Pre-Order So God Made a Mother

Written By:  Michelle Fortin @ Making our Dream

Today, I’ve got an easy and cheap DIY project for Valentine’s Day. You still have time to pull this one together. You can do this. It’s that easy!

DIY Love Map; Remember Your Travels Together   www.herviewfromhome.com

I made this map for my husband as an anniversary gift. I’ve put pins in all of the places we have traveled together.

DIY Love Map; Remember Your Travels Together   www.herviewfromhome.com

That’s a few pins in France, Canada and Mexico and lots of pins all across the U.S. If I included the trips we made when we were single, there would be a lot more – but I thought it would be romantic to just mark where we have memories together.

DIY Love Map; Remember Your Travels Together   www.herviewfromhome.com

 For this DIY project you need a few items:

  • Map
  • Foam board that measures bigger than your map
  • Spray adhesive – preferably a special kind for mounting photos
  • Door moulding or crown moulding for the frame
  • Stain or paint for the frame
  • Tape – painter’s or masking will work best
  • Staple gun
  • Finishing nails
  • Pins
  • A good memory – to recall all the places you’ve traveled!

DIY Love Map; Remember Your Travels Together   www.herviewfromhome.com

I ordered my map from Amazon and it was less than $12 plus shipping. Don’t have a passport? Check out this U.S. map, also from Amazon. Like to stick even closer to home? Maps.com has several different Nebraska maps available – some are even inexpensive downloads you can print yourself.

Once you have your map, you’ll need a foam board for the backing. My map is hugmongoginormous. Yes, that’s a word. It is 39×55. I found a 40×60 foam board at Hobby Lobby for just $9.99 (plus, I used one of their 40% off coupons. Score!). You want the board slightly larger than the map because you’ll need some extra space to attach it to the frame.

This next part is probably the trickiest. Take the spray adhesive and coat the foam board, then lay your map on top and smooth it out. I used a large, crafting ruler to smooth it out – but still ended up with some bubbles. There’s a brand new mountain range in Greenland, created by yours truly. So, take some time on this one – ask someone to help you.

Let this dry for at least three hours.

While that’s drying, you can get your frame ready. My father-in-law did mine. I recommend that method, if it’s handy. If not, you can do it yourself too! Head on over to Home Depot or another hardware/home supply store. Pick out a door or crown moulding that you like. (I went with a simple – and cheap – door moulding.) Have the staff there cut it to the right lengths for you. You could also ask them to cut 45degree angles for you too – or you can use a table saw for that.

DIY Love Map; Remember Your Travels Together   www.herviewfromhome.com

Make sure your measurements are exact and that the angles are cut correctly on each piece.

DIY Love Map; Remember Your Travels Together   www.herviewfromhome.com

Before you put it all together, stain or paint the wood. I used a stain. Once that is dry you can use a nail gun or just a hammer and some small finishing nails to put the frame together. You could also make it extra secure and use some wood glue at the corners.

Then, place the finished frame over the top of the map, which should already be mounted on the foam board. Use the tape to set it in place and hold the board to the frame.

Then, flip it over and get out your staple gun.

DIY Love Map; Remember Your Travels Together   www.herviewfromhome.com

DIY Love Map; Remember Your Travels Together   www.herviewfromhome.com

CAREFULLY, staple the edge of the foam to the frame. Make sure you trim the edge of the foam board too. You can use a razor blade for that.

DIY Love Map; Remember Your Travels Together   www.herviewfromhome.com

Flip ‘er over and admire your work!

DIY Love Map; Remember Your Travels Together   www.herviewfromhome.com

Now, get out your straight pins and wrack your brain to remember all the places you’ve been – and pin away!

DIY Love Map; Remember Your Travels Together   www.herviewfromhome.com

Your Valentine will love this gift – and it will be fun to start planning your next pin!

So God Made a Mother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our new book, SO GOD MADE A MOTHER available for pre-order now!

Pre-Order Now

Michelle Fortin

Michelle Fortin and her husband, Jason blog about their DIY home improvement adventures on their site, Making Our Dream. That’s where you’ll also hear more about her life as a part-time SAHM to Kenton (born 5/2011) and baby #2 – due to arrive in October 2012. In addition to being a wife and mom, Michelle also teaches broadcast journalism at Arizona State University, is actively involved in her local MOPS group, dabbles in photography, and is a self-confessed social media addict. Currently, she lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, where she and Jason bought their first home in 2009. It was a foreclosure that’s needed quite a bit of work! If Michelle looks familiar, that may be because you remember her as Michelle Frey – when she anchored the weekend newscasts on NTV a few years ago. She also taught a few classes at UNK. The years she spent in central Nebraska produced some of the best memories and dearest friends a girl could ask for – which is why she’s thrilled to be a part of the Her View From Home team.

Sometimes Love Means Slowing Down

In: Friendship, Kids
Two boys on bicycles riding to park, shown from behind

Think of something faster than a 7-year-old boy on a two-wheel bike. Maybe a race car at the drop of the checkered flag? Perhaps a rocket ship blasting into space? Or how quickly a toddler mom books it out of the house after being told she can have a hands-free hour ALONE in Target. Yes, all of these things are seriously speedy, but I have still never seen anything quite as quick as a boy on a bike on a sunny day with endless open track ahead of him. Until today. Today, my 6-year-old son wanted to ride bikes with...

Keep Reading

To the Mom Going through a Divorce

In: Living, Marriage, Motherhood
Woman holding young girl outside, blurred background

To the mom going through a divorce: you can do this. I’ve been where you are, staring at a mountain of changes and challenges that felt insurmountable. The crushing ache of divorce, of family disruption, of building a new life, and helping my son through it all seemed endless and impossible. But eventually, I made it through to the other side, and I want you to know: the pain won’t last forever.  The first year following a divorce is an overwhelming puzzle of putting your life back together. And when there are kids involved, there is so much more to...

Keep Reading

I Wish My Family Could See More than My Faults

In: Living
Mom standing with child on dirt road

I am and always will be a self-described mini-train wreck. I’m disorganized, have trouble keeping my house clean, and my kids aren’t perfect angels. In my home, we have fights, slammed doors, foul language, and dirty dishes in the sink.  I sometimes go in the bathroom and cry so hard my mascara streaks down my cheeks—that is, when I wear mascara. Usually sans makeup and hair tied with an old scrunchy is the look I often rock.  I’m notoriously terrible about making appointments for myself, I’m constantly tired, and my nails could stand a good manicure.  I’m overweight, and I...

Keep Reading

There’s Something Special about Old Friends

In: Friendship, Living
College of pictures of friends, black-and-white photo

There is much to be said about old friends. In quotes, in the five regrets of the dying, in The Golden Girls theme song. But life gets busy, doesn’t it? It gets complicated—marriages, jobs, kids, errands. Friendships that were once part of us seem to fade into the background as lives grow and shift.  Being the always optimist, the queen of nostalgia, the friend who probably holds on just a little too tight, I have always seen the value in the old. The familiar. I’m the person who orders the same menu item every time at my favorite restaurant. I’m...

Keep Reading

8 Fight Songs for the Single Mom

In: Faith, Living, Motherhood
Woman holding earbuds in ears

They whispered to her: You cannot withstand the storm. I have had days when the storms hit me while I sat on the shower floor with my knees to my chest feeling completely defeated, letting the hot water beat down on my body. I have had nights when the storms hit me as tears stained my pillow. As time has moved on, I am learning how to beat the storms. This is only possible because of the family and friends that God has brought into my life. This is my fight song. These are and have been my take back...

Keep Reading

Take the Trip, You Won’t Regret It

In: Kids, Living, Motherhood

Two years ago, in the middle of a snowy, windy, Colorado March, my husband and I made the spontaneous decision to road trip to Arizona with our three very young kids.  Even though I was excited, the nerves were so very real. Over the next couple of weeks, I literally lost sleep worrying about the logistics of our trip. My late-night mindless scrolling was replaced by searches like “traveling with toddlers” and “keeping kids entertained on road trips”. We already had our hands full chasing kids at home in a familiar setting. Were we crazy to think we could just...

Keep Reading

Bust Out the Clipboard of Fun: It’s 90s Con Weekend!

In: Living
Candace Cameron Bure Andrea Barber on an airplane, taking a selfie with sleeping woman by window

In a world divided by basically everything, there’s one thing we all can agree on: growing up in the ’90s was the absolute best. You were dialing up to the internet on a monstrosity of a computer, probably with a free trial of AOL your parents got in the mail. You had a Discman with double bass boost and a sweet pair of Sony headphones with those foam pads over the ears. If you were lucky, your friend down the street had the coveted clear telephone AND a dedicated teen line. And every day after school, you cracked open some...

Keep Reading

Don’t Delete the Picture You Think You Look Bad In

In: Grief, Living, Loss
Woman holding phone with picture of her and daughter, color photo

Don’t delete the picture—the one you look bad in. I said it. You heard me. Don’t delete the picture, that picture—you know the one, the one with the double chin or the bad angle. The picture that is not so flattering. The picture that accentuates your forehead lines or the one taken next to your skinny best friend. We are all so hard on ourselves. Many of us are striving for a better complexion or a thinner physique. Sometimes scrutinizing ourselves and zooming in on a picture—seeing things the world does not see. Don’t delete the picture. RELATED: Take the...

Keep Reading

Dear Daughter, Friendships Are Like Blue Jeans

In: Friendship, Motherhood
Friends holding hands no faces showing, wearing blue jeans

Dear daughter, As you grow, relationships with other girls will often be complicated and sometimes feel discouraging. Friendships can be life-giving and beautiful. They can also be dramatic and draining.  Here’s a little trick to understanding the ebb and flow of friendships in your life.  Think of friendships like blue jeans.  They might be in your life for just a season. They can be trendy, but not last very long. Sometimes you will outgrow them. Sometimes they won’t fit, and you will have to put them back.  RELATED: Not All Friendships Are Meant To Last Forever Sometimes they are brand new, but...

Keep Reading

To the Mom Overwhelmed by Anger and Guilt

In: Living, Motherhood
Woman with head in hands and kids in background

Long before you became a mother, you fantasized about the special connection you would share with your little ray of sunshine. You made the promise that you would arm yourself with all the patience in the world and be the calmest and most loving parent there is.   And how long did it take you to end up confused, worried, or disappointed when reality didn’t meet your expectations of being a mother?   In my practice as a psychotherapist, I often meet mothers overwhelmed by guilt and shame because, in their eyes, they don’t rise to the challenge.   I snapped at him...

Keep Reading