Psst: Check out the Free Custom Mood Board Giveaway post for an update of who won.Here’s another little no-cost project I created while watching an episode of Portlandia (season 2 is on Netflix, w00t w00t!).Well, those blank stretcher boards (that were supposed to inspire me to cover them with fabric) have been hanging above our couch for months and months now (maybe eight months plus?).  Using them to hang our stockings at Christmas gave me the idea that it might be worthwhile to try hanging something in there during the interim.  The interim of what?  Well, now until I suddenly become overcome with inspiration!  And apparently that can takes months and months.I pulled out some postcards from my travels, some jute string (man, I love that stuff!  I am earmarking it as a permanent fixture in my decorating arsenal), glue and mini-clothes pin (a buy from years and years ago because they were just so darn cute and itty bitty!).  Simply tie a knot to one end, hot glue a clothespin on, repeat on other end, insert postcard and voila!

Here’s what I came up with:And some close-ups of the individual postcards:Salzburg, Austria.Somewhere in Thailand, I wanna say Bangkok.And Singapore.When I used to backpack around pre-Anak (I can’t conceive of living out of a backpack for six weeks while toting a toddler, the days of backpacking are long gone!) the only thing I would be able to pick up during my travels were postcards because they took up so little space.  Needless to say, they’re all very special to me.  However, on a permanent basis I would like to incorporate something that has meaning to all of us since it is the “family” room after all : ]Ah, and can you spot my newest update?  I sorta hope not cause the whole point was to camouflage what was there!  Christine gave me the idea to do something to conceal our AC unit.  We literally use it less than two weeks of the year so I was comfortable simply putting something over it that could easily be removed when we want to turn it on.  We got some great cardboard boxes as a byproduct of Christmas (do you still get excited over those, too?) so I fitted one to our AC unit and painted it white.  There’s something therapeutic about painting cardboard.  I wish every surface could be that easy!  For comparison, here’s the before:Linked to Lines Across, Making the World Cuter, Mad in Crafts, Sarahndipties, DIY Home Sweet Home, Sumo’s Sweet Stuff, Project Inspire, Craft-O-Maniac, Keeping It Simple, Homemade Ginger, DIY Showoff, The Gunny Sack, The Blackberry Vine, Hope Studios, Crafty Confessions, Him & Her, New Nostalgia, Elizabeth & Co., Giggles Glitz & Glam, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Clean and Scentsible, Not Just a Housewife.

Have you thought of any creative ways to display your travel trinkets?