We Love New York City

My husband is known for his ability to surprise and impress.  During our first year of marriage, he managed to orchestrate a birthday trip to Las Vegas, and kept it a beautiful secret from me until the day we left.  As if I wasn't ecstatic enough, when we arrived to our hotel later that day, I looked across the lobby and locked eyes with my dear brother and sister-in-law--they'd flown to Vegas from Canada as part of my husband's grand master plan of surrounding me with the people I loved the most on my birthday.  I was beyond impressed!  So for this year--my 30th--I kind of had a "hunch" that there was something up his sleeve, but as usual, I had no idea what.  Imagine my delight when he announced that we'd be spending a whirlwind 4-day weekend exploring the Big Apple!  We had an amazing time together, experiencing a place that neither of us had ever been.  Its impossible to recap all that we did, and although the photos tell a million stories, I wanted to capture the memories in a little project.  It had to be inexpensive "art", since we'd definitely spent our wad in NYC!  Here's what I did:

First, I sifted through my purse and suitcase for any and all remnants that represented places we'd been or things we'd seen that weekend.  I was particularely drawn to the Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island ferry tickets for their graphic nature and turquoise color scheme.

Based on the color scheme of the little "tokens" I collected, I chose this pretty rubbed-silver frame.  It has a mat with a linen wrapping, and I thought the natural textures would be a nice contrast to the graphic nature of the project.

I decided to create 3/4" x 2" tiles and arrange them in a brick-set pattern.  I thought these little "subway tiles" would be another great reference to New York!

I love how the final product turned out, and how its an unconventional way of preserving a few of our memories from that weekend.  Along with the framed "V", its also an inexpensive (under $25) art piece for my ever-changing mantle displays.