It is raining here today and I am dreaming of the City of Lights…thinking about two years ago when the trip to Paris with my ten-year–old grandson was only a few weeks away…
…and I had the pleasure of sharing my favorite city with one of my favorite little guys. Sigh! It was a week filled to the brim with every single bit of Paris and the surrounding countryside that we could pack in. You can go along on the adventure with us and see my plan for seeing Paris in seven days by starting here. You will also find links to the whole series of posts about our trip. I loved every second!
How I would love to be able to relive it all! But…since I can’t…Baby Kitty has a suggestion. How about a little virtual trip by playing with some vintage Parisian paper crafts? Great idea, Big Boy! 
It all started when I found this wonderful vintage cut-out of the Eiffel Tower…love it! (You can find it here.) It reminded me of our first day there…when we climbed to the top…and our last night there…when we sat in amazement in the park and watched her nightly light show!
And then I found this fabulous vintage map of Paris from 1900 which includes all of the monuments! Amazing! You can actually download it in higher resolution here…where you will also find quite a few more old maps of Paris in the public domain. 
In fact, I cropped out and enlarged the heart of Paris for a little more detail…the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame Cathedral…aaah! And then my little brain went to work on some quick and easy Paris projects with the maps!
I simply Mod Podged the print-out of the maps…one of the whole map and one of the close-up…to some pillar candles in two sizes for instant Parisian fun! You will find a tutorial for creating Mod Podge candles here. Then I pieced together two copies of the close-up map to cover an old book…and voilà…I had a little miniature version of Paris to explore with my memories! 
And there you have it…my little virtual trip to Paris on a rainy day. The paper crafts were really fun and easy and brought back some wonderful memories for me. It will be eight more years before my youngest grandsons will be old enough for the trip. Now the question is…will I be ready to take two very energetic ten and eleven year old boys to Paris then? Hmmm…we’ll see! Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed a little peek at my projects with vintage Paris maps! Please visit these wonderful bloggers and their beautiful blogs to see what they are up to and to find a list of this week’s participants!
Under the Table and Dreaming for the Sunday Showcase Party , Thrifty Decor Chick for Before and After Monday , Boogieboard Cottage for Masterpiece Monday , Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday , The Stories of A2Z for Tutorials and Tips Tuesday , Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday , A Stroll thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday , Cedar Hill Ranch for The Scoop on Tuesdays , My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures , Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays , DIY by Design for Swing into Spring , The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays , No Minimalist Here for the Open House Party on Thursdays , Stone Gable for Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits on Thursdays , My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday , French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday , Common Ground for Be Inspired on Fridays , The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday , Craftberry Bush for the Inspiration Gallery on Friday , Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
See you next time! À la prochaine!
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Lovely idea with the French maps! So adorable!
ReplyDeleteI visited there before too, just love it! Just trying to firm up our vacation to Europe again, not sure if Paris or another country.
Debbie, you always come up with the best diy projects. Love the candles. And just in case you can't wait all those years for your grands, I'll be happy to take that trip with you!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to use this map, Debbie! I love the vignette you created, too.
ReplyDeleteLove those projects! How wonderful that you were able to take your grandson to France! I plan to go read some of those posts!
ReplyDeleteI think that was Great!! When My kids where younger once a month We would Travel all over The World and I would get items information and cook the foods of wherever We where going.Just Beautiful I Love it!!
ReplyDeleteLisa
Debbie, what great projects, the candles are fun. You do always have the best ideas! I am going to save this for the download for the future in our new house.Thanks
ReplyDeleteCynthia
Really neat web site for the maps. Thanks so much for sharing
ReplyDeleteHow fun! I like to use old music books for these kinds of projects, but I really love the idea of using maps! Thanks for the download info! :)
ReplyDeleteDebbie, this is one of my favorite of all your amazing projects!! I love this idea and can imagine using other maps I have for the candles! I hope you do take your grandsons to Paris. My parents traveled with my kids and niece when they were all young and energetic, and my kids (now in their 20s) still remember every detail with love. Linda
ReplyDeleteDebbie this was so much fun. Did you take your camera also, or did you use your grandson to take photos in France?
ReplyDeleteSo glad you like it! I brought along my camera, too. It was the best trip ever!
DeleteWhat a wonderful way to use maps! I long to go there someday!
ReplyDeleteFun! Thanks for sharing the downloads. I love the thought of you taking the two little ones when they are old enough. You will definitely have the energy because of your passion. Love the Eiffel Tower. Did you get it in Paris?
ReplyDeleteSo glad you like it, Sarah. I hope I will have the energy! I actually found the vintage Eiffel Tower here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/taffeta/2421385245/in/photostream/
DeleteHugs...Debbie
These are so cute!! I will have to download the Paris maps and make some candles! I'm counting the days until my trip!
ReplyDeletehugs,
Linda
I am a french girl and I live near Paris in Versailles, but my english is not good. I am so glad you like Paris ! I read your blog with great pleasure.
ReplyDeleteMary
Debbie,
ReplyDeleteAh~h~h...Paris holds many wonderful memories for me, too, dear friend!!!
My sister, neice and I traveled there in the 80's
and we still chuckle about some of the antics we found ourselves in!!!
Cute DIY with the candles!!!
Baby Kitty still takes my breath away. Looks as if he posed for his photo!!!
Thanks for sharing your creative projects and your marvelous Staff!!!
Fondly,
Pat
How fun!! Thanks for all the links. Jo @ Let's Face the Music
ReplyDeleteI am visiting you via Feathered Nest Friday. These are lovely!! I look forward to seeing you at My Dream Canvas.
ReplyDeleteVisiting you from French country cottage I'm pleased to see your creativity with "My" Eiffel tower :) ! I explain, I'm French and living in PARIS !
ReplyDeletexoxo
Joëlle
Wow! I don't live in France or have never been there!! But I did enjoy your post!! The candles using the maps are a nice idea. Maybe some day I will get there, right now I will just have to enjoy your enthusiasm!
ReplyDeleteI found you at my romamtic home. Love the Paris map idea.
ReplyDeleteHi there Miss Super-Talented....hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day tomorrow....I have that same map of Paris hanging in my hallway...I had lunch with A La Carte Linda the other day and we were talking about you....I was wondering in the fall once vacations are over if you would be interested if I hosted at my house and provided all the food if you would come and give a couple of the local blog ladies some sort of craft class...everything you do is so fabulous it would a hard time picking what to do but I know everyone would love it....let me know what you think....Sue
ReplyDeleteI love it, how beautiful they all look thanks for sharing
ReplyDeleteGorgeous!!! I LOVE your blog and I'm a subscribing. I love all things french too ;) I’d love it if you could link this up to our party, Give Me The Goods Monday! {1 party, 5 blogs}
ReplyDeletehttp://www.somuchbetterwithage.com/2013/05/give-me-goods-party-8.html
Have a great week!
Jamie @ somuchbetterwithage.com
Beautiful post! It's been a few years since I've been in Paris and I miss it.
ReplyDeleteI'm visiting you today from a Stroll Thru Life. I co-host a Linky Party Tuesday (open thru Sat). I hope you get a chance to stop by my blog, leave a comment and Link Up, too!
~ Megin of VMG206
Join me each Tuesday for Brag About It Link Up Party
Oh I love this, how fun to use the maps of Paris. I know you have such fabulous memories of our trip with your grandson. Thanks for joining Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty
ReplyDeleteSuch fun projects, Debbie. Thanks for sharing the links.
ReplyDelete