On A Map Quest

  Maps... they bring me a sense of excitement. Probably because my husband & I love travelling so much. So when I see old maps used in clever ways, it really brings a smile to my face. 

Here's several favourites I've spied over the last little while...

Cover some old shoe boxes in maps & use as a nifty storage solution.

Via

Cut out a bit of several maps that represent your favourite places 

and frame them together as a nice reminder of your travels.

Frame a vintage map.

Via

Use a map to brighten up a drab dresser.

Via

Cover some wooden letters spelling out the place on the map.

Cut an old globe in half & use as a bowl.

Via

Cut letters out of an old map (or sheet music) to add a nice alternative to a gift tag.

Via

Cover an old trash bin with a map.

Via

Add some fun colour to a monogram.

Via

Make some pretty pinwheels for your desk.

Via

Make light pennants from an old globe.

Via

Wrap a gift with a map. Wouldn't it be fun if the gift was a trip or some airline tickets? Or perhaps a travel book?

Via

Line a drawer with an old map. 

Via

Make a Christmas ornament.

Via

Line a table top.

Via

Make a set of coasters. Another great way to remind you of your favourite travels.

Via

Which was your favourite? Have you made any projects involving maps? Please let me know! I'm always looking for fresh inspiration. :)

I've actually been working on my own map-themed project this past week. 

I hope you come back to check it out next week!

Enjoy your day!

Office/Craft room/Guest Room Makeover

  Before I start today's post I have to tell you that I'm so excited to be able to add a new "I was featured on" button to my small collection. Yesterday, my Christmas Banner was featured on Mommy By Day...Crafter By Night. I totally did a happy dance when I found out! I feel like Sally Field - "You like me! You really like me!" (I have to be honest though. I didn't actually know who said that until I googled it.)

  Anyway, onto today's topic - our office/guest room.

  When we moved into this house, this room (in the basement) was actually divided into 2 smaller rooms, but you had to go through one room to get into the next one. Also, the wall connecting the two rooms was just a temporary wall. So we took down the wall to open up the space. The side that is now the office was decorated as an 80's diner or something. Kinda fun, but so not my thing.

  If you've looked through my Home Tour page, you know that I love colour on the walls! I am not afraid to paint... like, at all. I guess growing up in a decorator's home, some of my mom's courage rubbed off on me.

  My colour inspiration came from the turquoise chair. I love the colour turquoise & wanted to incorporate it into the house somewhere.

  I chose a scrapbook paper line that I loved that had turquoise, pink, & brown in it. It was the Urban Prairie line from Basic Grey. Those were the colours I matched my paint up with.

My craft table

    This table is made of two small book shelves & a glass table top we found in the as-is section at Ikea. It has a small chip out of one corner & didn't have a base. It works perfectly & even has a bit of an aqua tinge to the glass.

  A few weeks ago, my mom (an interior decorator) came over & helped me reconfigure the furniture in this space. I love how it looks now! 

  After mom & I reconfigured the furniture, I set to work cleaning up my desk a bit. I added some decorative scrapbook papers to my pen jars & the front if my little box of drawers. I'm so happy with the results!

What do you think? I'm loving crafting in this space. It's my happy place. And hopefully a pleasant place for our guests to stay.

Oh, before I go, I want to keep things real & show you the pile of stuff I had to remove from the office before I took the photos. Just so you know that my office is not always never that neat & tidy. 

I almost always have some projects on the go on the desk.

Enjoy your day!

Linkin' Up:

Let Birds Fly

Turquoise Lovin'

Update

This was featured on:

Before & After Home Tour (Part 5) : The Little Girl's Room

  I love how this blog inspires me to get more of my projects done so I can tell you about them. It's wonderful motivation!

  My little princess & I cleaned up her room & hung some new pictures this week. She says, "My room is awesome!" :) I quickly took some pictures to share with you.

  It went from bo-ring to bright & cheery.

  This was actually one of the better rooms in our home when we moved in. It was just bland. We removed the carpet & old navy blind.

  We painted it a pretty pink for our princess-in-training. She wanted a pink & purple bedroom. When I heard that I cringed. I was imagining a hideous, neon shaded room. Fortunately, things didn't turn out that way. Lots of white with only small splashes of purple helped pull this off.

And because we all love a before & after:

  On another note, this weekend is the Fall Festival I've been working so hard to prepare for. If you'd like to see some of the goodies I'll be selling at my booth this weekend, click here, here, here, & here. I'll let you know how things went on Monday. I hope you'll join me.

Enjoy your day!

Linkin' Up:

The Creative Paige

Tatertots & Jello

Playful Decor

Before & After Home Tour (Part 4)

  It's been awhile since I've blogged about our house, so today I'm adding the newest addition to the Home Tour Series. Our master bedroom. I was a little tentative about posting this with the room the way it is. But let's be real... life isn't always perfect & neither are our houses. This is how the room looks right now. But there are still some changes to take place.

  When we bought the house, the master bedroom was done in a faux stainless steel look complete with a silver painted shade, upholstery tacks in the walls, & old shag carpet.

We painted, pulled out the carpet, put down laminate, put up new window coverings & things are looking much more welcoming.

Here's the part I wasn't crazy about revealing: The dresser in our room leaves something to be desired. Another word to describe it is B-O-R-I-N-G. I've got plans for it. It's on my to-do list. I promise once it gets finished, I'll post pics. Here's an idea for it:

Source

I love the stripes.

What's on your project list this week? Leave me a comment to tell me. I'm all about reader interaction. :)

Enjoy your day!

Linkin' Up:

Tuesday Talent Show

Ta-da Tuesday

Tatertots & Jello

Bulletin Board Makeover

  I'm not alone am I? Every family seemingly has a ton of loose papers floating around or sitting in piles, boxes, & binders. I personally like to have some of those papers out in the open for reminders or to appreciate (such as my children's artwork), but I don't like to have my fridge cluttered up with a bunch of stuff. This was my solution. A bulletin board. Simple, right? The trick for me was to have a nice looking one & not spend a lot of money. I was so blessed with this project that I didn't end up spending a penny! The supplies was either: 1) given to me, or 2) I already had it on hand. That's what I call economical!

  Several months ago, I helped my mom go through & organize some rooms in my parent's basement. We made piles of things to keep, give, & toss. At the end of the day, I ended up taking part of the "give" pile home with me! The bulletin board, frame, silver paint, & glaze were all items that I "inherited" (wink, wink) from my mom. I took the frame with another project in mind for it altogether. It took me a few months to figure out that the bulletin board was a perfect fit for it! It was easy glued into place using white craft glue (I had on hand) after I had painted the frame with purple craft paint (I had on hand).

It hung painted like this for months. Last weekend, when we painted our hallway & back entry, I had taken it down & had another look at it. I thought it looked kind of flat & boring (the paint was flat, after all). I looked in my box o' craft paints from my mom's basement & found a creamy glaze & a silver paint.

Enter brain wave. "What about a shimmery white glaze?" Sounded lovely to me. What did I have to loose? I had no money invested in it after all. "Let's play around", I thought.

So, I concocted a mixture of 3 parts creamy white glaze & 1 part silver paint.

On it went. And then off it came. On purpose. I painted it on making sure to get it in the corners & nooks & crannies. Then I took a rag & wiped off the excess. Here's what I was left with:

 When it was dry, I edited what I had pinned on it earlier & put up the papers, postcards, etc. that I wanted to remember/display. I really like how the shimmery white adds some detail to what was otherwise kind of a boring bulletin board.

What kind of projects have you been up to lately? I did some thrift shopping yesterday & found the ingredients for several more projects. I'm excited to get started! A lamp makeover, some sweater pillows, some wall art as well as some other goodies. You won't want to miss it!

Enjoy your day!

Linkin' up to: 

Today's Creative Blog 

Mommy By Day... Crafter By Night

Transformation Thursday

Crafty, Scrappy, Happy

Tater Tots & Jello

The Creative Paige

From Green to Grey

  Happy Monday! How was your weekend? We tackled our painting project this weekend & I'm here to show you the results.

  Our main floor hallway needed some freshening up. When we bought the house, the hallway was a drab beige colour with dated gold veined mirrors on the far wall. Before we moved in, we removed the old mirrors & painted it a light, cheery green. After 4 years of little fingers & just life in general, it was in need of a fresh coat of paint. We were out of the original paint we used & had to purchase paint to get the job done. So we figured if we were going to make a change, now's the time! I chose a pretty grey from General Paint called "Windblown". After two coats, the deed is done! And I LOVE the results! It looks sophisticated & is fabulous next to my "Camelot" walls in the Living Room.

  I looked through all of our pictures from when we bought the house & sadly, I didn't take one of the hallway. This is the closest to a hallway before picture... the hall linen closet. One really great thing about this house is the fact that it has lots of closets! We have 8 now & there were 10 when we bought the house. We took one out when we renovated the kitchen / dining area / living room & we took out the one in the basement bathroom to redo the shower. The shower is still incomplete but there will probably be a small storage cupboard going in the plans. Anywoo... the old hallway closet...

The hallway closet now:

And here is the green that the hall & back entry have been the past 4 years:

AFTER shots:

I also quite like how the art work I have looks against the grey. 

  My weekend also consisted of copious amounts of laundry, mending a pile of toys & books, cleaning off my craft table, & a few other random cleaning tasks. What kept you occupied this weekend?

  I also added a new tab to the menu bar here at Silver Boxes. "Come Tour My Home!" is up & running. I'll be adding more rooms as I blog about them, but feel free to poke around my house & have a look. :)

  Stay tuned this week for a yummy recipe involving marshmallows, my bulletin board project, papercrafts, & some household tips. I'm also excited to be attending the semi annual flea market here in Saskatoon on Saturday! I'll be posting about that next week. But for now, we'll focus on the week ahead. :) Have a great one!

Enjoy your day!

Linkin' Up:

Tater Tots & Jello