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How to Make Simple but Beautiful Map Roses

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How to Make Simple but Beautiful Map Roses

Who doesn’t like receiving a bunch of flowers? Sorry to put a damper on things, however, eventually, they wilt and die. The flowers go from smelling lovely and sweet to stinking something rotten! So I made some map roses.

I’d love to have a regular supply of fresh flowers but I can’t afford it and I can’t remember the last time someone gave me a bunch of flowers (Paul if you’re reading this that’s a hint). I thought it would be fun to make some everlasting paper flowers.

Paper flowers may not compare to the real thing but they still add a bit of colour and glamour to a home. They also make me smile when I spot them.

his being an upcycling blog and because I have a bit of an obsession with using old maps in my crafting, I chose to use them to make these paper flowers. The map roses are really simple to create and I think they look gorgeous. You can show them all together in a bunch or just stick one in a milk bottle on its own.

As roses are Valentine’s symbol, these map roses would make a lovely alternative Valentine’s gift. They really look fantastic as a gift topper. Last year I used maps to make some Valentine’s treat map hearts.

How to make map roses. Lovely home decoration and great Valentines gift. Flowers that don't wilt and die.

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What you need to make map roses

How to Make Map Roses

1. First, you will need to cut out your map shaped petals. I used a template like the one shown for three different shaped petals, small, medium and large.

Map rose petal template

2 Place your petal template on top of the map, draw around it and then cut out the petal shape. For each map rose you will need six small petals, six medium petals, and six large petals. .

Paper flower petals cut out from old maps for map roses

3. Cut your floristry wire to the length you would like your rose stem to be. Then wrap this wire with the green floristry tape.

Wrapping floristry tape around wire

Adding the petals to your map roses..

1. First, take a small map petal and roll it up tight, using a glue gun stick the petal to the end of your green stem.

2. Take another small petal and gently roll it in your hand to shape it into a slight curve. Dab a small amount of hot glue onto the base of the petal and stick this to your stem.
 

3. Carry on with the remainder 4 small petals overlapping them slightly as you go round.
 

4. Next glue your medium-sized petals one by one to the outside of the small petals, again overlapping as you go round.
 

5. Repeat with the six remaining large petals.
 

How to make gorgeous map roses for valentine's day.

Finishing off your map roses..

To finish your map roses you can stick a small green leaf cut from green paper to the stem. I also painted the edges of my rose petals with a small amount of red watercolour paint to add a bit more red to the maps.

How to make map roses. Lovely home decoration and great Valentines gift. Flowers that don't wilt and die.

Several map roses together create a lovely decoration. You can display them individually in small bottles. They also look very impressive together in a bunch. A single map rose on its own makes a gorgeous gift topper, especially if you use maps of meaningful places.

Map roses, made from maps of your favourite places. Full tutorial for this lovely simple craft.
Easy to make map roses for a floral table decoration that won't wilt and die.
Step by step tutorial on how to make this gorgeous table decoration of map roses. They also make a great Valentine's gift as you can personalize with the maps.
Yield: Map Roses

Map Roses

Map Roses

Use old road maps to make everlasting beautiful map roses.

Active Time 30 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes

Materials

  • Old road maps
  • Floristry wire
  • Floristry tape
  • Glue

Tools

  • scissors
  • glue gun

Instructions

  1. Download petal template from blog
  2. Draw around the petal templates onto maps and cut them out.
  3. Cover wire in tape
  4. Curl up first petal and glue to wire
  5. Add the other petals gluing one by one

Notes

Free maps available to download too.

© Pillarboxblue
Category: Maps

I’ve also made some gorgeous upcycled denim flowers bouquet using this same method.

If you liked this then you will probably like some of my other popular map crafts.
Treat map hearts for Valentine’s
Vintage map suitcase
Map heart ornament

If you are making map roses as a gift for someone because they love maps, then you may want to check out my other personalized map gift idea.

Personalized map gift paper heart in IKEA ribba frame hack.

Free Vintage Maps to Download

Vintage maps of New York.

Free antique New York city maps

Reader Interactions

Comments

  4. Shirley

    These are absolutely gorgeous! I used to make lots of flowers out of crepe paper many years ago. I never thought of using maps, or anything else for that matter..lol. I just love these!

    Reply

  6. Sam

    Tried these out for myself! They look amazing. I used atlas pages. Something I found helpful, bending the petals right down the middle gives them a fuller, more rose-like shape.

    Reply

  11. Leanna

    This is a lovely post, I can see why you received so many comments. Making the roses up out of maps is brilliant, but I can see the method being really useful for any type of paper. The template is terrific as well. Pinning. Very well done project, thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  12. Roxie

    I want to make the roses but can not find directions. I know I’m doing something wrong, I just don’t know what. I’ve clicked on everything I see but no luck so far.

    Reply

  17. Mary-the boondocks blog

    Claire, I knew you liked maps but this is absolutely amazing. I really like how you added the red watercolor to the tips it makes a huge difference. In fact, if you are not looking closely you might mistake them for roses with a floral pattern. Either way, they are awesome.

    Reply

  21. Alexandra

    These are so pretty! The pink around the rims really brings the flowers together. I think this would be a fun idea to do with old maps of places you have visited – I feel like I always end up with a ton of them. Pinning.

    Reply

  23. Katy SkipTheBag

    These are so beautiful! Hubby has a lot of aviation charts and these would work perfectly, especially if you give them a little more color with the red tips! Thanks for sharing on the #WasteLessWednesday blog hop!

    Reply

  26. Julie

    I have a ridiculous number of things to do this evening and yet now I want to leave everything and make map roses! Maybe I could make myself one whilst the dinner is in the oven……

    Reply

  30. Vicky myers

    As always with your projects beautiful- the pink brings them to life. Have to admit and this time of year if I do the weekly shop at Aldi I sneak some tulips into the shopping, I’ve saved the money by not going to Sainsbury’s!!!

    Reply

  38. creativejewishmom/sara

    lovely Claire, i might just try this with magazine pages as well, need a bunch of flowers for centerpieces this week! thanks for sharing on craft schooling sunday!

    Reply

  40. Lynda

    What a beautiful idea! My husband loves maps, and it’s fun to find new and creative ways to use them – definitely trying this! I hope you’ll share this with Awesome Life Friday. 🙂

    Reply

  48. Lynn

    What a great idea. With the dawning of GPS and google maps, I would imagine that there are quite a few unloved maps roaming about. So glad you’ve given them a good purpose.

    Have a great weekend.

    Lynn

    Reply

  53. Ali

    I love this idea! Finally some pretty flowers that I can keep alive. Saw your link at the Creative Crafty party and the Sticky Blogging FB group.

    Reply

  59. Melony

    Claire, thanks so much for sharing. These roses are awesome and who would have thought they were so easy to make? I definitely have to keep this tutorial tucked away for the future!

    Reply

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