About 10 years ago, my church hosted a Ladies Retreat in Colorado. It was a great weekend of fellowship and praise and worship. Nestled in the Rocky Mountains near Breckenridge the home we stayed in was gorgeous as were the views all around us. I took a lot away from that weekend both spiritually and mentally. I evidently took away some crafty ideas as well…
As I mentioned, the house was gorgeous and very comfortable. One of the many things I loved about it was a wall upstairs. It was what I call a ‘travel wall’ and it was covered in photos of the family that owned the home in various places they had traveled. They were all framed in thin, black 4 X 6 frames and arranged in a wave shape. It was just such a cool way to display a lot of photos in a fairly small space. I’ve thought about that wall quite often over the years and thought I’d like to do something similar one day.
Our family has been blessed to be able to travel and visit some great places and sometimes we even took decent photos while we were there. Several of them have been used for our Christmas cards or in our Christmas letter. When we moved into this house two and a half years ago, I hung my kid’s senior portraits in my hallway because they worked there very well. But, honestly, I really wanted to do something different, I just wasn’t sure what. I mean, my youngest graduated from high school nine years ago! Both of them were perfectly happy for me to take them down.
In January, I was cleaning out a box from my storage room and came across a couple of small posters from our RV days when we visited the Grand Canyon. And then a post card from Woodstock. I thought, “I wish I had a place to hang these” but I don’t really have a lot of wall space in this house and what I have was full. Later that day, I was walking down the hallway and the light bulb went off. I could retire those senior portraits and hang my travel photos!
I spent a few weeks collecting photos and memorabilia and then went to work on a layout. It took me much longer than it should have before I had something I liked. I also knew I wanted to put some sort of ‘title’ on the wall somehow but wasn’t sure how. When we visited Breckenridge earlier this year (ironic that we were back there when I got another idea for this wall!), I saw a frame that held several photos and said, “OH, the places we’ve been!”. I knew that was what I wanted my wall to say, but I wasn’t sure exactly how to do it. I tried several things…a sweet friend even painted a canvas for me, but nothing I hung there ‘fit’. I left a blank space there for quite a while, and then, last month, I was talking to a friend about it and she said I should use a map somehow and another light bulb went off. I knew exactly what I needed and how to do it. And, best of all, I had all of the supplies already.
I am somewhat of a pack rat-I come from a long line of pack rats-and tend to hold onto things although I have gotten much better about letting things go. When I get excited about a new hobby or project, I will purchase everything I could possibly need for a it and then either don’t use it all or end up not doing the project, so I have lots of odd and various things tucked away ‘to be used at some point’. Anyone else do this? One of the things I had filed away was an US Road Map that I had purchased at a thrift store for a quarter. I frequent thrift stores often and find the coolest stuff! It was perfect for this project!
I took a matching frame in the size I needed and wrapped the cardboard insert with the map. I cut the letters out using my Silhouette and then glued them down. Then I put the cardboard back in the frame and hung it. It was the finishing touch to my wall and I love it! And, sooooo easy to do! If we ever get to travel again, I still have a little room to add a few pictures along the bottom or on the opposite wall.
We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us. Anonymous
Gathering Goat Feathers 