Friday, October 22, 2010

Home sweet home

When I saw this post over at the Nester, I knew I had to have one of my very own.

Only, I didn't want to pay big bucks for something I could create myself.

Because I'm crazy and controlling frugal and independent like that.

And since we've moved more times than most people in our 17 years together, this was the perfect accessory for our home. It took some time finding the old street names, but was a nostalgic walk down memory lane in the process.

Oh, the stories each street could tell you about me.

[Yeah. Me and my wild self. NOT.]

Photobucket

I mixed them all up order-wise and the kids had fun trying to assign each street name to its matching city and state.

I also put a photo of our current home behind the text and reduced the opacity, but it doesn't show up very well in the photos. I had the print mounted on a 3/4" standout with black edging, knowing that I wasn't going to put it in a frame. I wanted to hang the print in the basement, and that is a glass-free zone, so it works well as-is. Plus, I like the simplicity of the print all by itself.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

And it seals the deal: We can't ever move again.

There's no room on there for any more street names.

20 comments:

Tristan said...

I love that!! I'd copy but some of the streets we have lived on were just numbers. I don't know how that would look with street names.

Unknown said...

Totally stealing that idea :)

Karen said...

LOVE this! Would you be so kind as to share details of how you made it? Thanks!

Christie said...

Karen--

It's a 20x20 print that I designed in photoshop. Just laid out the words in various sizes/thicknesses. I put the photo of our house as a layer under the next and reduced the opacity to where I thought it looked good. Then I uploaded it to my printhouse that I use (whcc) and had it in my hands within two days. They do all the mounting and printing and are the absolute best. Did that answer your question?

Karey said...

This is a great idea. We've moved a lot, too. I just don't know how 900 North, 1650 South and 1500 North would look among the street names. Darn it, Utah! Sure the numbers make it easy to get around, but they aren't very interesting.

Thelma said...

That is great. Now I'm thinking I want to do the same thing. I can't remember all the streets...And I'm not sure I'm smart enough to do it...

I'll try.

Annie said...

Love it! Sam has one of those NYC subway posters in his room but I like this so much more--so personal!
You and your creativity + gumption!

jen@odbt said...

Looks fantastic! My sign would be very tiny. We haven't moved much and my husband swears this is the last place.

Amanda D said...

It looks great, Stie! I love it.

the wrath of khandrea said...

can you put a few more pictures up? or email them? i really want to see the full effect, like the image of your house. this is great. too bad skip and i don't have enough addresses together to make one of these... i'll have to see if i can come up with a clever adaptation. i likey.

Lindsey said...

Gonna do it. But, it is going to have to be a VERY BIG BOARD.

Travelin'Oma said...

I have leftover Oma stickers to many of these addresses. You've made a lot of houses into homes!

Anna said...

Oh why don't we live close to each other now? I love, love this and have no idea how to create it. So... um... where can I get the instructions?

Juli said...

Love this idea. And I too, have alot of adresses... -J

brooke said...

Every time you say the word "mounted" it makes me laugh.

This is so so cool. I love it.

heidiram said...

Love this idea. Not that I understand a word you just said when explaining how you did it. It is so cool.

Julie From Inmates said...

Oh my word. I love that. Very creative. =)

Jeanelle said...

I swallowed a big ol' lump in my throat at seeing Klahanie and knowing that once upon a time we lived close enough to meet for regular diet coke dates and we didn't even know each other then. Sigh. (And is University Village "my" U-Village or is that in Utah or something?)

Dalene said...

Okay, I totally need this but need some more directions in how to make it. Does Maren have my name for Christmas?

Lauren in GA said...

It looks smashing, Stie! I really love it. I have a friend that just made a board really similar with family rules on it (things like Choose the Right, Love one Another, Share, Take turns, etc). I just clicked over to my friend's blog to see if on her sidebar she had the blog you linked listed as a blog she follows and she does. She got her idea from the same blog. Kind of funny.

Anyway, again...I think it looks great! I love it!