bird.i.y.: valentine's day print

i need to start with a disclaimer. this isn't really a diy. i mean, it is in the sense that i did it myself. but i'm not trying to post a tutorial here. i am well aware that this is probably one of the easiest projects one person could do. can you use scissors? paint a heart? stamp? then you can do this. this is kind of like if i cut off a pair of jeans and posted a diy on how to make jean shorts. so, please don't think i'm trying to condescend by calling this a diy. it was just a fun project that turned into something pretty cute, if i do say so myself.

onto the project. chris and i have a "no buy" policy for valentine's day. it has to be handmade, or nothing at all. i literally had this stuff all in our house; that is one of the perks of being a hoarder...i happened to have a vintage frame, a huge old atlas, a letter stamp set and paint to make this gift. i didn't have to leave the house at all, which was a plus.

if you are not a hoarder, all you will need is a frame of your choosing, a map of some sort (i chose one with minnesota on it to make it local), and painting supplies. oh, and if you can print or paint letters nicely, you won't need stamps. i'm not a big fan of my own handwriting, and like i said, i had stamps on hand, so i used stamps for the wording. but you don't have to.

if you ever find an old atlas while thrifting, buy it. you can do so many things with old map pages. i got this guy for 50¢.

i cut a heart out of cardboard and traced it onto the map. i chose our neighborhood to place the heart over.

i pulled out my very organized paints and brushes.

  

and my very professional pallet (we have about 50 old cds..i figured i'd put them to use!)

i painted the heart as steadily as i could. i used a few coats to cover up most of the map lines, but i thought it would also look cool (and heart like) to have some of them show through.

next, i pulled out the stamps. this is where i knew i could screw it all up. i never use a ruler to measure where i'm going to put the words. i just don't have patience for crafts like that. but, i also knew that i wanted this to look a little amateur-ish, so i wasn't too worried.

i stamped away...and drew an arrow (not my best arrow). get it? not only is chris here in minnesota, he is here in my heart.

and voila, the finished product!

easy peasy lemon breezy!!

what do you all do for valentine's day?

xo,

megan bird