Friday, October 12, 2012

National Parks

I don't really have a bucket list, but one of my life goals is to visit all of the National Parks in the US.  We visited a bunch of them as a kid, and as an adult I've traveled to many more with friends, family and Mike.  I have the fun National Park Passport book to track the parks you visit, but the other day when I saw this National Park Checklist print on etsy, I fell in love with it too!

Sweet Mike ordered it for me as a present and when it came I couldn't wait to get it hung up.  It comes with little tree stickers you put on when you've visited each park; they're very cute.  It's 11 x 17 which is a standard size paper, but apparently not a standard size frame.  When I checked at hobby lobby, just the frame itself (no glass, backing, or framing) was going to cost over $50.  Eek!  I decided I'd try my hand a making a frame-like-thing, so I bought this piece of pretty trim from Home Depot for $16 and went to town.

Mike actually cut it out for me using a miter box and I just assembled the four sides using wood glue and a staple gun.  I decided to piece a fabric background on which to float the print (kind of like a mat, and decided to just sew down the print itself rather than trying to deal with glue and the potential for it to fall off or peel at the corners.  Such a fun alternative to traditional framing!





After finishing it, I put on the tree stickers for the parks I've visited; they're the colors of the words "national parks" at the top of my print, so look fun and bright on the print.  In spite of my best efforts, I've only been to about a third of them.  I see lots of camping trips in our future!

4 comments:

  1. Like the way this turned out.
    I'm going to urge you to visit a camp [where you won't be able to camp out]. In Springfield, Illinois you'll find Illinois' only national park, the only house Abraham Lincoln ever owned and it's surrounding neighborhood. The house is a bit different than it was when I was a child (before it became part of the National Park system), and the almost incredible Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum is just a few blocks north. I was able to take my daughter to visit both a couple of years ago, and it was a wonderful experience on so many levels. (Yes, we visited his tomb and old Salem, IL too.)
    Might not be able to camp, but it's an unforgettable experience! (And it's a lot closer to you than it is to me!)

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  2. that's pretty sweet. I love the frame; looks very professional. Love the idea of visiting all the national parks. good luck to you!

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  3. So cool! My friends are determined to visit each park with their kids...this would be so great for them!!! And I agree with Dora...Abe's house is amazing! Went there a lot as a kid!

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  4. What a perfect frame for your forest print, and that much more special. A personal favorite of mine. I love it! If there's any comfort in my telling you this (which I doubt), you've been to way more of the parks than I have or ever really will! :)

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