By Brandon Hill on April 26, 2013 • ( Leave a comment )

Washington DC 2012: Smithsonian

On the second day of our vacation in Washington DC, we headed out on our own to visit the Smithsonian Museums. We started at the Smithsonian Castle, which is the original Smithsonian Museum. It now houses the headquarters of the Smithsonian, as well as an eclectic collection of items that represent all of the different Smithsonian Museums. It is a great place to start a Smithsonian Day, especially since it opens a little earlier than the other museums.

If you are wondering why the top left picture is crooked, it was not done on purpose. The background paper I used is a little waxy and the sticky tabs I used are not working well on it – after I took this picture I realized that it had come loose and was crooked. I decided to post it this way to have opportunity to discuss the importance of using the correct adhesive method to make sure that your items are properly affixed.

The bottom picture of the Smithsonian Castle is actually a card that can be opened to see a picture of my son and father. Next to that card are two Smithsonian tokens that I purchased at the castle.

The right hand page has a picture of the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden and a brochure from the National Museum of the American Indian. While these are not in chronological order from our day, they fit in well with this spread. We actually ate lunch at the National Museum of the American Indian as several guidebooks reported that they have the best food in the area. While we agree with this assessment and had some wonderful American Indian food, be aware that it is very pricey (Around $30 per person to have a full meal). The brochure is mounted on the outside of the plastic protector so that the reader can open it to examine it further. The tan border around he brochure is actually mounted to the background paper underneath the plastic protector. I chose the tan background border color to match the card on the left hand page.

Something fun to highlight about this spread is the date that runs down the left hand side of the spread. It was actually cut using my cricut machine from behind the brochure. I then used the shadow effect using the same border paper to make the date stand out.