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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.

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What You Need To Make A Map Shell Gift

• Largish seashell – collect from your favourite beach or pick one up from your local craft store.
• Map of your special place.
• Decoupage glue such as Mod Podge
• White Tissue Paper
• Masking tape
• Gold leaf paint
• Picture frame 4″x6″
• Gorilla Glue Mounting Tape Squares

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 and a DIY map cork board.

If you liked this post check out these other ones.

• Decoupage Shell Dish
• DIY Placemats With Kitchen Patents
• Dictionary Christmas Decoupage Baubles
• Old Maps of Norway

For more craft gift ideas visit favecrafs.com