$5 DIY Wedding or Anniversary Gift

So my mom's birthday is this month and I wanted to make something really special and unique for her.  After seeing this "Love Map" on Pinterest, I decided to do something similar.  

My wonderful mama was remarried on 7-3-04 and they currently live on a ranch near Waco, TX.  The original idea was to include the cities where the couple met, married, and currently live.  Since my mom and step-dad met and married in Indianapolis, I thought it would be less interesting.  So instead, I decided to include the dates and location of their births.  So my variation shows my step-dad's birthdate and location - Indianapolis, IN; my mom's birthdate and location - Buffalo, NY; and their wedding date and location - Waco, TX.  I quite like the way it turned out :)  Ok, so here's how I did it:

I found this frame at Goodwill for $3

Nice, huh? I saw the potential!  I removed the ugly lovely pictures and the matting and used the cardboard "filler" behind it as my base.  I covered the cardboard with a few pieces of scrapbook paper like this:

Once that was done, I used my Silhouette Cameo to create the states and the dates on adhesive vinyl and stuck it all on there.  If you don't have a Silhouette or a similar die cutting machine, you could easily do this with an exacto or even just a pair of scissors.  

After I had all the pieces on, I decided it needed more of a separation between the colors so I just glued a piece of white yarn between the different colors.  Sorry, I didn't take a picture of this step.  Hey, I'm new at this! :)  Here's the back where you can see the yarn taped to the back

I spray painted the frame with Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze.  And ended up with the final product!  

Total cost was about $5 for the frame, spray paint, scrapbook paper, and adhesive vinyl.  Not bad!  I can't wait to send it to my mom in Texas!  I'd love to know what you think or if you create your own, I'd love to see it!  Happy creating, friends!

Melissa

Welcome to my first ever blog post!

Oh my.  I have a blog....  Hah!  Ok, focus Melissa.

I come from a long line of artists.  My grandmother did beautiful watercolor portraits.  My dad is a successful cartoonist who works for Jim Davis - the creator of Garfield - and animates much of what you see at www.garfield.com (go check it out!).  My mom is a "visionary" and makes some wonderful and creative scrapbooks, has beautiful gardens, is a talented photographer, and can decorate a home beautifully.
My brother is talented in just about any type of 3-D art and has become a wonderful glass artist.  He creates some of the most beautiful hand blown glass I have ever seen.  Here is one of his pieces:

Unfortunately very little of that talent was passed to me.  I have always been creative, so here I am, channeling my creativity!  I have always loved to create "something out of nothing," and love to scour thrift stores and see what treasures I can make from other peoples' junk.

And then came Pinterest!  All of a sudden there were millions upon millions of ideas at my fingertips.  To say I was greatly inspired would be an understatement.  After pinning gazillions of these ideas and inspirations, I finally decided to start creating... and I haven't stopped!  Now I'd like to try to inspire others as I have been inspired.  Having one-of-a-kind items in your home, created by YOU, is such an amazing feeling.  I hope to inspire you and I hope that I can be inspired by you too!