DIY: Newspaper Map Wall art
8:00 AM
The blank wall in our loft has been plaguing my mind for quite sometime. I've held pictures and mirrors, but it just didn't feel right. I wanted to create something that was a. cheap and b. completely unique. So I scoured pintrest and found this image. But unfortunately it was only that, an image. I searched google and pintrest trying to find the tutorial, but to no avail there was nothing.
I decided to take matters into my own scissors and came up with a plan to tatter to taylor a newspaper into a world map. Don't be intimidated by the list of instructions, I just wanted to be as detailed as possible. You can do this!
What you need:
printer + paper
newspaper
scissors
double sided tape
Head to YourChildLearns to print out the map you'll be using as your template. With this site you have a choice of map size, measured in pieces of computer paper, horizontally. Since I had a huge wall to cover I chose, world one, 8x8. 8 pieces of computer paper long and 8 pieces of computer paper high.
Lay your map out on the floor to understand how your map is going to line up. Make sure the size you've chosen will fit in your designated space. No need to tape these together, just lay it out to get a feel of the map.
Grab your newspaper and a piece of computer paper. Cut enough pages of your newspaper to computer paper size, horizontally. {I made the mistake of cutting the pages to fit vertically and had to re-cut}.
You now need to get the shapes that printed on the original template onto your newspaper. If you have a light box this will be easy, just lay your template page down, newspaper on top and trace. But I needed to be more creative, an easy alternative is to use the light from your computer screen. I pulled the map pages up in a pdf format, made sure the size on my screen was the same width as the piece of paper, layered the newspaper on top and traced very lightly. Do this will each page. Don't forget to keep your pages in order, numbering can help. Don't cut yet!
Tape your original template pages onto the wall using one piece of tape across the top. Don't tape any of the pages together, each page should hang individually.
Grab your first newspaper piece that has been outlined. Cut of your shape. Use your template map as a guide as to which part is ocean and which part is land.
Once you have your shape in hand, apply double tape to one side. Lift the piece of computer paper up to reveal blank wall and press down your shape, using the computer paper outlines as a guide. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
Once all your newspaper is up, remove the computer paper guide to reveal your newspaper map wall art!
This project prices in at $6. $3 for a newspaper, $3 for double-sided tape and endless compliments from your friends. So turn on a movie and get to cuttin'!
Note: I liked the natural lines from the computer paper separations, but you could always place your shapes on top of one another for a more cohesive look.
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