Friday Finds on Mackinaw Road, Take 10: Vintage Travel Magazines, Chatbooks, and a Travel-Related Gift

Happy Friday (again)! I have to admit that I really do look forward to these Friday Finds on Mackinaw Road days. I hope you do too!

 

I also have to admit that almost all of these finds happened two weeks ago, but there was just so much to share around the Thanksgiving holiday that I decided to save it for this week.

**This post contains affiliate links.

Christmas is right around the corner and I’m already nervous I am going to forget someone’s gift. Luckily, the parents are taken care of with tickets to shows and sporting events and I have most of the other gifts too. I was visiting a friend to pick up a cake she made for my mom’s birthday (it was nothing short of amazing!!!). Her house had so many of my favorite things including lots and lots of books and travel relics tastefully placed throughout. This particular personalized wall art captured my attention… How perfect is this for the travelers in your life? Now, since my entire family travels…On the way home, I bribed the kiddos with some Happy Meals and headed straight for a vintage shop (The Found Cottage) I had been wanting to check out for some time now. There were so many good finds. I particularly loved the movie theater seats and think they would go perfectly in the entry to the cabin. (The nice thing about shopping local is that the maker of these benches is actually very close to the cabin.) I have also been looking to incorporate travel into the cabin and loved the suggestion from the Travelogue podcast to search local vintage stores for old travel magazines. (No, the suggestion wasn’t specific to my case … I’m not that tight with the hosts…yet!)

Speaking of the cabin, the kitchen backsplash and subway tile are being installed next week. Earlier this week, we spent a significant amount of time painting the cabinets. We landed on Benjamin Moore’s Philipsburg Blue (which has particular significance for my family- the place, not the paint… but more on that later). Here is a progress shot. I can’t wait to show you more updates next Friday because it finally feels like it is coming together!

While on the topic of shopping local for the cabin, I checked out Lifestyle Kitchen Studio in Grand Rapids, Michigan, located in historic Heritage Hill. They are the only store in town that has my fridge obsession on display. The customer service was amazing; they were knowledgeable, approachable, and friendly. 

My last “find” for today Chatbooks. For every photo you post to Instagram or Facebook, someone somewhere puts it into a book for you. When you reach 30 photos, you are sent a book. With all of the quick access to phone cameras, I have 5,000 photos to dig through every time I want to make a book of our travels or of my children’s years. I love Chatbooks because I really do put a lot of thought into the photos I post and only post the good ones or significant events. A bonus is that Rifle Paper Co. has partnered with Chatbooks to bring you the most stylish covers. On top of that, both sites were offering sales at the time I was writing this post. It’s definitely worth checking out! (And possibly giving as a Christmas gift!)

For more Christmas gift suggestions, check out my posts here and here.

Have a great weekend and don’t forget to pin this post for later!

If you are interested in seeing inspiration for the cottage renovation, check out my Pinterest board here. Focusing more on the holiday season and decorating? I have a board for that too- it’s right here!