License and Registration Please

Did the title make you think that maybe I was out popping wheelies and maybe going way too fast on my super cool bike you see above?  Ok, that's not really "my" bike, it belongs to my good friend Mogul in Germany.  Mogul isn't his real name of course but it's what I call him, but that's a story for a whole other post!

The reason my post has the title it does is because I decided to use something a little offbeat to decorate the walls in my family room/office.  By now, after seeing my bowling pins, the insulators, and all of the other wacky stuff I find cool and interesting, none of you will find my new decor all that surprising but even I have to admit that it isn't what everyone would choose to adorn the walls.

Before

Last year, when we removed the two stoves and mantles we had in the house I was at a complete loss for where to hang our Christmas stockings.  Crazy woman that I am, I found this very cool horse pull that I've shown you before, as my mantle substitute.

I loved it's rustic charm and the fact that someone added hooks to it just made me think that it would be the perfect place to hang 4 stockings until we add on and put in a fireplace and mantle.  It looked wonderful throughout the holidays with the beautiful hand knitted stockings Mr. Tide's grandmother made for each of us, but afterwards it just looked a little lonely.  

So began the hunt for just the right thing to hang alongside my cool horse pull.  I thought about artwork, wooden signs, you name it, but nothing really struck my fancy.  Then one day a little light bulb went off inside my feeble brain.  License plates...that's the ticket, no pun intended!

But what kind of license plates, oh that part was easy, I knew just what I wanted.  The hard part would be finding just the right ones.  When you get a wild hair like I often do with these sorts of things, you just have to thank whoever thought up the internet and online auctions!  I went straight to Ebay and scored the first two after just a few months of looking.  My son wandered in and saw me bidding on old license plates and wondered what the heck I was doing.  I told him I was thinking about robbing banks and needed some spare plates for my getaway car.  He shrugged and went on his way, yeah he's grown up with me, so not much phases him!

The third one took a little more patience and searching but finally I had everything I wanted thanks to a great guy named Andrew Pang who has an appreciation for weird old stuff like I do, and who has an online store with license plates from everywhere and every year imaginable!! 

Having scored the trifecta of license plates I was ready to finish off that one lonely wall in our house and here are my plates and the finished project!

The first one I found on Ebay is for the year and state where my parents were married.  They were wed in November of 1953 in Maryland.  Ok, you might as well know that just finding a year and state match for their wedding was not good enough for someone as wacky as me.  It had to have a little something extra so see the numbers 265?  Well my mother's birthday was the 26th of the month, my father's the 25th of the same month, and our son Bugs is also born on the same day and month as my mother...so, this one was perfect!

Next, I had to find one for my in-laws who were married in Michigan in1958.  Although the numbers and letters aren't very relevant, the "water wonderland" is perfect since we live on the water...pretty cool eh?!

And the last one if for the year and state where Mr. Tide and I tied the knot.  We were married in Maryland in 1986, and see the numbers?  Well we were married in June of '86, and are you ready for my cuckoo for cocoa puffs brain, if you read the last two numbers backwards you get 6/86...the year and month we were married.  So if that doesn't make you think I'm nutty enough, the 9/87 bottom renewal sticker...well that's the month and year of our daughter, Angelfish's, birth!  You can call the guys with the white jackets for me now, but I'm lovin' these license plates!

After

So here they are, hanging in order with my parent's on the left, in-laws on the right, and ours at the very top.  Pretty darn cool, I think! 

I just love how they frame my little horse pull and provide just the oomph it needed.

As a junk and antique lovin' gal I just think these are the coolest things ever.  So what does the rest of my family think of my unique decorating style.  Well my son walked in after they were hung and said "Why are there license plates hanging on the wall?!"  I went in to my long explanation of the meaning behind each special license plate to which he simply replied, "Do you know how redneck it is to have our family tree represented in license plates hanging on the wall?!"  Yup honey, that's your family and you got half my genes!!

Do you have something meaningful hanging on your walls?  Do tell!

I'm linking to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch!

Head over to Thrifty Decor Chick for a Before and After Party!

For more inspirations and transformations, head over to The Inspired Room!

It's Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home!

It's time for Transformation Thursday over at The Shabby Chic Cottage!