Pinterest Inspired-Map Frame

I'm addicted to Pinterest. I'm sure that comes as no surprise. I was having dinner with some friends this past week in which of all my recipes were from Pinterest. My friends were teasing me that I ALWAYS show up on their feed with new pins. What can I say? I just love the whole idea of it! 

Anyway, I have pinned thousands of things but haven't accomplished much in making anything the last several months. But it's summer now so hopefully I'll be able to add more to the blog soon. This next project was inspired by several different versions of maps about love and relationships that I have seen. My cousin is in the Navy so he and his wife have moved several times in the course of their marriage. I gave this to them as a gift on their way to their newest home. They absolutely loved it! 

I started by printing maps  of the areas where they lived. I then cut the area into the heart shape using a stencil. After that, I used the smaller red heart to mark the city where they had lived and wrote the state name below as seen in the picture above.

For the middle section I made a collage of pictures that I had of the happy couple. They are a young couple so I didn't have access to various ages or stages of their relationship. I tried to include pictures from different places since that was the theme of the piece. I think it would be really sweet to do this for an older couple with pictures from various stages of their life. I then typed the saying into my computer and printed it onto vellum paper so that you would still be able to see the pictures. I layered those two parts together and stuck them in the frame.

And this is the finished product! It took me less than an hour and I absolutely love it. My cousin's wife was also excited that there was still room on the sides to add more because in all likelihood they'll be making their home somewhere else again. Lucky for them, home is where the heart is! ;) 

Be on the look out for another Pinterest inspired framed piece soon. Two of my besties are having babies within the month and I have a sweet little project for them but can't reveal it yet. In the meantime, happy creating and happy pinning friends!