Keeping it Simple

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How to Make a Framed Map

by 11 Comments

I bought this map awhile ago and I just LOVED the colors of it and knew that I wanted to do something with it.  My young family has had to move quite a bit in the past few years. So I wanted to do something fun to show the places that we have lived together as a family. So this is what I came up with.
framed map (1)
This is how I made it:
For the frame of the map, I used some wood and cut the sides at 45 degree angles.
scrap wood tree (1)
The map was 18×24, so I cut the inside of the wood to be 17” on the sides and 23” on the top and bottom.  That way the frame would cover a little bit of the map.  I used them great tutorial for some guidance.
framed map (6)
Here it is all together on the map.
framed map (5)

I put the sides together and glued them with wood glue.  Then I used staples (lots of them!) to secure it.  Since I don’t live by a hardware store I used what I had, but I would definitely buy some L brackets to make it more secure.****Update I used a staple gun with this but I would definitely use a nail gun instead of a staple gun to put it together****

framed map (8)
I flipped the frame over and there was a little gap, so I used some wood filler.  Once it dried I sanded it down.
framed map (9)
I painted the whole thing white and then distressed with with brown paint and sand paper.
framed map (10)
I taped the map to the back of it and then put it onto the wall.  I added some vinyl stars to show where we have lived.
framed map (2)
For the names of the cities, I just cut some wood that was 6” wide and then 2 feet wide.  I sanded them and painted them some fun colors.
framed map (7)
I cut and added some white vinyl to the wood.  I thought it would be fun to add the longitude and latitude of the cities.
framed map (3)
And here is the close up.
framed map (4)
And here is how I looks on my wall.  It’s big and loud and I love it.  framed map (1)

I updated this and added another board, this is what it looks like now :).  See it here.

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Comments

  1. Very cute Kaysi!! I love this idea!! Do you by any chance have a picture of each house/apartment you've lived in? That might make a really cool addition to the collage! If we hadn't lived in NKY all our time together (and only in 2 places!) I would totally do something like this!!

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