A while back, my friend Jennifer of Cuts By Laser sent me a package of goodies made from wood.
I had an idea for a project I wanted to make for Hannah and Katie, and she generously offered to make me blank China map pieces and tiny hearts to work with.
Of course, things usually go better in my imagination than they do in reality, and I was frustrated at not being able to get the paint on the first one to cover evenly, so I set it aside for a while.
Recently, when the kids were painting, I decided to try again with the other China cutout.
I was much happier with the results the second time, and the green from the first one grew on me after a while of not messing with it.
This is what we ended up with!
I used scrapbook paper for the background, and 8x10" frames. Then I printed a label for each of the girls with a picture of them from their time in China. Both the photos I chose were among the first ones we saw of each of the girls. The little faces we fell in love with while we were waiting to meet them.
On the stickers, I wrote/printed their full name, their adoption date, and the city they came from (which I've blurred out here, for privacy reasons). The tiny wooden hearts, I colored a bright fuchsia with a Sharpie. I glued them on in the region that each of the girls is from.
Although my girls know they came from China, China is a very large country! I want my girls to know where in China they were from, and to have the part of their life that happened before we met acknowledged. This is an easy visual reminder for them. Hannah is at the point now where she can read well enough that if she forgets the town or province name, she can go to her frame and read it.
These map cutouts would also make a great addition to a shadowbox with travel souvenirs. A smaller version could be used as an ornament. If your adopted child comes from another country or state, Jennifer can make other map pieces, too. Want a different size? No problem. Cuts By Laser can help your custom ideas come to life. If you're not on Facebook, you can email her.
This is awesome. I love it! Thanks for linking up with #AdoptionTalk!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jill! :)
DeleteI absolutely LOVE this idea and think they both came out really well. The green looks so awesome and grassy to me. Our kids were adopted locally, but this is such an awesome project for any child who is adopted from far away.
ReplyDeleteThanks! :) The green one grew on me. It goes nicely with the green stuff in the panda bedroom.
DeleteGreat idea! I was adopted from Korea over 30 years ago. My parents were not very "honoring" to my birth heritage. It was quite threatening to them to think of me "indulging" in such things. I think you are doing a wise and honoring thing for your adopted children. God Bless~
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate that the kids from Korea had to be the guinea pigs, but the reason we know to embrace heritage is from listening to adult adoptees. At the time, parents were told to "treat them like any other kid." Have you visited Korea as an adult? I really want to take my girls back to see China in a few years.
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