DIY Map Hearts Picture

I first saw the idea for a maps picture in a catalogue (no idea which one), they were £35 and the maps were generic country maps. I thought I could probably make it which would mean the maps could be presonalised. It really was as easy as it looks!

I have made 4 now, two engagement gifts, one Christmas pressie and one wedding gift. It really is the perfect pressie for most ocassions!

If you want to make one this is how I do it:

You will need:
A deep frame ( I use the Ribba Ikea frame)
Photo Paper
Computer
Printer
Sticky foam pads (good quality ones, the cheap ones loose their stick....)
A large sheet of backing card ( I use 12x12 scrapbooking card in either silver or pearlescent white)


First you have to decide how many hearts you are going have. I have done one picture with one large heart and three with four hearts.

Then use Word (or similar) and insert a heart shape into a blank document. Make sure you make it the correct size for the frame you are using.

Go to google maps or your preferred map site and find the map you want, for this one I got a map of where each person was from, where they got together and where they went on honeymoon.

Copy the map , I always print screen, paste into a photo editing package and crop the map closer to the are I want in the heart.

Copy map into Word making sure it is set to be behind text then place the heart outline over the map.

Do this for each heart then print it out and cut out your hearts.

Cut the backing card to size then arrange the hearts as you want them then stick them on with the foam pads so they stick out a bit from the backing card.

Reassemble the frame and voila, you have a fantastic gift for someone!

Linking to some of these fab parties!