I have always loved maps... when my hubby and I purchased our first home, we painted our office light blue. I brought my overhead projector home from school and traced a map of the world on the wall then painted it with a tiny paint brush. It was a great summer project for me when I was teaching and didn't have any kids and had plenty of extra time on my hands.... oh those days seem so far away.
Anyway, when I started teaching again, I thought I would decorate my room with globes and maps. (part of the fun of teaching is decorating my classroom). I kept pinning fun projects with maps. My sister in law's sister saw that I was pinning them and gave me a whole box of old maps that she had at her school that someone was throwing away (thanks Kristy).
Once I got my box of maps, I got to work... and I put my aide to work (thanks Rebecca). Our first project was this jar of pinwheels. I got the idea from Elizabeth Street on Etsy. This adorable shop has a lot of cute map crafts. I used this tutorial from Style me Pretty. It even comes with a free template. We shrank and enlarged the template to different sizes so we would have a little variety. Then we put buttons in the middle. I love the way it turned out and it's a super cute addition to my shelf. This picture does not do it justice.
All year I have been collecting large frames at yard sales and painting them different colors. Some I put chicken wire in and some I left empty. But then I saw this idea of a different type of pinwheel on Style me Pretty as well. I loved it and had to make some! We (my aide, Rebecca and I) made them of all different sizes. Rebecca came up with the idea of shaping the edges... which I love! We just put a large circle of patterned paper in the middle. It has totally dressed up the frames and I love it!
Here's a view of my whole wall of frames hanging from the ceiling...
I'm loving the way my room is turning out:) I'm hoping to add a few more projects to my shelves... maybe some fun lamp shades... who knows?
