Anyways here is where I got the inspiration. I want to give credit where credit is due, but the link only leads to a picture...no directions or anything.
Just the picture
I am not sure about you, but that's the only part of pinning things that frustrates me sometimes. I love finding a pin where there is a lot of content and directions on how to make something instead of just an awesome picture. So that's what I am hoping to provide here.
Ok so the picture above served as the inspiration and I pretty much had to come up with the rest on my own.
Materials
* US Map (more details about the map below) at least 16 x 20 in.
* pictures from various states (more details below)
* tape
* glue
* tracing paper or velum
* pencil
* scissors
Map Info
So I searched the internet high and low for a map I wanted to buy. I really didn't find anything that "spoke" to me online plus the maps were either HUGE or they were really colorful and I just didn't really want that for this project. I decided to make my own. I used a popular chalkboard font for the words "Our Travels" and just really decided the gray would not take away from the pictures that would eventually be on the map.
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| Map printed 16 x 20 |
The best part is that I was able to send this to Staples and pick it up in store. The 16 x 20 print only cost $10 which was either comparable or cheaper to the maps I saw online that I would have bought.
This is the part that took a little bit of time. From the example, the person may have used a bigger map and so this part may not apply, but for the 16 x 20 in. map, some of the states are really small (luckily we haven't visited those yet and so I will figure out to do with those, once I get to that point). The hardest part was finding pictures where my family "fits" in the states. So I tried to measure the states and then formatted my pictures to fit the measurements. For example, Michigan was about 2 in. x 2 in. so I shrunk the picture of us to fit that. I ended up printing the pictures with as high quality as possible from my computer onto regular printer paper. If you are looking for the photo quality pictures, I would recommend trying wallet sized photos or printing a 4 x 6 photo where you haven't zoomed in a lot/there is a lot of background.
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| Re-size pictures so they fit in the states |
Directions
Ok so now that you have all of your supplies, you want to start tracing the states where you have been on tracing paper. I used vellum (more expensive, but I had it at the house).
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| Trace the state |
The flip it over so it's backwards. Tape it to the back of the picture. Hold the picture up to the light to make sure it's centered how you would like it (having the picture on printer paper made this step easier).
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| Flip state over so it's backwards and tape or even glue to the back side of the picture |
Then all you have to do is cut it out, flip it over so the picture side is up and glue it onto the map. There were a few pictures that didn't turn out as "small" as I needed them to so I just improvised (like the picture I chose for Michigan). The husband was supposed to be included in the picture, but that wouldn't have worked, but he's in the picture for Florida without me so that's fair....right?
Here's how it has turned out thus far.
