Auction Finds...What should I do?

Thursday night I recruited 2 junking friends and we headed west to West Union. Skretta Auction was conducting a sale, and there were some treasures waiting for us! I scored a gigantic 1927 map of the United States. I haven't decided what to do with it yet.  That's where I need your help!  Here are a few photos of our loot.

 Wooden Pop crates, Metal basket, Old frames

 Vintage Navy airplane which I think is going into a nursery!

Here is my 1927 map. I was told at the sale that it came out of a school in Postville, Iowa.

Should I hang it on the wall as is? 

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(I can't find the original source to this, if you know it, please let me know!)

Or use it to decopauge a dresser? 

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Or cut it up and frame it?  

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What would you do?

Memorial Wreath

Monday we received the call that Grammie had passed away.  It's not that it wasn't expected but hearing that a loved one has died is so final and leaves a hole in your heart.  I know we'll see her again in Heaven, but her seat is empty, Grammie was a wonderful Grandmother!  My kids have had the privilege of seeing Great Grammie often and they were some of her favorite people!  I immediately started brainstorming something that would be special from her great grandchildren and that would survive a trip to Pennsylvania.  I searched Pinterest and combined a few ideas into one!

I used a pool noodle from the garage my inspiration came from here!  Since the closest Lowe's is an hour away I raided the garage.  I had to promise to replace the noodle before it gets warm though!  All you need to do is bend it into a circle and duct tape it.  Seriously!  How easy and cheap!

I also saw this valentine wreath which is adorable!

So, with those ideas in mind I dug some burlap out of the closet, an old curtain, A brown bead necklace, my glue gun and went to work.  I had no idea how it would turn out.... I've never done this before! But the results came out very cute.  Mia helped me write the messages on the wreath.  Owen was too nervous he would mess it up so he asked sis to help him out.  Dylan would have loved to add his slobber to the project!

I don't have any step by step directions.  If you know me this project was about the same way I cook.  A little of this and a little of that.  I added twine around the edges of the pictures.  I had some yarn as well that some of the pictures are edged with.  The leaves are made from scrapbook paper that looks like old music.  There are a few buttons on there, and if I had time to get more I probably would have added some more.

A Christmas Project

Whew!  The holidays are over for another year.  We had a wonderful time with friends and family.  I think Mia and Owen counted 9 or 10 Christmases they had with different people.  Now it's on to getting rid of old un-played with toys and finding spots for new ones and cleaning up the messes left behind.  A few weeks ago we made a Christmas Keepsake for Grandma and Papa.  I have no pictures of the process.  It was a fly by the seat of my pants kind of project, and I was more concerned with making sure there was no green paint on anything BUT the canvas.  Each of the 7 grandkids put their hand print on the canvas in the shape of a Christmas tree.  A week or so later I printed the words on tracing paper and mod podged them onto the canvas.  I added the trunk of the tree, the red ornaments and star.  When everything was dry I spread a few coats of mod podge over the entire thing in hopes that it will preserve it longer.  The kids wrote their names on their hands so next year when Grandma pulls it out she can remember who each hand belongs to.

Here is a photo of the gang.  At this point everyone was tired and ready for bed!

We hope you ALL had a wonderful Christmas and are ready for another great year.