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How To Make A Map Seashell Gift For Christmas

I just love maps, they are a great way to personalize gifts and DIYs. Vintage maps are so fascinating and beautiful, with this craft I used them to make a unique map seashell gift for Christmas.

Currently, I live in the middle of the UK but I did actually grow up on the coast and so did my husband. We both miss living by the sea and hope to again one day.

In the meantime, we spend a lot of our vacations visiting coastal places, such as Norway, Portugal, and Hong Kong. All these three countries have a special meaning for us as a family. I thought it would be good to celebrate this by making a unique gift using maps from these destinations.

When you think of the sea, you think of beaches. When you think of beaches you think of the sand and seashells. That’s why I decided to make this unique Christmas gift using seashells.

I made a unique seashell gift for Christmas by decoupaging maps of our favourite coastal towns onto the inside of a seashell and then framing it.

Instead of framing these unique seashell gifts, you could drill a hole in the seashell. Then hang it on the Christmas tree with some ribbon, for a special Christmas decoration.

There are so many vintage maps to choose from on Pictureboxblue. You are bound to find one that you could use for this craft. To make the gift even more special use a seashell collected from your favourite beach.

large seashell

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What You Need To Make A Map Shell Gift

How To Make A Map Seashell Gift

1. First, decide on what map you are going to use. Either download one from this site or scan one you already have into the computer. Use a software package (such as Canva or PicMonkey) to resize the map to fit the inside of your shell.

2. Next, tape a piece of tissue paper to a sheet of computer printer paper using the masking tape. Then put the paper in the computer printer and print your chosen map on to it.

Note, test printing the map on a test page first, to make sure it is the correct size for the seashell gift. Also, to make sure you know which way to put the paper up in the computer to ensure the image is printed on to the tissue paper in the right place.

3. Next, carefully cut out the tissue paper map. The cut out map should be slightly larger than the seashell gift.

Cutting out tissue map

4. Next, prepare the seashell by coating the inside with Mod Podge with a brush.

Mod Podge on shell

5. Next, gently lay the tissue paper map face up onto the Mod Podged shell. Carefully press the map down onto the shell. Don’t worry about any overlap at this stage.

Place tissue on shell

6. Then, leave the seashell gift to dry. Next, with a brush wet the overlapping tissue paper. Then gently pull away the excess tissue paper.

Brushing map with water

7. Next, apply a coat of Mod Podge on top of the printed map on the shell. Leave it to dry and this will provide a protective varnish.

Varnishing map seashell gift.

8. Finally, to finish off the map seashell gift, apply some gold gilt paint to the edges. Then using Mounting Tape Squares mount the seashell gift into the photo frame.

Mounting the shell into frame

I love how this map seashell gift turned out I ended up making 2 of them. One of Hong Kong and the other Bergen Norway.

Bergen Map shell

A great accompaniment to this map shell gift is a personalized embroidered map ornament.

Other personalized gifts that you can make from maps include vintage map pillows, DIY map art and a DIY map cork board.

If you liked this post check out these other ones.

For more craft gift ideas visit favecrafs.com

kathy

Saturday 14th of August 2021

Beautiful! The frame and the shell match perfectly.

Kathy

claire

Saturday 14th of August 2021

Thank you so much, it is a fun gift.

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Maria

Thursday 5th of December 2019

Love how yours turned out so pretty! I live by the sea and have been wanting to do with oyster shells.

claire

Thursday 5th of December 2019

Thank you, I think they would look really good with oyster shells. Lucky you living by the sea. I did growing up and really miss it.

Cecilia

Monday 2nd of December 2019

Such a creative gift! Thanks for sharing at Vintage Charm!

claire

Tuesday 3rd of December 2019

Thank you so much Cecilia.