What to do with your travel photos

Do you have tons of travel photos sitting on your computer or external hard drive? I know I do. And with the help of Pinterest, my favorite web-place, I decided to actually do something with the 15,000+ photos I have from the past two, yes two, years. If you have followed my blog and seen my travel posts, you know I spent time studying abroad in Rome, and then working in London and Rome too. Now I have made it my mission to display my photos in my grad school apartment. This post will take you through my current project, and also share other Pinterest ideas to help display your precious travel photos. 

Before you print your photos, the best thing to do is back them up. After I move my photos to my computer, I create a folder for each city or country I visited, then folders for the date the photos were taken. Its fairly simple, but it helps me find photos easily and remember what days I was in a city. I also move all my photos onto an external hard drive to clear space on my laptop. Again, this is just a very simple way to store and organize your digital collection, and you can go nuts with the organization and backing up if you'd like. Whatever works for you.

Now to the physical collection of your photos!

This pin inspired my current project to take 108 travel photos, printed into 4" x 4" squares (including a small white border), onto two 27" x 40" frames. I went about this project by going through ALL of my photos, picking out my favorites, and then using photoshop to crop the photos into a square. I then went to Walgreens in order to print the photos and add the white border. My next step is to double-side tape these photos onto museum board before placing them into the largest photo frame sold at Michaels. Once this project is finished, I will post the final photos and some a more detailed step-by-step tutorial. 

Like my current project, this gallery wall project may take a little more time and photo editing skills. After reading several pins about Gallery Walls, the best tip is to create 8" x 8" square photos and putting them into a square frame with large matting. 

I really like gallery walls, they look very sleek and chic in any space, though they could be a chore to actually put up on the wall. Additionally, it is a nice way to display favorite buildings and cities you visited in your travels, without becoming overwhelming like the last project and or a scrapbook.

Down the lines of single photo frames, this idea combines your lovely travel photos with a map matting to remember exactly where you were! Again, this probably takes some time to cut out the map just right, but its another cute and fun way to display some of your favorite travel photos. Maybe you can combine this with the gallery wall tutorial too!

Maybe you are in the map mood. For those of you who love to display photos of you and your significant other or family on your travel adventures, this is a great idea to showcase exactly where you have been in the USA, or any other country, continent, etc. Just buy the map of the place you want to highlight, and then cut your photos accordingly. This is also a great way to keep up with your bucket list idea to visit all 50 states.

If you are feeling ambitious and like to cut photos precisely, try this pin. It involves printing out many of the same photo and layering them for a 3D effect. I think it looks awesome for family photos like the one pictures above!

This is probably the easiest travel photo project on Pinterest. Instead of buying frames, cutting out scenery, and leveling photos on the wall, buy a basic wooden box at a craft store, paint it and label the country, state, or city, of the contents in the box. It's a great idea for people who also collect museum brochures and ticket stubs, allowing you to "display" them alongside your photos. If I was doing this method, I would probably label my photos with a ball point pen with the exact city and date too. 

So here is my round-up of things to do with your travel photos besides wasting away on your external hard drive. Obviously these are not my own ideas, but things I have pinned on Pinterest, but they are all things I would love to try in order to make my apartment feel more like home. I will also keep you up to date with my travel collage project too! 

Have a fun day and happy travels!

~Kelly

Gardening

Since I was little I loved to garden with my parents. Though in high school I avoided the garden, now (after the awkward high school years) I actually am starting to like gardening again. I can probably blame this new found love with pinterest, the usual culprit. I haven't had anything interesting to post yet this weekend, but here are two pictures I took today at the garden store, and at home. I really wanted an herb garden so I planted some basil, thyme, oregano, and rosemary. In the center is a tomato plant, and the tomatoes are seedless! I will definitely get a bigger pot, a nicer one too. I'll go out with my camera tomorrow and snap some pretty shots for you all! Plus, I'll let you know the status of my little garden!

Reversible Pillow Case

 If you have been reading my blog, you know I am going to live in Rome, Italy for 4 months! I decided to make a little pillow case that can double as a seat when I go around Rome and draw the beautiful architecture. One side is gray fleece, perfect for the plane to sleep on, the other side is a pretty outdoor canvas for the streets of Rome! Here is what you'll need if you wish to make a reversible pillow case!

• sewing machine
• 12" x 16" travel pillow
• two different fabrics-- both were 18" wide by around 48" (you have to cut these in half to make the two faces of the case)
• thread (I used white)
• needle (regular sewing needle to finish seams)

 1.  I started off cutting my pieces- They are 18" x 24" (its a lot bigger than you actually need but I will be adding a strap to have it hang off of my bag)
     I laid the pieces on top of each other (good sides facing) then sewed all four sides; leaving space to turn it right side up and then finished it with a hand sewn seam (nothing too pretty)
     You do this twice (your pillow case needs two of these that will be sewn together next)

2. With both pieces done, I now put my two outdoor canvas' good side to good side & sew three sides around. Now you will have a seam on your other side; which is pictured in the middle picture above. 

 Now that is it! Just put the pillow inside & you are good to go! 

I will be putting a little snap strap on this to make the excess fabric stay down & use the strap for easier carrying through the city of Rome! 

Comment below if you have any questions!

DIY Swifer Duster Cloths

I have read several tutorials about how to make swifer duster cloths using microfiber cloths, and decided to make my own tutorial that is simpler and quick. Here is what you need:

- sewing machine
- 4 microfiber cloths *each duster is 4 cloths together* (I bought a pack of 10"x10" microfiber cloths; the final result is about 8"x8")
- thread (I used white, you can color coordinate your thread if you choose)
- scissors
- a ruler
- fabric pencil/marker
- Swifer duster handle (as a guideline)

Let's get started!

 This is my 10"x10" microfiber cloth I bought at JoAnn's in a pack of three. First, cut the trim off. I did this because I didn't want the trim to scratch any surface I dust; however, you will cut off about an inch on the top and sides in the end. So, at least cut the bottom off where the swifer duster holder will come off.

Next, pin 2 of the cloths together and sew them together down the middle. Repeat with the other two pieces.

Now pin all 4 pieces together and sew down the middle.

Now that all 4 pieces are sewn together, lay them down and take the top piece of fabric and fold it over. *Like flipping a page on a book, you want to "read" the next piece of fabric.*

After "reading" your piece of fabric, lay down the swifer holder so the little middle piece and right piece are on the right side of the crease.

Now, use your ruler to mark where you will be sewing. You will be sewing through 3 pieces of the microfiber, leaving gaps where the two little parts of plastic come out.

Now, repeat these steps on the other side. *Go back to your original page- all 4 pieces flat, and go back one more page- 3 pieces of microfiber on the left, 5 on the right.*

Now put your "book" back to its original position. Next, I made my piece 8"x8" by cutting off excess fabric.

At one of the ends, I closed it off by about an inch on both sides of the middle seam. This way the fabric at the top won't curl over towards your hand, or fall off the swifer.

Finally, start cutting each microfiber piece. I tried to alternate the little "slices" for each piece. I go in roughly 3.5" or 4". And after that, shake it out, OUTSIDE since there will be a lot of loose pieces-cut microfiber is messy! Then I just wash it with my towels and there you go, your own swifer duster cloths!

I hope you enjoy your new dusters! I am a beginner sewer, and this was pretty easy! Please comment below if you have any questions!

White Shirt & DIY Necklace

|Oxford| Similar Jeggings| Keds| Watch| Similar Purse

This is the final DIY necklace from this post. When I braided the beads together, it looked like a braid. However, I was scared to put too much tension on the beads and string (for fear of breaking the beads or something stupid), so the braid wasn't very tight. I think it still looks okay. What do you think?

-The bracelet in the first photo was one that I made out of a gold chain and white leather on either side, secured together with clear jewelry string  and tied off with a decorative button.

DIY Necklace

I tried this necklace tutorial, seen on my Pinterest board. It was fairly easy, however my braid looks like a loose twist. I think if I made more, my braids would look better & tighter. I was afraid of too much tension on the beads and string that it would break; with my luck, it would... I'll upload a picture tomorrow of this necklace and my outfit!

-I made my bead strings to be about 6 inches long.

DIY 4th of July

If you are like me and want a simple 4th of July shirt without brand names written across your chest, this DIY flag tee is for you. I got this idea from this DIY layered shirt and decided to make an American flag in honor of the 4th (my favorite holiday!). If you want to make this, follow these steps:

I first planned out how big I wanted to make the flag. I opted for 10" x 7", and the blue section is   4.5" x 3". Next, I cut strips of some red, white and blue tee shirts. The strips were about an inch longer than the 10", 4.5" or 5.5" since the fabric will get shorter once sewn. The blue were .5" wide, the red and white were .8" wide.

I then placed down my strips and pinned them and sewed them to the tee shirt.

Then I kept going. I used red white and blue thread accordingly. Therefore, after blue I did the red sections and left space for my white strips. It is about .5" space for each red and white strip, the strips themselves are a little bigger since they curl up on themselves.

*Make sure to wash the fabric (shirts in my case) before doing this project in case of color bleeding. And then wash the shirt once you are done to get your fabric pencil or marker (used to mark what your measured) out.

And this is the result. Again the curling of the fabric won't be perfect, but it will look original and awesome! Sorry for the mirror picture- I don't have any fancy photoshop to flip it. HAPPY FOURTH!