DIY Christmas Map Decorations with Ornaments and Garlands
I don’t know what it is about old maps but I just love their lovely muted colours and the slightly yellow thick paper they are printed on. This year I decided to add to my Christmas ornaments with some gorgeous repurposed map decorations.
Maps add interest to Christmas decorations. They can be personalised if you use maps of places that are special to you, such as your hometown or favourite holiday destinations.
I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to old maps. They are really easy to find in your local charity (thrift stores). Some of the older roadmaps are often printed on a woven paper.
If you are looking for a more Christmassy feel for your decorations try to find old maps that have a lot of red and green on them. On most maps, the roads are marked with red ink and the open spaces with green ink.
These gorgeous map decorations are really easy and fun to make. You can string them up in a lovely garland or hang them individually as ornaments.
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What You Need To Make Map Decortaions
- Old road/street maps – You can pick these up at your local charity/thrift stores or on eBay. For this craft, it doesn’t matter if the maps are printed on one side only.
- Fiskars XLarge circle punch – This makes the craft very quick and easy.
- Glue (Pritt) stick
- Bakers twine
- Embroidery floss skeins – I used red and gold.
- Embroidery Needles
- Small (5-6mm) coloured wooden beads.
For the ornaments
How to Make Map Decorations
- First using the xlarge squeeze punch, punch out lots of circles from the roadmap. You will need six circles for every map ornament.
- Next, fold each circle in half making a semi circle (6 for each ornament). If your maps are only printed on oneside make sure the printed map on the inside of your semi circle, as this is the bit of the map that will be visable.
- Using the Pritt (glue) stick, apply glue to the outside of one map semicircle and stick it to the outside of another. Carry on doing this until you have a stack or six semi-circles.
- Open out your paper ornament, you should have a ball like shape. Before glueing the 2 ends together to complete the circle, decide whether you are going to hang them as ornaments or in a garland.
- To make map decorations garlands. Place bakers twine in the map ornament before glueing the ends together. Then repeat this at regular intervals along the twine, until you have a long enough garland.
- To turn the paper map balls into a hanging ornament, simply make a tassel out of the embroidery thread add some decorative beads and a hanging loop before gluing the paper ball shut.
Making map garlands..
Making map ornaments..
Not sure how to make a tassel here’s a simple graphic showing how.
As I’m such a huge fan of map decorations, I made both map garlands and ornaments to add to my Christmas decorations this year. The ornaments would also make lovely gift toppers especially if you used maps that had some personal significance.
Check out my other map Christmas decorations.
For other map crafts check out favecrafts.com
Teresa
I love these cute as can be ornaments! What a good idea to use old maps this way! Thanks so much for sharing with us at Party in Your PJs.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Teresa. I just love crafting with old maps.
Julie
These are great Claire, I have a couple of circle punches (from a birthday or Christmas when I was very specific about what I would like) that would be perfect for this. Pinning 🙂
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Julie. The Circe punches make it a very quick and easy craft that can be done whilst catching up on Netflix.
Julie
I have the whole of series 2 of Stranger Things to catch up with so this could be perfect! I just stopped by to let you know your lovely decorations are one of the features over at Handmade Monday this week 🙂
Claire Armstrong
Thanks Julie. I’ve finished stranger things and I’m looking forward to getting stuck into the second series of The Crown.
Jelica
Okay, so this is the cutest, quirkiest holiday decor idea! I love the unusual quality of it and, yet, I can’t put my finger on why I love it, but I really, really, do! Thanks for the inspiration 🙂
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, I think it’s the old maps that just look good and give it a vintage feel.
Michelle
Such a cool idea Claire and I’m in awe of how lovely it looks as a garland. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever met someone who is as creative as you when it comes to maps or denim
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Michelle. They are just one of my favourite materials to work with. I think I love maps so much as I have traveled a lot, I was born and brought up in Hong Kong, my parents now live in Portugal, I’m married to a Norwegian and I currently live in the UK.
Carrie
These are wonderful! Thank you for sharing on the Whisk It Wednesday link party at Carrie’s Home Cooking. I hope to see you there again this week! Carrie @ Carrie’s Home Cooking
Claire Armstrong
Thank you and I’ll be there.
stephanie
Love the garlands, and those stars…. I’m a fan of maps -now need to find the time to do these!! #homeetc
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Stephanie. As it’s quite a simple craft they are fun to do in an evening whilst watching telly.
Laura
These are really great and you’ve made it so informative/easy to follow. Also, I’ve never seen anything like that extra large hole puncher, how amazing!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, the hole puncher makes it a speedy craft.
Cecilia
So creative! Thanks for sharing @ Vintage Charm!
Claire Armstrong
Thanks for hosting!
Bethany
That circle cutter is amazing! I need one in my life. Love the decorations, reckon it could be a fun one to do with the kiddies!
Claire Armstrong
The circle cutter certainly makes it easier. Thank you.
Becky at PinksCharming
What a lovely and unusual idea! Beautiful x
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Becky.
Donna Ford
I love your ideas! So cool and achievable. I have loads of old maps that I use for card making that I could use for this. Thanks!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, old maps are great fun to craft with.
Fiona
These are so creative. It’s always nice to have some home-made decorations as you can create a really unique setting with these.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Fiona. Homemade decorations are my favourite as often there is a story behind them.
Pia
These are adorable! Seriously stylish and I love that they are upcycled! X
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much.
Ginny
So clever. I love them.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Ginny.
Jenny Kakoudakis
I think this is such a great idea, I always like to add something on the presents I wrap, and personalising with a specific location map ornament would be so special! And if maps are rare to find, I guess you can do something similar with coloured paper to keep little kids busy (assuming they want to diy their garlands with you hehe).
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Jenny. Maps are pretty easy to find as road maps were a common thing so there are loads around that are no longer used. Charity shops normally have a stack of them or eBay.
Fawn Interiors Studio
These are all so cute. Love the idea of using the smaller ones as personalised gift-toppers!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, they can be personalised too by using maps of special places.
Leanna
I am seeing tassles everywhere lately and love them. Your ornaments look great.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, tassels seem to be the new pom-poms
amanda
These are adorable! So creative!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Amanda.
Toni | Small Home Soul
I love these little ornaments! using maps is a great idea for the garland and they look so cute with the tassels too.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Tony. The vintage maps were the perfect colour.
Creative Khadija
This is so cute. Love this idea 🙂 Thanks for sharing with us.
Have a great day.
Khadija
https://creativekhadija.com/
Claire Armstrong
Thank you 😊
Sarah
I love all the creative ideas you have for upcycling maps. These ornaments are so cute.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Sarah. I just love map decorations.
Sam - Raggedy Bits
Another fabulous map project Claire! You are the map repurpose queen!! Love it!!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Sam. I don’t think I’ll ever tire of using maps. I don’t know if it’s because I have travelled a lot and lived on different continents.
Caro | The Twinkle Diaries
I think this is my favourite of your tutorials Claire — I absolutely adore the map garlands!! You’d pay a fortune for these in a store wouldn’t you? They’re fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing on #HomeEtc — Caro xx
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, they are so easy to make. It’s worth checking with elderly relatives they often have a stash of old road maps that they don’t need anymore.
Janine
Love this project since I LOVE everything paper! The vintage maps are the best, I’ll have to keep an eye open for some when I shop at antique stores!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, eBay is also a good source of vintage maps plus elderly relatives normally have a stash somewhere.
DIY Home Sweet Home
These are so cool. Love the tassels you added.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, tassels seem to be all the rage at the moment.