Worldly Wall Art – Part I

I’m back after a bit of a hiatus, folks.  And I am mega excited about some of the things I’m working on right now.  One of them is the wall above our sectional.  I mentioned once that I had a few empty frames hanging there…  If I’m keepin’ it real (and you know I am) I’ll tell you that these four 8 x 10s hung in this position for about eight months!

Yep.  We looked at four framed stock photos of sand dollars for THAT. LONG.  Shame, shame Jamie.  Sidebar – how cool is the world map the frames are surrounding?  Check out the detail on that bad boy!

The countries are made up of sheet music!  The art is by Michael Thompsett.  I originally bought it on Hayneedle’s flash site The Foundary but his work can be found here on Hayneedle, among other places, and they’re all so pretty!  I liked it so much that I also bought the dinosaur one for my dino-enthusiast sister.

It would be prudent to note that my posts aren’t sponsored by Hayneedle or Michael Thompsett or anyone else – I just write about things I love/places I shop.  

Back to the frames.  Even though I didn’t have anything to put in them (evidently for eight months), I had to snag them.  They were on sale at Michael’s for $5.98 each!  Once I hung them around the map, I bookmarked my brain to keep an eye out for maps, skylines or anything “place-related” that would work in the frames.  Eight months later (have I mentioned the length of time that the frames were naked yet?) my June Birchbox subscription treated me to some super cute postcards!  Each one depicts a different major city and says hello in that particular city’s language.

And aren’t the bright colors so fun?!  I switched the layout of the frames since the designs on the card are landscaped.  To mount them, I just flipped over the sand dollar stock pics, measured where I wanted the postcard and secured it to the backs of the stock pics with a bit of tape – easy peasy!  I recently made a purchase that I’ll be adding to this wall later in the week.  Stay tuned for that.  For now, here’s what we look at right before we plop our bums down on the sofa (dog included).  Much better than before, no?

I’d say not bad for $20 in frames and free postcards!  I’m still on the lookout for some curtains that I love to cover our super 80’s blinds – ah the thrill of the search!  I’d also love to paint the walls but that may take some convincing with the landlord.  We shall see!

Any other Birchboxers out there that loved their Wanderlust postcards as much as me?  And who else has let empty frames sit for months on end?  I know I’m not the only one… Do tell…