Yvonne Glasgow
There are lots of fun DIY and craft ideas to use your old maps for. Many of us still have state maps lying around (probably in the glovebox) that haven’t been touched since we replaced maps with dashboard GPS.
Before you toss your old maps in the trash or recycle bin (now that I reminded you that you might still have maps), consider turning them into a unique home decor piece or a creative piece of art.
Use Old Maps in Scrapbooking Projects
If you enjoy scrapbooking, old maps are excellent for decorating pages about vacations. You don’t even have to use the exact map from your trip (though that’s a fun idea). You can cut shapes out (like hearts and stars, to express how you felt about the trip).
Use map cutouts to frame trip photos, or use the map as an all-over background for the page. You can even make your own scrapbook or journal with maps for the pages if you have enough.
The Daily Digi has a great collection of scrapbooking pages using maps: 12 Awesome Scrapbook Pages with MAPS!
Create Handy Book Covers
Whether you need book covers for school books, or you want to decorate the cover of your scrapbook, maps offer enough paper to cover a book. All you need are the right folding skills!
Hymns and Verses has easy-to-follow instructions for turning maps into clever books covers: DIY Nautical Theme Map Book Cover
Design Some Travel-Inspiring Collage Art
Collage art is my favorite form of art to create. Maps make great backdrops for collage art (just add newspaper clippings, paint, and anything else you want). Instead of framing the map the way it is, make it unique.
Even if collage art isn’t your usual medium, you can just draw and color images on them, like this collection on My Modern Met: More Magnificent Map Collages
Decoupage Some Stuff
Decoupage crafting is fun and easy to do. All you need is something you want to glue your map to and the glue—Mod Podge glue works great for both sticking paper to stuff and for putting a sealant coat on top.
What can you decoupage? Anything, really. Cut the right size pieces from your map and glue them to:
- A lampshade
- A box
- A table
- A picture frame
Maps may no longer have a place in your glove box, but they still have many uses in your crafting room. You may enjoy crafting with maps so much that you start seeking them out!
