World Map Wall Art

This weekend I took on the project of finding/creating something to hang over my couch in the living room. Inspired by HGTV and the thriftiness of the Young House Love bloggers, I set out to find an inexpensive way to decorate the empty wall. At first I tried to find a print to hang but did not get very far before I realized that was a bad idea. There are thousands of prints to look through and I didn't have any idea what I was even looking for in terms of colors, style, etc.

As I was thinking through the possibilities, I remembered the map that had previously hung in my bedroom. I changed the style of my bedroom in the new house and the map didn't quite fit in so it was just rolled up in the corner. I had toyed with the idea of cutting a print to fit three vertical frames and thought that same concept would be perfect for the map! Here's how I did it.

1. The Map

The map started as something very similar to this that I bought several years ago with an Barnes & Noble gift card.

2. Adding Age

I actually did this right after I bought the map. I wanted to try and make the map look aged and a friend suggested using brown paint. (We thought about staining it with tea but weren't sure if it would stain the brightly colored map dark enough for my taste.) By watering down the brown paint and using a light hand with the brush we were able to create the look I was going for at the time. It also happens to look great with my couch and pillows!

3. The Frames

After some internet searching, I discovered that A.C. Moore was having a 40% off sale on frames. I did a lot of browsing and comparing in the store but finally settled on the black frames. I was going for cheap (they were the cheapest they had!), but certainly could have created a different look with gold, pewter or other frames. After the 40% off, I ended up with all of my frames for around $25.

4. How many do I need?

Before going to the store, I laid the map on the floor and used a sheet of paper to estimate how many of each size frame I needed. I knew I wanted a couple of bigger frames (I used 11x14) and filled in the rest from there. As a bonus, they had different styles of frames so I picked up a few of each to create some more visual interest.

5. The Layout

When I got home with the frames I arranged them on top of the map before cutting anything. I knew that I wanted to try and include at least a piece of all of the continents and as many countries as I could so that helped determine placement. An 11x14 was the best choice to fit Asia so I purposely used the other 11x14 frame on the opposite corner to create some balance.

I also wanted it to be fairly geographically accurate so I took a picture of the layout on the floor before cutting the pieces to use as my guide when it came time for hanging.

6. The Cutting

I left the frames right where they were and traced around the outside edges with a pencil. After cutting these frame sized pieces, I used the frame inserts to cut smaller pieces that would fit inside of the frames.

7. The Hanging

Before cutting out the pieces, I measured the center of the total "structure" both horizontally and vertically. This fell inside the Africa frame, so that was the first frame that I hung. Then, by using my handy picture, I guesstimated the spacing for the frames going out from there. Asia was the last frame up as it was the only one with two hangers on the back. It would have been the most difficult to straighten if I didn't hang it right the first time, so I straightened and lined everything else up first before placing the last two nails.

And there you have it! For $25 and an afternoon I now have some great new art to fill the space above my couch. I also love that I used something that I already had in my house that was otherwise collecting dust. Before you go out and buy something, see what you have laying around the house! Get creative and you'll make something awesome and one of a kind!

Helllllllooooo tax credit

I'm closing on my house tomorrow! Closing is at noon, so I even have an excuse to take the whole day off of work. Here are some pictures...


I don't hate this blue, but I don't love it either. The thought of painting over a color that dark stresses me out so I was just going to leave it...but then I picked out the kitchen paint color and living room furniture and decided that blue does not go very well with either.

The living room is one of the two rooms in the house that I'm not going to paint. The other is the half bath. :)

I keep calling this color cantaloupe. I'm going to stay reddish-orangish in here, but more like rust and less like fruit.

Soon to become the office... we may not paint this room either. Amy will be the one in there every day so I told her if the color gets on her nerves then we can paint it. Yellow is definitely not my favorite wall color, but this is fairly light so I'm ok with leaving it for now.

I think this is the worst color in the whole house! I have a creative idea for this room so we'll see how it turns out.

My huge bathroom! And huge closet!

Mama and daddy are coming up the first week of May to help me work some on the house so I'll post progress pictures along the way. The current owners have two small children, so you haven't even seen the worst of it... the 2nd and 3rd bedrooms and the hall bathroom. We have a lot of work ahead of us... I'm glad they're coming to help!

Christmas cards!

I took Christmas card pictures today!  I had intended to take some with Nelson wearing an elf hat and some with me in them... that didn't quite happen.  Nelson was just so excited about the pup-peroni that I was using to bribe him that he barely would sit still!  I did manage to get him to stay next to the tree, so we're going with it.  :)

A Little About Me...

I stopped by Kroger tonight after small group to get some milk and dinner. $0.99 manager's special organic spring mix made my day. Hanson Mmm Bop playing over the speakers as I shopped made my week. :)

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF - The Survey
About Me
Name:	Joanna
Birthday:	10/02/82
Birthplace:	Morehead City
Current Location:	Raleigh, NC
Eye Color:	blue
Hair Color:	brown
Height:	5'7"
Right Handed or Left Handed:	I write right handed and do most other things left handed.
Your Heritage:	not sure
The Shoes You Wore Today:	black flip flops and then rainbows
Your Weakness:	friends
Your Fears:	falling from heights, lonliness
Your Perfect Pizza:	peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, feta cheese
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year:	lose weight!
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger:	haha
Thoughts First Waking Up:	snooze!
Your Best Physical Feature:	eyes
Your Bedtime:	I am so bad at bedtime, but I would like for it to be 10:30.
Your Most Missed Memory:	hanging out at Toni's house in middle school. more memories I wish I had... time with Grandaddy Joe
Pepsi or Coke:	Coke
MacDonalds or Burger King:	McDonalds
Single or Group Dates:	single
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea:	no preference
Chocolate or Vanilla:	chocolate
Cappuccino or Coffee:	either as long as it's decaf
Do you Smoke:	no
Do you Swear:	yes
Do you Sing:	yes
Do you Shower Daily:	usually ;)
Have you Been in Love:	yes
Do you want to go to College:	once was enough for me!
Do you want to get Married:	of course
Do you belive in yourself:	yes!
Do you get Motion Sickness:	sometimes in confined spaces or if I'm reading in the back seat
Do you think you are Attractive:	yes
Are you a Health Freak:	not completely... although I try to be
Do you get along with your Parents:	most of the time
Do you like Thunderstorms:	as long as I can stay inside until they're over
Do you play an Instrument:	some piano, some guitar, saxophone
In the past month have you Drank Alcohol:	yes
In the past month have you Smoked:	no
In the past month have you been on Drugs:	no
In the past month have you gone on a Date:	no
In the past month have you gone to a Mall:	yes
In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos:	no
In the past month have you eaten Sushi:	no, I've tried but I just don't like it.
In the past month have you been on Stage:	no
In the past month have you been Dumped:	no
In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping:	no
In the past month have you Stolen Anything:	no
Ever been Drunk:	just once
Ever been called a Tease:	ha! no.
Ever been Beaten up:	I'm sure Britney gave me a few bruises when we were younger. It was my fault, of course.
Ever Shoplifted:	only by accident
How do you want to Die:	how morbid! I refuse to think about that.
What do you want to be when you Grow Up:	my best self
What country would you most like to Visit:	just one? Greece (and Romania, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Australia... ok I'll stop)
In a Boy/Girl..
Favourite Eye Color:	It used to be blue, but I like eyes in general. I think all eye colors are great!
Favourite Hair Color:	brown
Short or Long Hair:	short
Height:	taller than me
Weight:	average
Best Clothing Style:	?
Number of Drugs I have taken:	none unless they were prescription
Number of CDs I own:	no clue
Number of Piercings:	technically 3, but I only wear 2 now
Number of Tattoos:	none
Number of things in my Past I Regret:	no regrets, just learning opportunities!
Take this survey

Procrastinating...

Ok... so the pillows aren't done. But I've never been very good at adhering to my self-imposed deadlines, anyway. In my defense, I did go to Jo-Ann's looking for fabric and filler but I got overwhelmed. For something as easy as a pillow, I sure know how to make it hard.

On a different note, Amy left today for two weeks at Rockbridge. Sadly for me, that means being home alone. Even worse for Nelson, he has to stay in the crate during the day while I'm at work instead of hanging out with Amy while she works from home. Since I work in Chapel Hill, it's not convenient for me to come home and let him out during the day but we've asked some friends to come by during lunch and let him out. At least he won't have to hold it all day. ;) Here's a picture that I took last night of Amy letting Nelson eat the yogurt left in her container. He loves it. When he hears the sound of a yogurt container opening, he comes running. Sorry for the sucky quality... that's a camera phone for ya.

Sewing

I got a sewing machine for Christmas a few years ago and I haven't done any sewing. I wanted it and asked for it but just haven't taken the time to sit down and figure out how it works. I've only sewn a few things on my mom's machine (a table runner and Nelson's Christmas stocking), but I think I can figure mine out. I'm a smart girl, after all. It's figuring out the patterns that I find to be the most difficult. Nonetheless, I want to try to dust it off and become more of a seamstress. Here are a couple of ideas for my first projects...Something like a windowseat cushion, except to go on top of the trunk that sits at the end of my bed. And...
New pillows for the living room. The ones that we have I bought when we moved into our house three years ago, and they're getting a bit old. I've already thrown one away. Buying pillows can be expensive, but making square ones is fairly easy. I think this may be my first project, just to dip my toes in the sewing waters. I'll post pictures of the final projects. :) And I'm going to hold myself to a date... the goal is April 28 for the finished pillows!

The Year Of...

For those of you that don't know (read: really only the 3 of you that visit my blog), my birthday is coming up in a mere 6 weeks. This year will mark a quarter of a century. Although I wouldn't change it and don't think "F-O" 24 (as Amy said to her 27th ;)) is necessarily the way that I want to end this year, I would very much like to start 25 refreshed and moving forward rather than just standing still. In this spirit, I have decided that I want this year to have a name... a mascot, if you will. So far, I'm partial to the year of the giraffe...

... or the year of the penguin.

I'm open to more suggestions, if anybody has any great ideas. ;)

Okay, now that's just wrong. You don't even know how long I tried to get that space in there two posts ago. Wrong, I say... just wrong. Blogger is messing with my head!

Bored

I'm sitting here on a Saturday night... eating a bowl of Cheerios... wondering why exactly it is that I feel like such a loser if I don't have plans for Friday and Saturday nights. Really... no less than a loser.

I'm also thinking about how much it bothers me that when I hit return twice to put a blank line between two paragraphs of my blog, that it now posts without the blank line... as if I only hit return once. I didn't hit it once. I hit it twice, dang it! And for good reason!

See... it happened here.

And here...

And here!

Relentless Pursuit

I am so amazed at God's love story for us...for me! I think lately if I have been particularly lonely I'm reminded of it even more. Reminded that I already have all the things that I'm wanting or missing. More and more over the past few years God has given me the gift of seeing different points in my life when He was right there... pursuing me... loving me. I wonder sometimes why He's allowed me to see these things, but I am so thankful that He has. I think maybe it's the times when I doubt myself the most that I'm reminded of something so intricately arranged by God just to get my attention... one more try to get me to turn to Him... to love Him... to want Him. He never gives up on us! What good news! I hope that part of eternity will be God showing me "our" story... and I'm certain I will fall in love with him many times over because of it.

The Gardner

It seems so inherent to who I am, but not to who He is. He sees it for what it is from the beginning, but for me it takes convincing. I don't even see it as a problem. God knows, though, that without it I'd be more like Jesus. So, at first, he just points it out. In my brokeness, I want to keep it. It's what I know. It's familiar. And it's usually selfish. Slowly, he stretches that part of me out. He pulls it out into the light so I can see it for what it is... something that I'm better off without.It is painful. It's not pleasant when God calls you on your sin... that you didn't recognize as sin in the first place.

When I think of pruning, I think of God cutting off branches that won't bring me life and maybe even some that are already dead. In my case, he has both taken things away and asked me to give them up... in that order. God, in his mercy, is patient yet firm. I want God's dreams for me, and to learn to trust Him completely. He's teaching me how to do that.

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10

Interpret This

I had a dream that I was hanging out with Matthew McConaughey. It was awesome!

Confessions of a Verbal Processor

I had a bit of an epiphany yesterday. As a verbal processor, I have to talk about EVERYTHING in order for ANYTHING to get processed. I can literally think a few consecutive thoughts on a subject and reach no clear conclusion but, after repeating those same exact thoughts aloud to someone else, come up with some very clear insight. It doesn't even take anyone else responding to me sometimes... I just come up with this stuff on my own.

Now this stuff that I spit out with no clear direction... just thoughts that I have on said current topic... I consider that the good stuff. That's the stuff that you have to flesh through to get to anything really great. So when I talk to other people about things, I want to hear all of that stuff. I want to hear what people process through before they reach the final thought. That being said, not everyone is a verbal processor and it's a bit selfish of me to expect people to go against the grain of their processing nature just so I can know everything they're thinking. So... I had a STIM moment. It's not right or wrong, it's just different. I swear I'm going to make bumper stickers. STIM for LIFE!

I wonder if this applies to other things in my life. Am I generally more concerned with the process than the outcome? I think maybe I am.

And now for what you've all been waiting for...

I would just like to say that I heard "git-r-dun" a grand total of 5 times on the 4th of July... entirely too many for a holiday, if you ask me! At least we're not related.

Left to right: Britney, my dad, and uncle Jr.

getting our stuff from the boat to shore

Sisters are the best!

the Pittman girls

Feliz cuatro de julio!

I don't like celebrating America. I am not patriotic. There's not an American flag flying at my house and I might venture so far as to say that there never will be. I think this sentiment existed before I went overseas, but a summer with people that aren't Americans just really pounds home that we aren't the best at everything... and that's ok! Yes... ok... the US has a lot of money and power and could kick some major arse if it needed to... woo freakin' hoo. Don't get me wrong. I'm not anti-US. I am very thankful that I live with many comforts and securities that others in this world cannot even imagine. I don't burn American flags. I'm just not into being prideful about America. Prideful about other things... yes... but maybe they'll be a topic for another day. : )

That being said... I love everything that comes with celebrating 4th of July. I'm from the coast, so this always means a trip out in the boat. Family gets together and hauls our bathing suit clad selves over to some stretch of sand and laughs about who knows what for the better part of a day. A few people usually rake for clams which will become part of dinner later and the rest of us drink soda and soak up some sun. After we're all too hungry or sunburnt (can you hear my accent coming out?) to stand it anymore, we load the boats back up and treck back to shore. Everyone takes turns with the 2 or 3 showers and we all get purtied (translation: prettied) up for dinner. We grill up some burgers and hot dogs, sometimes fix a clam bake, and sit around yapping about whatever has been going on since we saw each other last. The night ends with fireworks over the water, either back out on the boat or from the waterfront. I'm not sure why I love it so much, but I think it's because it always means getting together with extended family. I think it has to be my second favorite holiday... right behind Christmas. So, this afternoon after work, I'm packing up the dog and my sunscreen and headin'er to the eastard... where rebel flags, salt air, boats, and big trucks reign supreme. Carteret County is an experience all to itself. If you're lucky, I'll bring back some pictures for show-n-tell. : )

Does that make me a hypocrite? I'm not sure. But Happy Cookout and Fireworks Day to you, anyway!

Welcome to the blog world, Joanna!

I have a blog! Holla! (Is that right Emily?) I've been thinking about creating one for a while, but I just couldn't come up with a name. Names are important, you know. Props to Emily and Amy for helping me name my new creation. So, here I am! Come back often and feel free to comment!