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
Desiree
I love this! We're military, so we travel a lot. This would be great for our family. 🙂
love this!
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.
Hello Desirée,
I love this map! It is just the perfect gift for anyone. Thanks for sharing.
Smiles, Paula
Such a great feature! These maps make me smile!
so sweet ! love the colors you chose. well done !
This is really cute! Thanks for sharing
This is incredible! I love it!
That is adorable! I absolutely love it!
What a darling idea. I love this.