diy: map pendant necklace

I picked up these pretty silver pendant backings and plastic cabachon covers at a local craft shop, and they've been sitting in my craft drawer just waiting to be used.  I decided to scroll through etsy for inspiration, and found several variations of map necklaces!  I'm a sucker for any kind of map (I'm a geography major.. it comes with the territory!), so I knew that it would be perfect.

(this picture is of the back of my calendar...showing all the different maps included!)

At first I tried printing off maps, but that was a nightmare.  Then I remembered that I had an old Ancient Maps calendar stashed away in my room!  I knew it would come in handy one day (hoarding for the win! thanks dad...).

The hardest part of this project was trying to decide which map and what part of it to use!  Now I'm on the lookout for more map diys so I can use up the rest of my calendar! hehe.

Supplies:

-silver pendant setting

-plastic cabachon covers

-white glue

-E6000 glue

-old map scraps

-chain

-jump rings

Directions:

1) Take your plastic cabachon covers and move them over your map scraps until you find somewhere that will work well in a pendant.  

2)  Then, place a tiny bit of white glue over the back of the cover, and firmly press down over your chosen spot.  It may want to slide around a bit, so press firmly and then release and don't touch it again until it's dry!

3)  Once all traces of glue are dried, cut around the cover as close to the edges as possible.

4)  Now, place a dab of E6000 glue onto your silver pendant setting, and firmly press the plastic cover onto it.  Make sure the map is centered before the glue starts to set!

5)  While the pendant dries, measure out your chain to whatever length you'd like.  I chose to make mine nice and long, and added a jump ring instead of a clasp since it will fit right over my head. (jump rings are cheaper, so I like using them in place of clasps when I can!)

6)  Finally, use another jump ring to attach the pendant onto your necklace!

So, you should probably make these, and then go on an adventure!

p.s. ♥ kelsey

diy : vintage framed map art

I love to travel. It's something that I have been extremely blessed to have been able to do a lot of and a love that was passed down to me from my parents, who dragged my brother and I all over the world :) Thankfully, I'm married to a man who loves it just as much as I do! We dedicated our study to have a "travel" and "around the world" theme to it - to name a few, we have pieces from Haiti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Korea, France, and India decorating our walls and studying in this room just makes me restless to get up and go! 

For this diy, I thrifted some empty frames and a lovely old Canadian School Atlas from the 1940s and began to cut out maps of places that are near and dear to our heart. 

When cutting out your maps, simply be aware of the different sizes of your frames! This diy is so simple but adds such a great personal touch to your wall. 

The maps that I used for our wall include a map of... North America, Africa, Korea, the world and good old Alberta!

I also have to point out my wonderful vintage suitcases! The top one is from Caleb's grandpa and the one on the bottom was gifted to me from his parents, who know my love for vintage pieces. 

As I said, Caleb and I absolutely love to travel, so I thought I'd include a couple favourite places along with some bucket listers - 

{ 5 places I've fallen in love with }  -  trekking through the Himalayas in India (this is where my romance with caleb started!), being awed by the architecture of Antoni Gaudi in Spain, the lush green mountains of S.Korea, working at an orphanage in Haiti, and going on an adventure of a safari in Kenya.

{ 5 place I'd love to go to } - the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, the canals of beautiful Venice,  the Inca site of Machu Picchu, Topkapi - the oldest and largest palace in the world in Istanbul, and the old city of Jerusalem.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go?

p.s.  ♥ clara