Easy DIY Travel Map You Can Make in 1 Hour

Do you love road trips? Maps are a great way to track your travels but as I have seen them become more and more popular, they seem to be more expensive. I saw a cork map at Michael's for $50! WHAT?! I thought that I could totally make that so I did, with a Smoothfoam sheet instead of cork. Check out my easy DIY travel map of California – I made it in less than an hour!

I chose to make a map of my home state, California because we plan to move out of state in a few years so we've been trying to visit all of the landmarks in California as much as possible. A fun way to remember your trips is to create a hanging display of them on the wall. The Smoothfoam sheets are much thicker than cork and more affordable too. You can also cut them with a hot knife or a hot wire foam cutter. Imagine cutting out each state in the US and then piecing them together to make a giant map the county to hang on your wall! I think I might have to try that some time….

The Smoothfoam Sheet base of this map makes it highly pinnable, not just to Pinterest but you can also put pins in the Smoothfoam to mark the places you've visited. Add flags to the pins with the location name, date you visited, and names of the people you traveled with.

To create a custom travel map, gather the following supplies:

6″ x 12″ Smoothfoam Sheet
Acrylic Craft paint
Paint Brush
Printed Map or Diecut Map of the area
Pins

Smoothfoam 6 x 12 Sheet

Sizzix eclips Accessory – 12″ x 12″ Cutting Mats, 2 Pack

Sizzix eclips2 DIY Electronic Cutter Starter Kit

US States by Basic Grey – Sizzix eShape Store eclips

Martha Stewart Crafts Painting 3-Piece Stencil Brush Set 32

DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint, 2-Ounce, Mink Tan DecoArt

DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint, 2-Ounce, Desert Turquoise DecoArt

DecoArt Americana Acrylic Paint, 2-Ounce, Taffy Cream DecoArt

InLinkz.com

I used the Sizzix eclips2 DIY electronic cutter to cut the outline of California from a piece of paper, creating a stencil that I used to paint the image of the state onto the Smoothfoam Sheet. Use pins to hold the stencil in place while painting or tracing. Here's how:

I also used the Sizzix eclips2 to die cut flags to adhere to pins to mark all of the places you visited. Place extra, blank pins in an envelope on the back of the map so that you can add more pins as your visit more places. Attach the Smoothfoam Sheet to the wall with removable adhesive strips. See more about this project at the Smoothfoam Blog.

If I ever go to Europe, I am so making one of these again! What area would you create a map of?

Check out these other travel themed projects: