✥ RH Oversized Map Art Knock Off [tutorial}✥

He-llo friends! I have another knock off for you guys today. Are you sick of them yet? I mean, you can tell me if you are...I really tried to have a different type of project ready for this week but the darn materials {I'm being sneaky and not telling you what materials} took sooo long to dry. I mean, grr! 

So instead I hope you guys will be head over heels for my new maps- cuz I know I am!

 On one of my most favorite blogs ever, The Painted Hive, Kristine made a super amazing map and used it as her headboard. I totally love her map and her use of it AND she added an excellent tutorial if you want to make your own over size map!! It's pretty sweet, right?

 I have 16"x20" frames flanking our sliding glass windows that have been crying out for some real art and I have been dying over Restoration Hardware's map art for ages!! So, I knew the second I saw Kristine's post that I would be making my own version of the art ASAP.

There are tons on Restoration Hardware's site to chose from for inspiration. Here's couple I used to help me look. I love the vintage feel of this "old" Paris map.The Graphics Fairy actually has an old vintage Paris map {it's linked up below too.}

I used this LA map as for inspiration for the maps I chose. I wanted maps with subtle colors but that wouldn't demand a lot of attention.

I scoured the Internet for ages, seriously- for days and days, trying to find the best map options out there. If you're looking for maps you want to search for public domain maps, open source maps or public library maps.  I collected quite the collection of awesomeness here in case you want to make your own!!

In Kristin's tutorial she says to find a zoomable map- but then again she was making an image 47"x23"! I only needed a 16x 20, remember? I still followed her tutorial- just to be certain I didn't have any mishaps, but I think I could've gotten away with printing some of them.

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It's not hard at all to make these {you know, after you spend days looking for just the right ones!} To make oversized art, especially if it's huge like Kristine's, you want a "zoomable map."

1]  Just zoom into your map and take screen shots for each little section allowing for overlap until you've copied the entire map. 

2] Then use Word to overlap all the images into one complete pic.

Since I was copying Restoration Hardware's map art, I also changed the names for some of the maps I found so the towns would match up with the RH pieces. 

3] In order to match the color of the different RH maps I converted my files from Word to jpeg. Then I was able to upload them into photo editing software {now I use Pixlr instead of Picnik.} I could then change the colors of the maps to better mimic the inspiration pieces.

4] Once the images are jpegs you can also change the dimensions of the pic so it will fit the frame you have.

5] I went to Staples and printed out my maps in color. It turned out to be a little less than 10 bucks each and the quality of the each copy was near that of a photograph!.

Although I usually do things a little thriftier than $10 each I was still pretty pleased with the price. Any prints I could have purchased would have been more than $10- and they wouldn't have been exactly what I was looking for. That is unless I bought it from restoration Hardware and then it would have gotten exactly what I wanted but also would have paid around $1400 a piece!!!

That makes a savings of nearly $5600- yup, that's my best saving for a knock off yet!!

Here's a shot of the before:

And how it looks now. I tried to get a pic at the same angle, but thought I'd avoid the glare on my frames this time.

Don't forget to check out the other maps I'm crushin on right now. I've included several favorites for you guys! Some of them are linked to sites that have tons of options- like the NY public library's selection. I can't guarantee that each map I chose is big enough to blow up- but included the ones I loved anyhow!

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What have you guys been making with maps? I can think of a ton of ways to use the maps I linked up- what about you guys?

Looking for places to link up your projects? Check out my Party page.

I'm also linked up here.

✥ Reader Feature: Circus Birthday Party ✥

The feature this week is a little bit different- no kitchens or furniture makeovers this time!
Instead, I fell in love with this darling little Circus themed birthday party- brought to us by Lisa from Grey Luster Girl! I know you will love it as much as I do!

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Most of my parties take months to plan and prepare for.  I put this little Circus Birthday Party together for my niece in 2 weeks.  I am happy with how it all turned out.

The invitations

The pinwheels really spin. I had a hard time finding a tutorial to make them actually spin. I wanted to use sticks instead of pencils so I needed to find a different alternative than pinning the pinwheel into the eraser. Finally I found a good idea here to put beads on the pin after the paper pinwheel.  I glued a button on the tip of the pin and then I bent the end of the pin.

I used this template for the cone birthday party hats. 

Party favors made with the DIY bakers twine.

I made two 30 foot fabric circus banners to hang above the festivities. 

We also had a photo booth.  Well it was more like a photo spot.

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Not bad for two weeks notice, right? Lisa is super duper talented! She really knows how to throw a party!
She has several posts about her daughter's Strawberry shortcake party as well as amazing ideas to customize a parties for any theme. I think she should go pro as a party planner- she totally rocks.

If you want to see more from Lisa, you should definitely check out her Valentine's Day Mantel. The details are just perfect!! Not to mention the mantel itself. They redid the fireplace here, it's freakin gorgeous!

✥ Superbowl Sunday ✥

I may live in Utah- but I grew up in Massachusetts.

 I don't know who you guys are rooting for today-but as for me-

"Go Patriots!!"

 One of my very best friends from back East lives out here in UT now, too. She asked me to make her some Patriot shoes for today, so of course I was all about it.
She loved a hand-painted pair online, selling for $300!! These are a pretty decent imitation of those. I used fabric paint and patience! {don't mind the cell phone pics!}

I hope you all enjoy the game today- and don't cry too hard when the Giants get spanked! lol

Looking for places to link up your projects? Check out my Party page.

I'm also linked up here.

✥ Restoration Hardware Eye Charts {Hack} ✥

Hello dearies, remember a few weeks ago when I shared an eye chart  I made?  It was inspired by this one from Restoration Hardware?











And I mentioned that I wasn't stoked with it's placement on the gallery wall. I feel like the black was too heavy for the wall. It kept pulling my eye to the bottom corner like a black hole or an eye chart magnet!

I know, I know- you couldn't tell from the pics I posted. Well, that's cuz I totally moved some frames around and intentionally only took pics of half the photo wall. Sooo sneaky, I know! But now you know the ugly truth- so this is how I fixed it.

After some thought I figured the perfect solution would be to move the eye chart to the opposite wall from the gallery. {see? ☝} I figured I'd turn my print into some canvas art and, while I was at it, I'd make something larger scale to fill up that blank space. 

I felt my "Tumbling E" eye chart would look lonely and kinda sad by itself- so I whipped up another eye chart. This time it was Restoration Hardware's more traditional "Letters" chart.
 
For all you newbies my lil blog- I made my eye charts in  Microsoft Word Publisher- which is awesome cuz it's free, yo!  I wrote up all the nitty gritty details here-when I showed how to mimic Z Gallerie's subway art.
Back to the eye charts-here's the abbreviated directions-

Making an eye chart is a piece of cake. 
1] Select a font. I looked for fonts here.
2] Create columns on both sides of the page. This is where you will put the distances on each side.
3] Fill in the numbers/letters you want.
4] Choose background colors to create a worn/distressed or weathered look. Again, the tutorial for that stage is found here.

-TIP-When I made my 2nd eye chart {the "letters" version} all I did was adapt my 1st "Tumbling E's" eye chart. I replaced the "E's" with the right letters, using the sizes and spacing as a guide. I also changed up the shading effects for the background- to make sure the two versions wouldn't look like clones of each other.

 

5] Print'em up. I had my posters printed up at Staples cuz they're the cheapest. They only cost me $3.50 since I had them printed up in black and white.
6] Attach them to a canvas. I use Mod Podge to do this-mostly because I like the glossy finish when it's done.

7] The letters on RH's eye charts are tan-ish. Since I didn't want to pay for a color print {they're crazy expensive}, I painted over top of my letters. I used craft paint mixed with a little glaze to turn my letters off-white.
I really like that it makes the signs look hand painted and it creates more dimension to the finished piece.

You can see the eye charts from every angle in the entry/ living room/hallway. One of the benefits of condo living? {yeah right}

My canvases are 18"x24" and cost like 5 bucks for both. The prints cost me $3.50.  Now Restoration Hardware's canvases are 24"x30" and cost $345 EACH for that size!! Aye! That's a savings of $682.50!!!! Don't you just absolutely lurve when that happens! That's all folks- DIY eye charts and saving some dough!
So, what do you guys think?!
What have you hacked lately?

Looking for places to link up your projects? Check out my Party page.

I'm also linked up here.

✥ Reader Feature: Paint the Shabby Chic Look {Tutorial!!} ✥

You know when you see someone's work, and you think to yourself- "Holy Cow! I wish I could do that?" Right- Well, let me introduce you to Meg from Meg and Mum's. She's a ridiculously talented Aussie with sassy personality and a love for salvaging and repurposing old furniture.

It wasn't until about 15 months ago that I started to really get into it and developed my blog Meg and Mum's, where I showcase my furniture and also from time to time I will feature my Mum's awesome mosaics.  She is really talented and does some beautiful work. I now have a huge passion for restoring furniture and have been lucky enough in the last twelve months to make a bit of extra pocket money from doing it.  Being a stay at home Mum it has definitely come in handy and it also keeps my body, mind and soul happy and healthy. Now Becca has asked me to share with you a tutorial or two.  I have never really posted a true tutorial in the past, purely because I was learning as I went and, well... I was too lazy.  

But I can share with you how I do the French/Shabby finish.
Now I'm not saying that this is the "right" way to do it and you might find that people who have been doing it a lot longer than I have do it completely different, but this is what works for me.  Also, the descriptions of the kind of paint I use may be different to what you use in whatever country you may live.  I'll give it a go anyway. Here's a two toned side table I did recently.

 1.  I start by sanding the table back with 120 grit sandpaper.  I normally don't go heavy handed with this, but if it looks as if the varnish or paint is coming off too easily I will go hard at it or take my heat gun to it and scrape the paint off.

2.  After sanding I obviously get rid of all the dust and give it a good clean.  Then I give the table one coat of acrylic undercoat/primer.  If I am going blue, I will normally undercoat with grey.  Just normal acrylic paint is fine.

3.  Once this is dry I will go over the whole piece with a fine tooth comb to see if there are any dings, scratches or holes that need to be filled.  I always recommend giving it one undercoat first as after it is painted the flaws will really become obvious.  Then I will use painters bog or builders bog to fill it up. This isn't the actual table I'm referring too, but it's the only photo I have to give you an example.  All the holes will be more visible after the first undercoat.  Once you fill it, wait until it dries and then give it a sand with a 180 grit to give it a smooth even finish.  Unfortunately I don't have any photos of filling. I also have a look to see if there are any gaps or light cracks.  I will use a gap filler for this.  (My husband is a painter so I've been lucky to learn all the tricks).

4.  I give the whole thing a very light sand, wipe down and then give it another undercoat.

5.  Then I apply two coats of my colour choice in acrylic, with a light sand in between with 600 grit sandpaper.  This makes it feel really smooth.  Acrylic usually dries pretty quick, like about half an hour.  But I always wait overnight before I start the distressing.  For the distressing, I get a 180 grit and lightly sand on the edges or "peaks".  The more you distress furniture, the better you'll become at knowing where the best places are to distress.  I was really quite messy and heavy handed to begin with.

6.  Once it is all distressed, I apply a dark English Walnut stain by brushing it on in sections.  So I will start with a leg, brush the stain on, quite sloppily I might add, and then wipe that section down with a clean lint free cloth.  Then you'll see it magically transform before your eyes!  The finish is spectacular. Once that is all dry I give the whole thing a coat of poly, and that's pretty simple to use.  Just follow the instructions on the can! As I said, my way might be very different to someone else's but it works for me.

  I've been asked by some people whether I use a brush, roller or spray gun.  For me it depends on what the weather is like.  If it is super cold or scorching hot outside I might bring a piece inside to paint with a brush.  If weather permits I will use the spray gun which is a hundred times faster obviously.  But in saying that, I find using the brush can be quite relaxing and therapeutic.  I've only used the roller once and I wasn't that keen on the effect it left.  I can kind of zone out when using the brush.  On a couple of occasions I have used can spray paint for really small projects if I happen to have some sitting around.  But these are really expensive where I live so I rarely use it.

You will see from my blog that I am also a big fan of all things retro, which is what I prefer to furnish my home with.  But I find the process of doing the shabby finish very rewarding and therapeutic.

If you've reached this point after reading my essay above, thank you so much for bearing with me.

And thanks to the lovely Becca for having me here. I'd be over the moon if you'd stop my blog and say hello!
Megs x

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Isn't Meg great?! I wish I could somehow absorb all the knowledge she has about redoing furniture. {hmm, jealous!} I'm like as novice as you can get compared to her! I love her tip about painting the piece and then filling the dings, since they'll show up better. I never would have known to do that!