trace face

A few months ago I realized how much I like old maps and globes.  I even posted about an old North Carolina map that I saw on Ebay and my dad got it for me for Christmas!  Well, one day I was trying to brainstorm fun ways to display all the places Will and I have lived.  After all, once the 3rd move within Connecticut was scheduled, I thought it would be nice to keep track.  First I thought it would be fun to do keys, but then I realized we hadn't kept up with those.  So then I thought what about a map of each place?  But then I would have 3 Connecticut maps and let's get real, I only need one of those in my life.  Plus it would be a little too map-heavy since maps are so big.  Then I remembered post cards!  And that brings me to this:

There are 6 because I thought Will should be well represented and he lived in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida all before the age of 9.  Way to rack up those states bud.  All of the post cards came from Ebay, and most were free shipping and under $2. 

Anyways, as beautiful as these are, I didn't want to just frame them and throw them up on the wall.  So instead, I did a little tracing:

I traced them all and intend to scan them, make them all the same size, maybe change the outline/background color, and then get them printed somewhere like Kinko's on card stock paper.  Hopefully it will look like it does in my head: simple yet interesting and professional (much more so than the current state for sure).  I'll keep you updated.

Oh, and I knew tracing would be easy because I remembered back in high school when we had these tracing tables that were made up of a transparent top with a light underneath.  Then I realized I don't own one of those tables and I stalled for about 2 months.  Until last night when I had a light bulb moment.  Welcome to my tracing station:



See?  All you need is 2 boxes, a miniature baby lamp that always made you think "What do you do with a lamp that size?," 2 bar stools (Christmas tablecloth is optional), kitchen chair, tape (to keep postcard and paper in place), and the glass from a frame.

Happy tracing!