How to Make Your Own Map Art

Looking for a way to commemorate a special trip or celebrate your favorite place? Look no further than this DIY ombre map art that is a cheap and easy way to bring a touch of the road to your living space! This post will teach you how to make your own ombre map-inspired art, including supplies and step-by-step instructions!

What You Need to Make Your Own Map Art:

A map of your favorite place — I used a city map of Houston, but you could also do a whole state or even a whole country if you want
3 empty frames of varying sizes — Michaels and Hobby Lobby both often have sales of 50% off for frames like this, so you can probably pick up some pretty nice ones for $10-20 a piece
Poster board
3 colors of acrylic paint (I used Americana DecoArt acrylic paint in Mulberry, Deseret Turquoise, and Gold Straw)
1 paintbrush
Mod podge
Acrylic Sealant
Pencil, scissors, razor, ruler

How to Make Your Own Map Art:

Lay out the map and place your frames on top to decide what you want featured in your frames. (Don’t worry about the creases from the folds, these will even out once you start mod podging.) Mark the corners of the frames on lightly on the map with a pencil.
Using your ruler, add 1/4″ to the map all the way around and draw out your rectangles. Use the scissors to cut your map pieces out.
Time to paint! I painted the top of each map portion a solid strip of color, then added water to the paint to thin it out and lighten its color, painting a lighter shade of that color below. Continue down until your paint is transparent at the bottom of the art.
Mod podge your new art to the poster board and allow to dry.
Cut the poster board out using the razor and place each map piece into your frames.
Hang and enjoy!

And there you go! A cheap and easy way to bring a touch of travel to your home. Have you tried anything like this? Leave me a comment and let me know! – Lindsay