all of our travels! (we clearly need to explore outside of the Midwest but hey!) It's not even that many pins but it's so fun to reminisce about all the memories made in different places. Dan and I just stand in the hallway sometimes and look at the map, haha! It's also fun to walk by and dream about your next trip too!
There were also 2 additional items I debated on with this project. I know! Can you even stand it! Like...just buy a map and put some pins in...pick up a frame at Michael's and DONE! But NOOO :)
1. United States or World Map? I decided to go with the United States map (obviously) because, honestly, I love the shape of our country and how it looks on the wall! And secondly, we hadn't really been anywhere outside of the country (besides Mexico on our honeymoon) and didn't have big plans to do so. But then, of course, after everything had been purchased for this project, Dan gets a new job that takes him to China, Aruba, possibly the UK, maybe France later on and we both take a trip to Canada! Hahaha! Go figure! So if our international adventures become more frequent, I guess I'll need to make a little switcheroo with the map :)
2. What should we pin? Right now, the map only reflects places Dan and I have traveled together. Guess what? I was picky about the push pins too! Not too small, not too long, not too skinny, not a certain color, good grief! I ended up finding the perfect ones at Target, if anyone is interested. I think maybe I'll start to pin all of the places we've each been separately as well in different color codes. We'll see!
I just love maps! Dan loves them for practical, useful reasons of getting from one place to another efficiently and safely. I love them because they help me see the bigger picture of where we are and what else is out there! Dreamer vs. Realist = The Story of Us :)
Anyone else have a project they thought would be simple but then took forever due to your own personal perfectionist demons!? :)
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