November 25, 2014

DIY room decor | canvas map

What?! I'm doing a DIY? Yes! It was annoying but I persevered! ;)

I found this idea on Pinterest one day, and here I am, some time later, finally getting around to it!

SUPPLIES: (for this particular sized project) 
31" by 50" lamented map (mine was much bigger and now I'm missing Hawaii and part of New Zealand. Probably something else, too.) I got mine for $10.00 at Hobby Lobby.
canvases - ten 8x10's and two 16x20's I got mine for $40.00 total off of Amazon.
glue I used Elmer's Spray Adhesive, around $5.00 at WalMart. Any kind of glue would work though.
Mod Podge WalMart. No idea how much it cost. I used the matte finish, because I prefer everything to be matte.
spray paint $5.00 at WalMart? Less if you don't get a metallic.
scissors and a pencil or pen You really should have these somewhere in your house. 

step 1
I laid the map down and placed the canvases on top in the pattern I liked, which also happened to be the same as the instructions I was going by because I didn't feel like being a free thinker that day.


step 2
I traced around the canvases, and then took them outside and spray painted the edges. This is an optional step, but I felt like it would help the map look more like it actually belonged on the canvas.



step 3
While the canvases dried, I went back inside and cut out my map pieces. If you try this project, I suggest tracing your canvases in red ink or a color that will stand out. I used black and I couldn't tell if I was cutting along the right line. It was while cutting out these map pieces that I remembered why I don't like doing things myself. (If you were curious about the exact time that happened, because it was inevitable that it was coming. ;))

 This is officially taking me way too long. (We're about 30 minutes in by now.) 

step 4
I sprayed the glue on the canvases, and then added the map pieces.  



I let them sit for an hour upside down so that they would stick better. Side note - they still didn't stick all that well, but it's good enough and since I'm missing Hawaii anyway I'm not going to fix it yet. I'll eventually tear this map off and replace it with the correct size. Maybe.




step 5
I trimmed the edges of the map that were bigger than the canvas because I couldn't follow my own lines. Then I brushed Mod Podge over the top. I think I was supposed to let it dry and put on a second coat, but I just did one because it was kind of bubbling up where the map wasn't sticking to the canvas and I didn't feel like it.



The mod podge is a little streaky, but the great thing about DIY's is that you get to decide what it is. This started out as a cool piece of art and now it's a faux vintage rustic canvas map.

DONE!
my map with my mom's foot :)
I'm excited to hang this on the wall! I've got a few more DIY's to do and I'm hoping to share all of them and then the finished product!

And now it's nearly midnight and I have a lot to do tomorrow. Working this blog into my schedule is a little harder than I thought, but I always enjoy taking the time to share pieces of my life. I hope that even though this was a pretty rushed post it was still helpful and/or made sense! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving - I know I'm planning on it! See you soon...







November 17, 2014

an update

When it rains, it seems the world takes on a somber hue.
My soul is hushed, I lift my pen, and write a song for you.
-Robin Jones Gunn

First of all, my apologies to those faithful readers who keep on checking this blog even though it's been nearly two months since I've updated it. Trust me, I'm more sad about it than you are!

I follow blogs that put me to shame - people who have full time jobs, families, etc., and still manage to keep up a two to three post per week schedule. I've accepted that when it comes to weekly or monthly recaps, I'm a failure. I do pretty good for a little while but then other things take priority and I eventually forget all about it.

The poem above has always been a favorite of mine, because I simply find it very difficult to focus on writing when my mind is full of life's happenings and things I have to get done. The end of this summer and all of fall has been crazy at our house. With construction and meetings and people coming over, writing just didn't happen. My soul wasn't hushed, my mind was chaos. And so, this blog was pushed so far to the back burner it was washed and put away.

But I want to break it out again. Our missions conference is in three weeks. Between now and then, here is my to-do list:

design, edit, print, fold, and mail the newsletter for December
design, edit, print, and put together missionary booklets
all of the above preparation for "passports" for the children at missions conference
3 different Thanksgiving celebrations
2 houses to help decorate for Christmas
a house to help finish "moving in" to
book hotel rooms for a quick trip to Pigeon Forge
pillow cases to sew
a map to put on canvases
Write the annual Christmas poem for the cards we send out
Christmas shoping
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That isn't even all, but even if it were complete, it is barely a fourth of what most of you have going on! I'm determined to schedule time for this blog because I know I can, because I love this space on the web, and because I love sharing things with people. I love that my blog isn't tied down to one category, that I can share just pictures, a recipe, or something I've written from deep in my heart, and it all "fits" on here. I'll try my best to make it a little more of a priority! Pretty soon, I will "write a song for you".

Quick update...

Our house is nearly complete! We've entered the stage that's half frustrating, half fun - moving back in and decorating! Fun because we're making it home again, frustrating because there's more room for some things, but hard sometimes to find good spots for the old decor. When it's finished, I will put pictures on here, but for now, I still need a little more time!

My nephews and niece are doing well. Lena Rae has entered a very fun stage - trying to stand and copy our words, Tanner still turns my heart into a puddle, Jackson is still our quiet, studious boy, and Jace's head reaches my waist and he's started school!

It snowed this morning, and I loved it. I've had a bad, grumpy attitude about winter. Brrrr.....give me 90 degrees any day! But snow, along with rain, brings that "hush" I was talking about earlier. It rained all day yesterday, and we had fluffy snowflakes falling this morning. The festive spirit has entered me and I'm just biding my time until Thanksgiving when we pull out all the Christmas stuff!!

Today was spent breaking out the Missions Conference files and getting ready for that. It will consume the next three weeks of my life but I LOVE it! Tonight is the first basketball game of the season, and right after the game is our weekly Bible Foundations class...which I still have to study for! Winter activities are here, and the rain and snow were just exactly what my soul needed to get in the mood!

I hope each of you has had a wonderful beginning to this season, and I'll see you soon! Thank you for staying with me. :)