Give your old maps new life by turning them into beautiful heart-shaped brooches or ornaments. This easy DIY is perfect for travel lovers, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or as a handmade keepsake celebrating a special place. You can wear them as brooches or hang them as ornaments.

Do you want to personalise a decoration or gift for someone special? Then, make a DIY map ornament. You can use maps of where they are from, a favourite holiday, or where they met as a couple.

Maps are my favourite way to personalise my crafts. They make things look fantastic, not only that. They can make even the most mundane objects a lot more exciting and turn them into a conversation piece.

My easy map table mats and my popular IKEA lamp map hacks are great examples of this. Heart-shaped maps only add to the specialness of maps. I've made treat map hearts for Valentine's before. This time, I decided to use the heart shape for some Christmas ornaments.

DIY Heart Map Ornament, Brooch, Keyring and Tag

I was so pleased with how my Christmas heart map ornament turned out. I got a bit carried away with them and made some brooches, keyrings and even Christmas tags. They were so easy to do, and added that extra something special to my Christmas decorations and gifts.

Who doesn't like a Christmas gift that's been personalised for them?

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What You Need to Make a Heart Map Ornament

• Wooden heart shapes - I bought large ones with pre-drilled holes for my ornaments, keyrings, and gift tags. For the brooches, I used smaller hearts.
• Keyring chains
• Self-adhesive brooch pins
• Red Velvet Ribbon
• Decoupage glue - such as Mod Podge
• Paper scalpel and cutting mat.

What Maps To Use

• And, of course, maps. I save old maps and have a collection; I use out-of-date road maps and keep city maps from trips. If you don't have any maps for the places you want, you can download them. Pictureboxblue has a vast collection of lovely printable vintage maps.
   
  Another good source for maps is to use map wrapping paper. Cavallini has a charming range of vintage map wrapping papers from around the world, including many cities in the US.
   
  You can look up that special place on Google Maps and print out the map you want. That way, you can choose how much detail you want for your map.

How to Make a Map Ornament, Brooch and Keyring.

Step 1: First, decide on what-sized wooden heart you will use—larger ones for the map ornament and keyring, smaller ones for the map brooch.

Step 2: Next, place your map on a cutting mat and place the heart shape on top of the map where you want.

Step 3: Next, carefully cut around the heart using a paper scalpel (craft knife).

Step 4: Paste the wooden heart shape and the map cut out with decoupage glue. Then, carefully stick the map heart to the wooden heart.

Step 5: Then, apply a layer of decoupage glue or varnish to the top of the map. This will seal your map ornament and protect it.

I recommend two coats, allowing them to dry in between each coat.

Finishing off the DIY map ornament, keyring, brooch or tag...

For the map ornament, you will need to stick a map to both sides of the wooden heart and attach the red velvet ribbon for hanging.

You will need only a map on the front for the map brooch. On the back of the heart, attach the self-adhesive brooch pin.

For the map keyring, as with the map, ornament both sides of the map and then attach a keyring chain.

To use your map ornament as a gift tag, attach a map to the front. Then you can write the recipient's details on the back of the wooden map heart.

I've also used these wooden heart shapes to make some cute felt flower brooches for Valentine's Day.

Ideas of Maps to Use

You can use maps of where you have spent past Christmases for the map ornaments. Until I was thirty, I spent most of my Christmas in Hong Kong. Then my family moved to Portugal, but I live in the UK. I aim to have a heart map ornament for everywhere I've spent Christmas: Hong Kong, Portugal, Newcastle Upon-Tyne, and Staffordshire.

Another idea for a heart map is to have one side showing where you were born and the other showing where your husband or partner was born.

You can use maps of your favourite places and cities for the brooches.

Yield: heart map ornaments and booches

How To Make Heart Map Ornaments & Brooches

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Make a personalized gift for a loved one by using maps of places special to them. With these wooden hearts you can make a hanging map ornament, a map brooch or map keyring.

Prep Time 10 minutes

Active Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Difficulty Easy

Estimated Cost $5

Materials

• Blank wooden craft hearts
• Old maps
• Decoupage glue
• Keychain
• Self-adhesive brooch pin
• Ribbon

Tools

• Craft knife
• Cutting mat

Instructions

1. Place the heart on the area of the map you want
2. Using a craft knife cut the map around the heart
3. Stick the map to the wooden heart and seal with varnish
4. Attach either ribbon, keychain or pin depending on what you are making. Map ornament, brooch or keyring.

Recommended Products

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  CEWOR 100pcs 2.4" Wooden Heart Slices Wood Heart Embellishments for Wedding Crafts Art Making (50 Predrilled and 50 Undrilled)

For other fun brooch ideas, check out these handmade beetroot brooches and felt poppy brooches.

If you liked these map ornaments, you should check out some of my other paper heart crafts, map DIYs, and homemade map-themed gift ideas.

• Repurposed Wood Map Ornaments
• Upcycled road map paper moths
• Vintage Map Heart Garland
• Pretty Map Luminary Bags
• Repurposed Map Decorations
• Make Your Own Christmas Crackers With Maps