Here is a little tutorial on how I made my little cartography table... 1. assemble what you need for the project. I am pleased that I used up stuff I had and did not buy anything to make this... I used an old dog eared Wisconsin atlas that was my Dad's. I like incorporating something that belonged to someone I loved. I also assembled paint, modpodge, brushes, exact0 knife and used an old IKEA plate as the palette.

2. Make a friend of a guy named Phil who when you comment favorably on a table he made rushes to his workshop to make you your very own. He then ships it in pieces. The pieces will fit exactly, and I mean exactly like a puzzle in the box. (If you don't know Phil and I am not offering any introductions then go find a piece of furniture to use.)

3. Become paralyzed and think about this project for 2 years. Then figure it out and finish the table in 2 days.

4. Paint some parts of the table. Modpodge some parts of the table. This kind of went together for me. I'd paint a little, then cut and affix some pieces, then study, then add some more.

5. Phil had put a little groove around the table and I glued some Christmas beading there.

6. I let the maps give me my color palette. The red beading picked up the red in the maps. The colors I used for paint were also pleasing with the maps. I didn't work at making anything an exact match. I just didn't use orange, or brown or purple because there weren't in the map. But you could if you wanted to. It is just not how I work. Maybe that is a hold over from my early days as a graphic artist when you paid for each spot color you used. Or maybe that is how I think...

7. I used sections of the atlas from the 4 places in Wisconsin that I have lived. I am still looking for some map pins and intend to put one at each of these places. I may end up with red thumb tacks. Still thinking about that. And who knows someday I may add other embellishments. Just depends.

And here is the finished product. Whew... nice to have that out of my head... and to have my yoga socks knit... but then there is that big red heart thing I should do something about... always something I guess.