Drink Local! Wall-Mounted Bottle Opener

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Custom State Wall-Mounted Wood Bottle Opener from ScoutMob

Custom State Wall-Mounted Wood Bottle Opener from ScoutMob

 

I love decorating and being a locavore almost as much as I love travel, so when all three come together, it’s like rainbows and unicorns (oh, and wine) for me. Almost everything in my house has some kind of story, which is exactly how I like it. Most things we have either made or bought while we are on our trips. When I was searching for a wall-mounted bottle opener for the new bar area we made (from thrift store finds and leftover flooring…high five!), I came across one of my new favorite websites.

I found this awesome DRINK LOCAL wall-mounted custom state wooden bottle opener on Scoutmob, which has some really fabulous finds. I love that I was able to choose my state (Pennsylvania for those who are not state-shape experts), and I also feel good about the whole ‘Drink Local’ concept. Especially because it can be taken to mean drink in my backyard OR drink locally produced things…whichever you prefer.

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Scoutmob has all kinds of state and travel related items, which makes me really wish I could win the lottery and buy them all. The style of the items on the site is also right up my alley. Oh, and I have absolutely no affiliation with this website.  I just wanted to pass along something I thought was really cool.

As of this writing, you can get 8% cash back when you go through the BeFrugal Shopping Portal (my referral link).  After you sign up on the BeFrugal site, seach for Scoutmob and click on it to shop with 8% cash back.  You can read more about how to earn cash, miles, and points by shopping here and here.

How to Decorate with Travel Photos : Wall Display

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Hallway2

Two of my favorite hobbies are traveling (obviously) and decorating/art.  It is absolutely perfect when I can combine both. I like being able to use things from our travels in our home to remind us of our trips.  We have sand and shell collections that are great reminders of some of our coastal trips (especially nice to look at on our cold winter days here in the Northeast).  The kids have large magnet collections that serve as trip reminders for them.  We take tons of photos when we travel, and we have different ways of using them to bring our memories home.  This is one of my favorite ways for how to decorate with travel photos.

How to decorate with Travel Photos

One of the best ways to add  drama to your decor is with black and white photos.  And what could be better to frame than those photos you have taken yourself as you travel (or of your kids, pets, or anything that you enjoy looking at)?

Our black and white framed wall photo collage started in 2001, after we spent 5 weeks traveling through Europe (pre-kids).  We had so many amazing photos, and we were on such a tight budget that we didn’t purchase many souvenirs while traveling.  We came home & printed our photos (this was pre-digital camera!), then we enlarged and framed our favorites.

Our black & white travel photo collage

Our black & white travel photo collage

How to create a black and white photo wall display:

You can go about this in two different ways:

  1. Choose the photo frames that you like and that will fit in your space.  Then print your photos based on the sizes and direction (horizontal or vertical) that your frames will hang.
  2. Choose the photos that you want to use, and then base your frame purchases on your photos.

I have done this both ways.  When I first started my collage in 2001, I carefully chose the frames to match the photos.  Now that I have added more and more over time, I will choose frames that fit the space, and then order the photos that are appropriate for the frame.

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Some tips for creating an amazing photo wall display:

  • Choose various frame sizes in the same color
  • Keep the same mat color for all photos
  • Write your photo location and date on the mat
  • Create a focal point photo and build your display around that
  • You can also use wall shelves to place the photos on so you don’t have to hang directly on the wall & can move around
  • Use wall putty on the back corners of the frames to keep them from moving around
  • Lay out all of your frames on the floor before hanging to make sure you like the layout
  • Put a dab of toothpaste on the back of the frame where you will hang it on the nail.  As you press it up against the wall where you are going to hang it, the toothpaste will transfer to the wall & that is where you should hammer the nail into the wall
One of our older black & white travel photos - Ireland 2002

One of our older black & white travel photos – Ireland 2002

 

I like to purchase all different kinds of frames from various stores.  My go-to stores are Michaels and AC Moore (great deals with their coupons, and they take each other’s coupons as well), as well as IKEA.  I like to buy multiples of the same frames to keep things symmetrical.  I also like to use collage frames for certain trips (I have a 3 photo one with photos from 3 Hawaiian islands). 

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Our travel photo display wall is getting pretty full, and we have no plans to stop traveling. Luckily I have other tricks up my sleeve. Stay tuned!

Magnet Collection: Bring Memories Home

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My son's travel magnet collection

My son’s travel magnet collection

 

Our Travel Magnet Collections

We love having things around our house that help bring back memories from our travels.  One type of collection that is easy to start and keep up with is destination magnets.  Almost everywhere we have gone, we have found lots of magnets to choose from.   These collections belong to the kids, and we let each of them choose a magnet for each of the places we visit.   You can start your memory collections at any time.  If your kids are too young to choose for themselves, just pick them out yourself & stash them away until they are older.  If you have traveled to lots of places and haven’t started a collection yet, that’s OK too.  It’s never too late to start!

I like to write their initial (so we don’t get them mixed up) and the year on the back of each magnet.  As time goes by, it’s so easy to forget what year we went to each of these places!

 

My daughter's travel magnet collection

My daughter’s travel magnet collection

 

Magnet Collection Display

Our Magnet Boards

The red and black circle magnet boards are wall mounted on my son’s bedroom wall.  The red ones were purchase at Land of Nod  and the black ones were purchased at IKEA years ago (no longer available).  Don’t forget to go through Ebates like I did to earn cash back from the online purchase.  You can also check the other kinds of shopping portals to see which has the best payout at the time of your purchase.

Round Wall-Mounted Magnet Boards

Round Wall-Mounted Magnet Boards

 

My daughter’s magnet boards were purchased at IKEA.  They are the SPONTAN magnetic boards in the white color.  Luckily they fit perfectly on the sides of her shelves that surround her desk area (desk top and legs also from IKEA).

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IKEA SPONTAN White Magnet Board

IKEA SPONTAN White Magnet Board

 

One thing to note:  There can be some concern with young kids and swallowing magnets, so if your kids are at that age, you might want to stash their magnet collections away until they are old enough to have them displayed without trying to eat them.

Shell Collection : Bring Memories Home

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Our Seashell Collection

Our Seashell Collection – Free Souvenirs!

Shell Collection:

One of my very favorite things to do on beach vacations is to walk along the beach looking for shells.  There is just something about their colors, shapes, and unique beauty that really gets me.  Whenever allowed (some places don’t allow shell collecting, but I have only found that once – Cozumel), I will collect shells and bring them home as a free souvenir and a way to remember our trips.  I never take live shells (the ones with little squishy things in them) & always wash them.   On our recent trip to Marco Island, the hotel even had shell washing stations on the walkways from the beach. My daughter also loves to collect shells, and I have found that this had led to a great mother-daughter bonding experience.

Some of our Marco Island Seashells

Some of our Marco Island Seashells

I love our shell and sand collections

I display and organize the seashells (and sometimes rocks) the same way that I do the sand.  I like to buy the glass vases at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore or other local thrift stores.  I can usually get them for around $1.00, which is perfect.  I got the little tags at Staples and I used twine to tie them onto the vases.  I also use craft glue dots like these to make the twine stick to the glass if needed.  I like to write the location and date on the tags.  The shelves have plenty of room for an expanding shell collection!

Shell Collection Shelves

Shell Collection from Ocean City, MD

Shell Collection from Ocean City, MD

shell collection on shelves

Junior Ranger Program : National Parks

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Some of the Junior Ranger booklets and badges we have collected

Some of the Junior Ranger booklets and badges we have collected

 

Junior Ranger Program

In most of the National Parks we have visited, the kids have participated in the Junior Ranger program, which I highly recommend.  When you arrive at the National Park Visitor’s Center, ask someone where you can get the information about the Junior Rangers.  They will give you a booklet to complete, with all of the tasks that need to be accomplished before returning to a Visitor’s Center and claiming your badge (free souvenir…score!).  The kids may be asked to raise their hands and repeat after the Ranger (hint: this is a cute photo op).

I will happily force encourage my kids to participate in these programs because I learned so much more than I would have if they hadn’t.  The booklets will give you information about the local plants and animals, and fun facts about the parks.  I have found these to be more useful than many of the guidebooks I have read! Because of these programs, we participated in Ranger-led hikes, watched informative films, listened to Ranger talks (who knew dolphins aren’t actually smiling?!?!), and learned about native cultures and traditions.

Plus it is just really nice family bonding time, and who can argue with that?

According to their website:

“There are currently over 200 Junior Ranger Programs in the National Park Service. In each of these parks, kids interview Rangers, complete games, and answer questions about the park and the National Park Service. At the end of their experience in the park, they are sworn in as Junior Rangers and receive a special certificate and official Junior Ranger badge.”

This is yet another example of how travel can be both educational and fun.  At times the kids didn’t even realize that they were learning something!  I love relaxing days on the beach as much as the next vacationer, but I also try building in some educational travel on our trips, especially on a long vacation.  I’m not going to pretend that the kids always go with the travel flow as much as I want them to, but the Junior Ranger program is one that we generally all agree is very worthwhile.

Where we have been….where we are going

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This is my custom map of all of the states I have visited so far!

This is my custom map of all of the states I have visited so far!

 

This is a watercolor map that I painted so that I can chronicle our USA travels in style! Interior decorating is something that I love almost as much as traveling, so I wanted to make something that would look cute hanging on a wall (although finding an empty wall around here will be a challenge).  I can fill in each state after we visit, so it will eventually be filled!  Also, the words are added onto the photo & not the painting.

Where I have been:

1. Alaska

2. Arizona

3. California

4. Colorado

5. Connecticut

6. Delaware

7. Florida

8. Georgia

9. Hawaii (Kauai, Maui, Oahu)

10. Nevada

11. New Hampshire

12. New Jersey

13. New Mexico

14. New York

15. Ohio

16. Pennsylvania

17. Louisiana

18. Maine

19. Maryland

20. Massachuetts

21. Missouri

22. Rhode Island

23. South Carolina

24. Utah

25. Vermont

26. Virginia

27. Washington

Plus Washington D.C.

 

Where we have definite plans to visit:

- Illinois

- Indiana

- Kentucky

- Tennessee

- North Carolina

- Hawaii (Big Island)

 

Over halfway there! There are still lots of places to visit, and I have not done justice to many of the states that I actually have visited.  I only “counted” places where I have done something fun and as a traveler.  I did not count Illinois (went to a conference in Chicago, but I didn’t get to do anything fun or touristy), and we have driven through North Carolina.  We haven’t been to all of these places as a family, which really would be my preference.  So most of these states WILL be revisited!

Sand Collection : Bringing Memories Home

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This is our collection of sand from different places we have visited.

This is our collection of sand from different places we have visited.

 Our Sand Collection:

We are almost always sad to come home from a great vacation, and we have come up with lots of different creative ideas for bringing our memories home with us and making them a part of our home.  Our house is filled with things that remind us of our travels, but we don’t like to spend a lot of money on souvenirs.  We have some shelves in our living room that are filled with our sand and seashell collections.  They make me happy every time I look at them.

This is our sand collection.  I bought the glass vases from a local Habitat for Humanity ReStore.  I like supporting a great organization and getting a bargain at the same time!  They were each $1.00 or less, so I consider this to be an amazing souvenir bargain. Oh, and the sand was free.

I usually have some kind of water bottle or Ziploc bag with me wherever we go, so it is easy to grab a handful of sand & then label it so I don’t forget where it came from by the time I get home.  I have even shipped sand and shells home in a flat rate box from USPS if they are really heavy (ok, this makes it not free, but still).  Once I get home, I just pour it into the current vase with space, use a Sharpie glass marker to write where it came from, and enjoy another memory from a great trip!

It is never too late to start something like this.  I wish that I had started it years ago, but I didn’t think of it until we were in Hawaii in 2012.  I am glad that I went for it & have been doing it ever since.  I expect this collection to be huge by the end of the year…

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