DIY: Personalized World Map For All Travel Lovers!

We are back from holidays and already planning which country and continent to visit next year. 

If you are crazy about traveling as much as we are, you will like the center piece in our living room: a huge (1.10m x 1.50m) handmade world map. The catch: we have pinned all the cities we have already visited with big pins and all the places we are planning to visit in the future with smaller pins.

 It is the most demanding piece of art I have made so far but I am so happy that I didn't give up until it was just as I imagined it.

If you want to make something similar, here is every step of the process (spread over a few weeks!):

See the green and grey decor elements in the back? That's also all handmade by me.

1. The process was divided into two phases. First, I prepared all the continents.

a) I found a world map on the internet and printed it out so that it covered 21 sheets of  paper.

b) I glued the sheets of paper together and draw over the contours of the continents- including all tiny islands, with a black text marker. At this point I decided that my map will be divided into three pieces so I cut this huge paper map into three rectangles. 

c) Then I covered pieces of cardboard (from old boxes) with the sheets of paper and used a scalpel to cut out all the continents (It took me ages!). In this picture I am cutting out the islands of Japan:)

d) The next step should be familiar to you because I used the same technique for my "You are awesome" mirror frame: I covered all continents (and- again- all the tiny islands!) with toilet paper and a mixture of wood glue and water.

e) Once it was dry, I used acrylic paint to paint it in a nice brownish-greyish color (that matches our furniture).

2. Once all the continents were (almost) ready, I made a solid white background for my map:

a) First, with strong support of my dad, I cut out 3 plywood panels and pieces of wood for the frames using some serious handcraft tools:) The size of each panel was around 150 cm (length) and 35 cm (width).

b) Then I stapled the pieces of wood into three frames and glued the panels on the frames with a special glue, just like I did with the Barney Stinson's Motivation Posters and my Berlin Metro Map Wall Art.

c) Next, I painted the panels and the frames in white.

3. Now that the continents were (almost) done and I had my white background, I glued everything together. It proved to be very difficult. I had especially problems with all the little islands of Canada:)  

4. Only two more things to finalize the continents: First, I added color accents using white and black/dark brown.

5. The final touch: I covered everything with a coat of wood glue to make it waterproof and glossy, just like I did with my "You are awesome" mirror frame.

6. Now comes the fun part: I pinned all the cities we have already visited (big pins) and all the places we plan to visit in the future (small pins). 

7. After I was finally done (one of the more memorable moments of my life:)), I realized that I had to find a way to put it on the wall. But let's keep these troubles for some other time, the important thing is that we somehow managed to put it above our couch:)

I hope that I have successfully demonstrated just how much devotion and effort it took me to realize this idea. Also, I hope it will inspire you to find a way to express your wanderlust:)

Love,

Emina

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