National Parks: A Treasure in Person and On Our Walls
Summer is just around the corner, which means millions of Americans will head on vacations. Some of the most popular destinations include our National Parks. The National Park Service is celebrating its 100th year and it was a pretty darn good idea, if you ask me.
When I was growing up, my family didn't travel to the National Parks, but in some ways I am glad we didn't because I am getting to experience the beauty of these untouched places in our country when I have much more appreciation for it. I never thought I'd enjoying hiking, but after trips to Glacier National Park and the Grand Canyon in the last two years, as well as some state parks, I've come to love it! On each of the hikes I've gone on, I've been able to see something I couldn't have experienced by just driving through.
Our Glacier National Park trip was last August and it was beautiful! Pictures just don't begin to do it justice, but here are a couple from our trip:
In March we ventured to the Grand Canyon. Again, pictures just don't do it justice. A hiking shop employee tipped us off to a less traveled to area of the park. We walked about a mile out to an amazing viewpoint with no one else around. It was a great way to enjoy the breathtaking scenery.
But, what does all this have to do with crafting, decorating and throwing parties? I'm getting there!
We were nearing a year in our new house and the office desperately needed something on the walls. Chris uses the office a lot, so I wanted to make sure whatever we put up in there was something we both liked. On one wall, we had a painting of some mountains that Chris's grandmother painted. In thinking about what might compliment that, it hit me that it would be fun to use some of the retro National Park posters for decor.
To start out, I did some searching on Google and Pinterest for some of the poster options. There are a lot of different options out there. I wanted a variety of colors and some consistency with the design/era of the posters, so I landed on these four: Glacier, Grand Canyon, Sequoia and Yellowstone. There are options to order these kinds of posters on Amazon in a range of sizes for varied prices. They are also available for purchase through the National Parks at their gift shops. Because I was not looking for larger poster sizes, I found images that were of good enough quality to print to fit an 8x10 frame.
I picked up the Studio Decor Belmont frames from Michaels. They often run deals on simple gallery wall frames, so I was able to snag 5 of these 11x14 frames with 8x10 matting for about $7 a piece. This week, the frames on sale for $7.99 a piece, but you can often find them on sale and then also use any coupons they have that include sale-priced items to get them for even less. The frames also come in other colors including white, black, charcoal gray and red.
They were just what we needed above the desk and are a great reminder of trips we've taken and hopefully some to come.