1.27.2011

My DIY World Map

I LOVE traveling and I have wanted to make my own world map for quite a while now. I just thought it would be a great way to add something fun to my walls and have it be one-of-a-kind. I found this awesome post on KoJodesigns. This is just what I needed to get my butt in gear and create some unique and inexpensive art for my walls.



My supplies:
  • Canvases from Joanns
  • Acrylic paint in desired colors
  • Brushes
  • A map I printed online
  • Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Sawtooth hangers
  • Lots of patience and time :)
First, I laid out all my supplies on my desk.


Then I made a grid on my map that corresponds to the size and number of canvases I'm using.


I divided my map into six sections, one for each canvas. Then, I further divided it into a grid on each one and also drew a grid on each canvas. Now it's time to draw!
Here is the map all drawn up and ready to paint:


The next part {painting} probably took me at least a week. I would work on it a little at a time, before and after work. When I started painting, the pencil smeared a little and the one coat of paint didn't give me enough coverage. Here are a couple pictures "during" with only one coat of paint:


{no, I did not use all those colors of paint that were sitting out.... and yes, it looks like a tornado whipped through my crafting area}


So I proceeded to keep my patience and paint it little by little until I FINALLY finished the map. When I started the painting, I was following the lines from the grid I drew beforehand and I like how it looked so I went with it! I think it adds more interst and color to the project. Once all the canvases were dry, I flipped them over and nailed in the sawtooth hangers in the middle of each one. 




The last thing I did to the canvas before I could hang them up was personalizing it even more to show my guests where I have been in the world. I poked little brown scrapbooking brads into each place I have visited. Now it will be even more motivation to travel more so I can add more spots to my map!

Here she is all hung on the wall:



What do you think? Pretty unique, right??

I love it! I have it hanging right at the top of my stairs in the living room so anyone that comes over can see it. And I love that it adds a little color to my boring walls that I haven't painted. {yet}

3 comments:

  1. What a CUTE idea this is! Thanks for visiting my blog Thrifty Decorating!
    I'm going to bookmark this idea and maybe post it sometime in the spring with a link back to you if that's okay! :)
    Nikki @ Thrifty Decorating

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  2. Thanks as well for visiting ME! I'm just getting started on blogging so I will use all the help I can get ;) We are all here to share our great ideas and keep the creativity flowing!

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  3. i dont know if you are going to see this, but id really like to recreate this map and have no idea how you printed such a large map from the printer. Where did you find this and how big is that map? Is it various pages? If you could PLEASE just comment me with the answer on my blog, that would be the easiest way for me to see it. My blog is jociguillory.blogspot.com. Thank you! I will be waiting for your response!

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