Personalized Hometown Map Coasters
- By Joan
- December 15, 2016
- No Comments
I know that on Tuesday I shared with you 75 homemade gifts for everyone on your gift list but if you still haven’t decided on what present to give friends and family, I have one more possibility. A set of personalized map coasters featuring your recipient’s hometown.
It was probably this time last year when I was thumbing thru a gift magazine and I found some very cool custom map coasters. My first thought of course was, ‘I can make that’, but even better, this would be the perfect present for my teenage son to give to all his aunts and uncles.
Now that I’m finally typing this up, I couldn’t find the gift magazine where I originally saw the map coasters, but I did find these from the New York Times Store for $59.95. The coasters I saw last year did not have street labels on them, these do. It is totally up to you what style map you use.
These coasters from Uncommon Goods, also have their street labels intact. Did you notice the $65 price tag?
One more…these are from Signals and the least expensive of the three but that may be because the maps are mounted on mdf plywood instead of tile. I wanted to show you this one because this is the type of map we used, a satellite view with no street names.
Start with the tile backing. You may need to go to your local home improvement store or better yet, a local architectural salvage store or ReStore to find your tile. The box of tile above was only a couple of dollars at my local salvage yard…perfect for this project.
Find addresses for all your recipients. It could be their past home, a present home, favorite city, favorite vacation spot, college…
Use a mapping program that you can get rid of the street names. We used Google Maps.
On the upper left hand corner in Google Maps under search, type in your address. You’ll probably find that some maps are much clearer than others.
Click on Satellite View.
Again, in the upper left hand corner you will see 3 horizontal lines…click on that.
Turn labels OFF.
Zoom in as close as you like to get as much detail as you like. You’ll need to put your point of interest (house?) not in the center of your picture because that will be on your cut line. You may want to center your house on one of the quarters.
Save your map.
In a photo editing program, crop the map until you have a square image. Again, don’t center your house.
Print out your square, the overall dimensions will be just slightly smaller than the four tiles together. Our printed map was about 7 5/8″ square. You may need to print out a couple maps until you get the exact right size.
Cut into squares. We found it easiest to use a paper cutter.
Put down a layer of Mod Podge on your tile, layer on your map and finish with another coat of Mod Podge.
Let dry.
Paint on 2 coats of the dishwasher safe Mod Podge spread on with a foam brush. Let dry completely between coats. The foam brush reduces brush strokes and the dishwasher safe Mod Podge will make the coasters water safe.
Let dry completely before packaging…overnight should be good. The instructions on the Mod Podge says that it will be dishwasher safe in 21 days…not that these will ever go in the dishwasher.
Felt stickers on the backs of the tiles prevent scratching.
It’s not too late, you still have plenty of time to make a few sets of these. Have a great weekend!
Shared at Handmade Hangout Party, Salvaged Junk Projects,
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