Monday, June 13, 2011

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


Total Fake-It Yourself Savings $140.99

16 comments:

  1. It's a great idea. I'm sure your husband loves it all the more since it's now personalized. I'm a little obsessed with geography too. :)

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  2. What a great idea!! Love it!!! You really are a wealth of frugal knowledge... happy I found your blog!!! Keep the ideas coming!!!

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  3. Hi, I saw your map on Make it Monday - great project, love the idea and the way you went about it!

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  4. This is a great project! Love the fact that you saw something and were able to "fake it" so perfectly! I am stopping by from the Make It Monday Linky Party, I've linked up too.
    Hugs, antonella :-)

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  5. Great project,What a lovely 'together' project.
    Thanks for sharing with us at ‘Make it Monday’

    Luv CHRISSYxx

    Don’t forget. .if you leave a comment on another entrant, mention that you saw their card on ‘Make it Monday’ for a chance at second prize.. the more you comment on and mention MIM, the more chances at winning second prize.

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  6. I am hopping from MIM..
    Lovely idea, and I am sure everyone who visits will love to talk about it...
    Good luck in the challenge x

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  7. I love the jewel tacks! I'm working on doing a similar kind of map--something to record travels on. I have a giant bulletin board I was thinking of of painting a U.S. map right on top of. Maybe I will decoupage a map instead . . . thinking about that one.

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  8. How creative are you?!! Must be so satisfying to know that this is definitely an original piece of art....love what you did! Popped over from Make it Monday...so glad I did!

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  9. Awesome! We have been talking about putting a map above our computer forever, but I wasn't sure where to get a decent sized map for a decent sized price. Thanks so much for the info. It looks great!

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  10. What a great idea. It is beautiful and will become such a treasure.

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  11. How thoughtful you are! It turned out great, and is a great idea!

    -Hannah

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  12. This is such a great idea! I would love to make one of these! You've given us something to think about! Thanks! ♥

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  13. What a great idea... good to see he has visited down under!

    Thanks for sharing your creation with Make It Monday.
    Don't forget......... if you leave a comment on another entry, mention that you saw their card on "Make It Monday" for a chance at second prize. The more entries you comment on the more chance you have of winning second prize.

    ReplyDelete

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