London Calling

Since Madame Owner watched Night at the Museum a couple of months ago I've been thinking about some of the museums she's visited and many that are still on her list. The woman doesn't have a bucket list; she has a ticket one.  Museum tickets, boarding passes, railway stubs...things she always wants more of.

The list of some of her favorite museums is topped with Churchill's Cabinet War Rooms in London. While in many museums you are looking at collections if items grouped together in some generic setting, or going through someone's home, in this museum you are entering a time warp. It looks as though everyone got up the day the war ended, left, and locked the door behind them. The gritty determination of the British to survive and win hangs in the air, still.

Here's the link to the official site: Churchill's War Room

Your visit will be enhanced by reading up on your subject before you go. Here is a list of books Churchill supplied by the museum site: The Books of Sir Winston Churchill.

Madame would add a couple of additional writings to get you in the WWII London mood:

London at War and How We Lived Then.

Can't get to London? Watch a video tour of the museum here.

Madame's Map Project

Oh for the love of maps! Today I'm showing you a project Madame Owner did as a gift to her daughter and new son-in-law. I haven't been anyplace recently except to the church full of make-up, hair products, and flat irons. And Madame? Well, she has been distracted by all the wedding hoopla but will return next week to her normal gallivanting self. 

Here's the project I've stolen from Madame Owner's blog:

 The groom had been keeping the honeymoon destination a secret and decided the 1 year mark would be a good time for the big reveal.

Since The Housewife/Mother of the Bride was in on the secret I had a little project up my sleeve, thanks to Pinterest.

I found a map of the destination...

drum roll please....

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

A romantic return to the beach where he proposed. Remember?

back of the wrapped canvas

 Well, I don't love anything if it isn't a project so I decided to make them something special to commemorate the place.

And because I love maps.







I do not love hearts, but the bride does so I put my own aversion to them aside to do this sweet project. It's really easy. here's a walk through:

To start off I purchased a map of the destination (This would also be a really cute idea for a house warming gift for someone moving to a new city.), a canvas, and some spray adhesive.

Next I sprayed the canvas with the adhesive and proceeded to wrap the canvas as I would a present, tucking corners, etc.

I cut out a template of a heart and lightly traced the outline on the map.

Using embroidery thread (in red, of course) I began to stitch an outline of the heart. 

This is the back of the canvas. 

This is the finished product. I gave it to the bride this morning.

She did a happy dance.

Nothing starts a day off like seeing your child do a happy dance.



I have a lot of wedding related projects to share with you that I've been documenting as I've done them. So post wedding, this blog will be one project after another for a while.