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Saturday, December 6, 2008

Crafting Away With Vintage Maps

My Daddy had this Atlas forever. It's almost as big as I am! Well, it was as big as I was when I was 4 years old :D I've moved it from room to room over the years, but it still got water damage, silverfish, you name it. I decided to make some pretty things with it before it entirely disintegrated. The tattered map I used on these hat boxes said 1939. My youngest sister always brings me the best stuff from yard sales. Last time she was here, she brought two unfinished hat boxes. I decided to gift them back to her :D Here they are with a couple coats of clear spray finish applied. I still want to put some metal eyelets and use some cord to make it look more like a hat box. And either find a luggage tag, or print one out for each one. Then to top it off, I plan on making some yellow roses I saw on Martha Stewart made by a lady named Cassie.They're just stunning! I hope mine come out as realistic as hers. Twin gave me some rose scented spray and I cut out enough for six roses and placed them in a baggie with the scent. Let's hope it doesn't interfere with the painting, I'll let you know before you try it :D
So here are the boxes before and after decoupage. I used what I had, which was white school glue. I mixed it with water just to make it the consistency of paint and it worked just fine. A couple coats was all it needed.






See that rose? That was my practice rose...don't laugh at it! LOL I made this yesterday, but after I'd cut all the pieces out and started to make it, I realized I didn't have any florist's tape. And I still went ahead and made it. Of course, it fell apart after I painted it, and it dried...BUT, I can say this..it was a lot easier to paint than you'd think! HossFly had run to the dollar store and bought me 2 packages of 40 cone shaped coffee filters, $1 each, and an inexpensive set of childrens watercolors, $1.50. What a bargain! I got out a bowl of water and brushed water on each petal first, then used yellow which bled into the paper and looked very natural. As soon as I finished all the yellow, I used watered down red and just painted the tips of each petal. They bled nicely to fade into the yellow, just like a real rose! As soon as I finished that, I used less watered down red, just on the very tips of each petal. I was amazed that I could paint it so easily and it was so pretty! I wrapped wire around the bottom of the flower and hung it on a box fan to dry. It didn't take long, less than half an hour. You curl each side of the petals on a bamboo skewer. I already had those and didn't have to spend any extra money. Even with my practice rose looking all shaggy, Twin thought it was real, so did a couple other people :D

I'm looking for a few other craft/decorating ideas I can use some more maps on. I made this 3-D star for another sister. I think it might look good on her living room wall, but of course, no one is obligated to use a gift the way you intended it, right?!? LOL...it's a pretty large star. It involved math, so I had to get Hoss' advice on that part. Here it is, not quite finished, I used a glue water mixture on the top for one coat, nothing on the back yet. I decided to do the front in maybe 4 coats, let dry, then do the back. I want it pretty stiff for displaying on the wall, or on a cabinet or shelf.




I see it needs a little trimming before I put any more coats on it.

4 comments:

Luthien Thye said...

the hat boxes are really nice kudzu :) so well made :) oooo... vintage maps... i'm drooling :))))) wish my daddy had collected some... maybe he has... i should ransack his room one of these days!

Anonymous said...

Great job on the boxes and the star. Both look hard to do. Love the old maps you're using. Luvs

Sunday Girl said...

These are great Kudzu. I love the maps, they give a nice look to so many things. I once made a family journal that was to highlight our summer trips and I used a map on the cover. I'll have to find that and show it to you.

Kudzu said...

Thanks ya'll! Thank you Luthien, I don't know how long my Daddy was in National Geographic Society, but I think when he was just a young boy, and he was born in 1915. We had stacks upon stacks of those magazines, and I spent plenty of summer days reading them!
Thanks Luvs! They weren't too hard, the box was easier,though, all straight lines :D The star was harder, but once you score the lines to fold, it's not too bad. The second star I did, I scored it in reverse LOL, I just cut out another star and glued it on real quick, and saved the project, whew! As I was gluing on part of the map for the hat box, I saw it was still 48 states, so it's interesting for sure!
Thanks SundayGirl! I sure love how they came out, everything is marked on them, such interesting facts! I'd love to see your journal! I need some more ideas to use up some more maps, and I have 4 sisters and a brother who might like things made from them :D
I'll be glad when I finally go shopping for the cord handle and some kind of luggage tag for my sisters name. oh, and make the yellow roses,lol!