National Park Map Canvas Prints

While antiquing with my daughter one day, we came across some old maps.  I loved this one of the National Parks.

On the back of this United States map was maps of the individual National Parks.  They were REALLY neat and I instantly knew that I wanted to put them on canvas.  I bought a bunch of these gold & silver canvases from Michael's when they were on sale for 70% off, then I used a coupon on top of that.  The 4-pack cost $2.29.

I used the silver ones. I started by painting the backs with an ivory acrylic paint because I wanted all of the silver covered.

Because the map was going to be centered on the canvas, I only painted a strip around the front of the canvas.

To give it a little character and an aged look, I went around the edges with brown ink.

I tore all the individual maps apart which was very easy to do because of the creases.

And because I am still totally in love with my vintage paper trimmer that I bought at The Junk Ranch Country Barn Sale in Prairie Grove, AR, I use it as much as possible!  To give the edges a worn look, I tore them with the paper trimmer.

Next, I used trusty 'ol Mod Podge as a glue to adhere the map to the canvas.

Then another coat of Mod Podge on top to seal the map.

These were a lot of fun to make, I really enjoyed creating them!  I made 11 of them in one afternoon.  And here are a couple in my booth at Homeward Bound in Claremore, OK.

It's been great fun to be back to creating again!  I'm grateful that I have a little more extra time now to do something I love to do.  Getting paid for it is even better.  =]  

Thanks for stopping by friends!  I'm still reading through my blog roll, trying to catch up with you all.  I have missed out on so much and have missed YOU!

Have a delightful week~

Turquoise & Burlap Vases

Hi friends!  Funny thing happened... the next day after my last post, my laptop died.  No saving it but it was time for it to go.  I was so disappointed though because I was ready to get back to blogging.  It's really, really hard to blog on a cell phone so another break from blogging was my only option.  I have a new laptop (thanks sweet hubby!) and back in business again.

I've been doing a little upcycling on some pieces for my booth.  I had a couple of left over vases from a garage sale that I had awhile back.  So I decided to pretty them up rather than send them off to goodwill.  Here is the before:

Turquoise and burlap are popular right now so I added a touch of each to create this:

Another before:

The after (which already sold, I was surprised at how quick it went):

The kids went back to school last week.  It's time to finally do some deep cleaning around the home as it's been put off for a couple of years.  But the best part of all is that I'm back to creating and blogging.  I'm grateful for the time I had to focus on my family and thankful to be back doing what I love so much!  Thanks for stopping by, have a delightful week~