The 36th Avenue.: EXTRAORDINARY GUEST: Oh the Places You'll Go Map!

Sunday, August 21, 2011

EXTRAORDINARY GUEST: Oh the Places You'll Go Map!

As many of you may know the first anniversary gift is supposed to be paper...

I thought through several ideas, from magazines to certificates...even thought about making a monopoly board featuring all the places we'd been as properties (a friend did this & it turned out great!).

In the end however, I kept coming back to a map; III loves maps, so I knew it would be perfect.

With inspiration from My Life and Kids & Thirty Handmade Days

I came up with this:

It's a gift that will keep on giving, as we expand our vacationing destinations though the next 60+ years of marriage.

The buttons mark all of the places we have been together...I'd considered a world map, but we've only been to Mexico as a twosome & so I thought most of the map would look pretty boring :)

Here is the breakdown!

After cutting apart a US map, I traced all of the individual states on different scraps of patterned paper.

Make sure & write the name of the state on the back of each piece (in a way that shows which side is the top), as this will make putting the puzzle back together a little bit easier! I also laid it out as I cut, to make sure the pieces were fitting.

On a 16 x 20 canvas I outlined a border with painters tape & mixed some white & brown paint to give me a soft taupe. Then I whitewashed it a little. Paint. Remove tape.

Using Modge Podge I adhered the states to the canvas. I started with the middle states (Texas & up) to try & center the map on the canvas.

Finally, I covered the final map in another layer of Modge Podge. painted the wooded letters, & attached them with Tacky glue. The same for the buttons...

And that is all she wrote!

......................................................................................

Thank You Laura Beth for sharing this

great project...

For more of her AWESOME ideas

visit her sweet blog.

Desiree

Labels: Be My Guest, Crafts.

15 Comments:

At August 21, 2011 at 9:22 PM , Tasha said...: What a darling idea. I love this.
At August 21, 2011 at 9:25 PM , Maureen said...: That is adorable! I absolutely love it!
At August 21, 2011 at 10:07 PM , Amanda said...: This is incredible! I love it!
At August 22, 2011 at 12:12 AM , Bethany @ A Fish Who Likes Flowers said...: This is really cute! Thanks for sharing
At August 22, 2011 at 1:55 AM , MADA said...: so sweet ! love the colors you chose. well done !
At August 22, 2011 at 5:30 AM , Anna at www.mylifeandkids.com said...: Such a great feature! These maps make me smile!
At August 22, 2011 at 5:37 AM , Paula Parrish said...: Hello Desirée,
I love this map! It is just the perfect gift for anyone. Thanks for sharing.
Smiles, Paula
At August 22, 2011 at 6:17 AM , Carrie P. said...: OH, this is such a great idea. As a little girl I would see the US map on RV and say I was going to visit every state. Well this past spring I got to finally visit 12 of them. I might have to make this map to keep track of my visits. Thanks for sharing the idea.
At August 22, 2011 at 6:53 AM , angie @ the cellar door stories said...: love this!
At August 22, 2011 at 11:00 AM , Stephanie said...: I love this! We're military, so we travel a lot. This would be great for our family. :)
At August 22, 2011 at 12:29 PM , Laura Beth said...: Thank you SO much for having me :)
At August 22, 2011 at 1:37 PM , adventuresindinner said...: So very sweet!
At August 22, 2011 at 2:11 PM , **CREATIVE CARMELINA** said...: THis is great! and I love the idea of the Monopoly board too!

thanks for sharing

ciao bella

creative carmelina
At August 23, 2011 at 1:15 PM , Creating Through LIFE said...: This is such a grand idea! I'll have to tuck it away for future reference, my husband adores maps of every kind.
At August 26, 2011 at 9:20 PM , paige said...: I posted your map on my blog for Friday Favorites! http://thecreativepaige.com/2011/08/friday-favorites-10.html