Postcard Shelves

For those of you who know me well, you know all about my postcard collection. I've been collecting postcards for years; I've picked them up in nearly every state I've visited (sadly, only 29!) and other countries either I or friends and family have been to. Postcards, to me, are an inexpensive and fun way to remember each individual place (I may have 2-5 per state or country, depending on what cities I experienced or how many times I visited).

That being said, I've ended up with some pretty awesome postcards from some pretty awesome places. I've been looking for a way to display at least portions of the collection, (they were just scattered on random book shelves, in picture frames, used as bookmarks, etc.), but always pictured it as this giant frame with a custom mat....something that couldn't be changed or moved around easily (not to mention nor very economical!)...definitely not something I wanted to mess with.

One day a few weeks ago, I stumbled across a project (again, by my favorite bloggers at Young House Love) that completely changed this for me. I stopped by Home Depot the next day to get started!

In the original project, they purchased 2x4s and used a Dremel to cut a groove, but since I, 1) live in an apartment, and 2) don't own a Dremel, I went in search of pieces of window/door trim that had a similar groove.

I knew I'd found "it" when I saw the trim below. It's a soft pine (easy to drill into and light), and already had grooves (on both sides) so I had them cut into five 5-foot pieces.

Because the postcards are the real stars, I didn't want to stain the wood and have them competing, so off to the world of white they went! (Do you like my random splotches of black chalkboard paint on the other side of my tarp? P.S. Always spray chalkboard paint 43,876 feet away from any object you do not wish to have covered in a black, sooty dust for weeks....learned that the hard way.)

This is my bedroom...obviously I have a mass expanse of white wall in the corner above my bed and needed something to do with it...perfect place for the postcards! I measured how far apart I'd want my shelves and marked it with blue painter's tape (a great way to mark without having to draw on your walls).
To hang the shelves, I simply picked up L-brackets and small screws (make sure they're short enough that they don't go all the way through the wood!) The part you see with a screw in it is the bottom--this part screwed directly into the underside of the shelves, which left the top portion visible above the shelf (which is later hidden by the postcards).
I hung the shelves where I had marked with my painter's tape by nailing into the wall. These are so light that you don't need any kind of heavy duty hardware. If you can find a stud for at least one side, you won't need anchors. I found and nailed into studs on one side of each shelf, but the other side is just in the drywall. (Can you see the L-brackets sticking out above the top of each shelf?)
Last step, adding the postcards! This was the fun part. And Cooper posed so nicely for all of you! :)
The below postcards are from (top to bottom, left to right) Chicago, St. Louis, Arkansas, El Salvador, Texas (of course!), Seattle, Amsterdam, Nebraska, Atlanta, Chicago, Yale!!, Boston, Pops--a sweet burger joint outside of OKC, Missouri and Florida. (The one with writing on it in front of the orange flower canvas is a sweet Wichita postcard my mom sent me while at cheer camp in Springfield, dated June 4, 2001.)
These (in the same order) are from Graceland (the king!), Holland, Harvard, Iowa, Eisenhower Tunnel (in the Colorado Rockies), Louisiana, Baltimore, Disneyland, Mystic, CT (like Julia Roberts-style Mystic Pizza...tell me you've seen that movie!...Em and I went to the real one in Connecticut!), Huntington Beach (California), Old Faithful at Yellowstone National Park, Roatan (Honduras), another postcard from my mom (this one sent to me while she was in Vermont...also dated June 4--except of 1998), another Seattle, Kyoto (Japan), Washington D.C., Colorado, the Great Wall (China), New Mexico, a stack of my marathon/half-marathon race bibs and another Yellowstone.
I should note that while these shelves hold a lot of postcards, this is really only about a third of my collection. I recently decided I'm going to start writing postcards to myself with memories from the trip while they're fresh on my mind as a fun reminder. So, if you're ever on a trip, write me a postcard--I'll love you forever!