Some interesting framed ducks.

Remember how I kept talking about this anniversary project I was working on for D?  Well I unveiled it for him the weekend we went on our anniversary trip. Traveling is my favorite thing ever to do.  And I especially love traveling with D.  We have the best memories from places we've been together.  His wedding vows even mentioned the Mediterranean Sea (which...I still have both of our hand-written wedding vows and plan to eventually do something with those).  Also, have I ever told you how his vows blew mine out of the water...he's the best.  But I digress.  Europe will hold the specialist of places in my heart.  Simple camping trips make us happy.  In the scheme of things, we haven't been that many places.  I decided to do something using vintage maps.

My initial idea came from my friend Brittney's blog where she wrote about gifted art and a cool map she made for her husband.  Brittney linked to this post at Young House Love that mentioned this project:

Above, Sherry actually used corkboard as a back and pinned the map in place.  I went with this idea and ran.  I loved the idea of a vintage map.  I love the idea of using that as art.  I love the ability to track where we go and the places we see.  It seemed perfect.  I wanted more though.  Our international travel has been where some of our best memories have happened.  What do I frame?  Which type of map?  And so the challenge began...I would find a vintage map of each continent.

I still wanted a super old US map.  After scouring ebay and etsy for weeks (and waiting until payday), I scored a 9x14 (I think) 1914 US map, which I had to fight a bit for on ebay.  On etsy, I found a North America vintage map, South America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia, and Africa.  Count 'em...8 maps.  I couldn't afford to go out and buy new frames and cork (which by the way is EXPENSIVE).  And so the thrift search began...

[Scored this LARGE guy at my fav thrift store.  I figured it would fit the US map perfectly with the cork and a possible mat.]

[Oh and I scored this beauty inside the monster frame :)  That frame was around $5]

[Don't you wonder how someone ended up with this in the first place?  Good size for my smaller maps.  Also scored from my fav thrift store]

[Another "what were they thinking?"]

Unlike the Young House Love map, I was going for a bit more "rustic," vintage looking frames.  I could always reframe in the future if we wanted to go more modern.  Unfortunately all I could find when checking all my local thrift stores was  those three decent frames.  Others just didn't mesh well (think brushed gold) or just weren't big enough.  

Since I am getting all text happy on you, I'll be back tomorrow to give you a continuation of the project.