Using Road Maps For A Decoupage Glass Tray
It’s my hubby’s birthday soon, and I never know what to get him. Because if he wants it, he just goes and buys it. I like to make my gifts wherever possible, that’s when I came up with the idea of making him a map decoupage glass tray for his bedside table.
When Paul gets ready for bed, he just empty’s his pockets and puts the contents on the bedside table. I thought if he had a glass trinket dish to put all this stuff in, then it was less likely to get knocked off the table.
I admit a glass trinket dish is a pretty boring present, but if you personalize it with a map of somewhere special then it becomes something a bit more special.
In my collection of old roadmaps, I just happened to have one of the South Coast of England. Paul has often talked of moving to Brighton one day, so I decided to use that map for this decoupage glass tray.
As the map looked so good on the decoupaged trinket dish, I made a second one. This time for my dad and I used a map of Antartica upcycled from an old calendar.
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What you need to make a map decoupage glass tray
- Small glass tray/plate – If you don’t have one already they are cheap to buy and come in various shapes and sizes. Thrift stores are another good place to find these.
- Mod podge – or other decoupage glue suitable for glass.
- Maps – You can normally pick up old road maps at Charity/thrift stores cheaply. I have some free printable vintage maps on my site, (best to print on a laser printer). Or I used an old Cavallini map calendar for the Antartic trinket dish.
- Rotary cutter and mat
How to make a Map decoupage glass tray
- Before trying to decoupage the glass tray clean it thourghly. I find rubbing alcohol works best for this, failing that you can just use good old soap and water.
- First place the glass tray ontop of the map you want to use. This will enable you to choose the exact part of the map you want to decoupage.
- Next cut your map to the size of glass tray, allow for the curve. It doesn’t matter if your cut map is fractionally too large as you can always trim any excess off at the end.
- Cover the underside of the glass tray with a layer of decoupage glue. Stick the map face down onto the glue. Pressing down with your fingers and squeezing out any air bubbles to the edge. Scrapping the edge of a credit card accross the back of the map will also help squeeze out air bubbles.
- Once the decoupage glue has dried apply another coat this time to the back of the map. This will act as a protective varnish.
As I had two of these glass trays, I decoupaged the second one with a map of Antartica, I had on a old calendar.
For more fathers day gift ideas visit allfreeholiday.com
Patti Y.
What a fabulous idea! I will be heading to the dollar store tomorrow to pick up a glass dish. Yours turned out beautiful! My husband is so into maps, as he was a Geography major in college, so this is just perfect for him. I can’t wait to make one for him! How long did the entire project take you to make?
Thank you,
Patti
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, it only takes about 30 mins to make one of these. My husband has one on his best side table for his loose change and keys.
Susanne
What a wonderful gift idea! So creative 🙂 My hubby would love this. Thanks for sharing with us at Create and Celebrate!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Susanne.
Fionnuala
These are gorgeous Claire. Such a great idea. #homeetc
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, I had fun making them.
Caro | The Twinkle Diaries
This is an absolutely BRILLIANT idea Claire — and you might just have solved the dilemma of what I can give to my husband for father’s day! Thanks so much for sharing 🙂 #HomeEtc
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, I do think they make a lovely fathers day present.
Victoria Higham
This looks so good. And what a lovely personalised gift. We definitely need some catchalls in our house.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much.
Mary
Aww that looks so pretty. I just glanced up to my lighting fixture and it looked just like your glass tray. Maybe if I decoupage it it’ll look better too!
Claire Armstrong
That would be interesting to do, I’d love to see them if you do it.
creativejewishmom/sara
great project and a fun way to make use of maps left over from vacation travels! maybe i’d make a set to use as souvenirs, hmmmm. thanks for sharing on craft schooling Sunday!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Sara. Using maps of your travels would make lovely souvenirs and reminders.
Julie
Blokes can be difficult to make things for, this is clever and practical. Lovely!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you. Yes, my husband isn’t into handmade things as much as me, he gets more excited about tech.
Rebekah
What a great idea! You could use a specific place that held memories for your dad. The location of a family vacation, or the birthplace of his parents. Thanks for creating this and sharing!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you 😊 My dad once went on a special scientific trip to the Antartic that’s why I used that map for his trinket dish.
Lindsey
I love this idea! Running to get a glass plate now!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, and have fun making it.
Cecilia
I agree–DIY gifts for guys are more challenging. This turned out great! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!
Claire Armstrong
Thank you. Yeah I can always think of loads of things to make for my girlfriends but with my husband it’s harder.
Victoria @DazzleWhileFrazzled
Great and easy idea! We have a few favorite places I could find on a map to turn into a fun gift like this. Visiting from Happiness Is Homemade party.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you, Victoria.
Debrashoppeno5
The trinket dishes looks so nice. They do make a very nice gift. Especially if you are lucky enough to have a map of a special place.
Claire Armstrong
Thank you. Old maps are easy to find on eBay where you can search for one of your favourite places.
Sue
These are so simple and elegant, Claire, I really like them! Sue x
Claire Armstrong
Thank you so much Sue.