Knowledge Is My Treasure...Map

My husband is an Economist at the International Monetary Fund. He has always loved to travel and learn all about other countries, and with this job he gets to travel a lot!  Any time he sees a map, he stops and looks to see where he's been and where he'd like to visit in the future.  He's a little obsessed with geography!

For our Anniversary this year, I got him a large map of the world.  It was pretty basic (and pretty cheap from AllPosters.com for only $8) so I told him that I would transform it into something really meaningful for him.  Here's the steps I took to transform it from Blah to Beautiful:

First, I was super lucky to find this extra large cork board at a yard sale for only $2.00!

Next, I sized up the store-bought map to the cork board and did a little trimming:

I decoupaged the map onto the cork board which gave it a bit of a wrinkly quality (a pleasant surprise).  Next, I printed out some sea-fairing images and the words, "Knowledge Is My Treasure" in all of the languages my husband speaks (Mr. Smarty Pants).  I decoupaged all of this around the map.

Next, I went decoupage wild!  I did one all-over layer of decoupage, then a white-wash made from 1 part white craft paint and 1 part water, then another layer of decoupage.  On the frame, I used white with some metallic pearl craft paint.

Finally, I glued some jewels from yard sale costume jewelry onto some silver push pins.  Aren't they beautiful pieces of "treasure?"

Now the fun part!   My husband and I hung the Treasure Map onto the wall and he had great fun poking the jewels into all of the places he's been.  

We now have a living work of art that changes with each voyage and serves as a great conversation piece.   

The Fake-It Yourself Breakdown:

Knowledge Is My Treasure Map (Map $8, Cork Board $2, Costume Jewelry $5, Push Pins $1)

Total Fake-It Cost:  $16.00

Luggage Pros Personalized Travel Tracking Map (Map $150, Pins $6.99)

Total Fake-It Yourself Savings $140.99