Monday, March 28, 2011

canvas map wall decor {guest tutorial}

Our guest post today is from an awesome craft blogger / interior designer that we can't wait to share with you! Her blog is not just inspirational but instructional, too, because sometimes we need someone to tell us how to make our ideas happen, right? This is one of my favorite projects she's done--it's on my project list and I'm betting it will be on yours, too. Enjoy!

I am so excited to do a guest post for Mandy and Jessica!


I'm Selina from Creative Juices Décor. What you will find on my blog is lots of inspiration for all your Creative Juices! I am an interior designer by degree and LOVE home design/decorating, thrift store shopping, healthy recipes and crafting. I have 3 young kids so I also have fun crafts for them too. Come stop by, I think you’ll be inspired!

Today I am going to show you how I turned a $2.00 thrift store map into a large piece of art!

large map wall decor

map wall decor2

This project was inspired by wanting a large piece of art (on the cheap!) for my 7 year old son’s room. I had picked up this map from the thrift store for $2 and knew if I got my Creative Juices flowing I could figure a great way to use it! I went to Michaels and picked up a bunch of canvases at 40% off. I spent $29.00 on all 12.

Next I spray painted the edges with a left over blue from a previous project. I am a sucker for anything AGED looking so I lightly spray painted some brown on the edges too.


Once dry, I brushed on some Mod Podge and attached my cut out map pieces.
map wall decor
Once that dried (I turned them over to add some weight to the drying process) I wanted to age the edges just a little more so I took out my inking pad, or chalk pad, and “aged” the edges. I also put a little brown glaze on the map itself to try to give it some more character. Anyway, once dry I came back and put Mod Podge over the top, quite thick, and in criss-cross strokes.

VOILA!!! Really, that wasn’t too hard. Now I have a BIG piece of wall art for under $35.00!

map wall decor2

mapwalldecor3

Stay creative with me folks – even if you didn’t find a map at a thrift store you could take this same technique and make a large canvas art display. Just apply Mod Podge to your photos and apply it to the canvas. It makes it look like a designer print on canvas. The possibilities are endless. How about cutting out a favorite fabric and applying that to the canvas?

map wall decor

Thank you LittleBirdieSecrets!

I'd LOVE it if you readers would stop by and say hi! Smile I have a few fun pottery barn knockoffs and mod podged transformations I know will get your creative juices flowing!

Photobucket

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32 Comments

32 Responses to “canvas map wall decor {guest tutorial}”

tinajo said...

This is really cool - great idea! :-)

Steph at ModernParentsMessyKids.com said...

Beautiful project! I love maps, esp. in kids' spaces. I just did a round up of lots of lovely map and globe accessories here:

http://www.modernparentsmessykids.com/2011/03/fresh-finds-maps-globes-with-twist.html

aklatina said...

WOW IM IN LOVE WITH THIS! I have this big empty wall in my office and its a computer room for the boys and a craft room for me. so i cant just make it all shabby and pritty this project is the perfect compromise! Now too find a nice map like that for $2!!

ana-maria said...

wow!!! that's amazing! amazing

Anonymous said...

oh, i love mod podge! and i've been looking for a big statement piece to use once we move-- this looks wonderful!

That Crazy Ajumma said...

This project is awesome!
I would totally make this!

mekei said...

great idea. thanks for the tutorial. going over to check out your blog!

Lauren said...

LOVE it! I seriously was about to BUY a piece of map art for over $100 but now I can just make it! Thanks...you saved me a ton!

Charity said...

Maps are one of my favorite things, and what a great project. I wouldn't have thought of this on my own. Thanks for sharing!

Jessie said...

I absolutely LOVE this idea! Thank you for sharing it!

Celia Marie (W.) B. said...

This is fantastic! Perfect. Now if only I can find a super cool map like that...

Lydia said...

Great project!

Vanessa at Rescued Goods said...

I love this! Great idea. I am looking for a big piece of art too and now I have some great inspiration. Thanks for sharing!

Amy said...

Fantastic! What a great idea! I love maps, what a wonderful way to display them.

Jane Aubourg said...

The photos have disappeared! I went to show it to my fiance and now it's just left up to my inept description :(

Unknown said...

=( I can't see the photos. It says "bandwidth exceeded". Am I the only one that can't see it?

Tammy said...

The photos aren't showing up due to exceeding bandwidth on photobucket.

Roberta said...

Oooh... I love this! I have a world map tacked to my wall in our office, and though I love having a large map that is accessible, I cringe every time I look at it! This will be the perfect fix! I just put your button on my new website. Thanks for such a great site!

www.redroofpatterns.com

linds.eliz said...

ohmygosh! that's the coolest craft i've ever seen!!!

linds.eliz@ 413

Jenn said...

WOW! This is really cool!

Mi Fernandes said...

what a great idea!! amazing!!

Con encanto - Ana said...

It´s a great idea. I have the map, now I need the canvases. Thanks for the inspiration. Ana

Judit Labòria said...

Beautiful !!!

Lesha said...

So cool! I have been wanting to do this in our huge wreck room on a large wall. what a great idea!

On Second Thought said...

I'm going to use this with a vintage-style map (sepia color) for a friend. I got the map for 14 cents, but it's a poster type of paper and not normal paper like an atlas would be. I've never used mod podge or anything, so I was wondering if this would still work on poster paper?

Andrea @ Decorating Cents said...

I featured you today http://decoratingcents.blogspot.com/2012/02/trends-maps.html. Please come by and grab a button.

The Clay Trowel said...

Oh man, thanks you guys for all the great comments! It's been a while since I checked them on Little Birdies site. About the map that is on flimsy paper.....I would NOT saturate it with the mod podge. I might use a spray glue to adhear it to the canvas, then carefully some mod podge on top to "seal" it. Check out my blog and read the comments, a few people have tried this map craft and have left some good tips.

dae said...

I have a large map at home but it's laminated, can I use that one?

The Clay Trowel said...

Laminated is good! Go for it Dae. :-)

Christine said...

You gave me a great idea. My husband has a very old black & white John Wayne poster. I plan on getting it copied (so as not to use the original in case it's worth something) & doing this very project as a surprise for him. This will be the start of the theme in his office/ man cave in our new house! Thanks for the inspiration.

Lenya said...

I gave my grandson two large maps for his walls. framing is too costly and this is the perfect answer. I love modge Podge and have used for many crafts. Thanks for the great idea.

Unknown said...

Help! When I did this the map didn't adhere smoothly to the canvas. There are bubbles all over. What did I do wrong?

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