Thursday, June 4, 2009

How to make map butterflies


A few weeks ago, I discovered Image Surgery's stunning butterflies by way of the blog The Estate of Things. Image Surgery's butterflies are made from laser cut vintage maps and look like they are well worth the 150 euro pricetag for a single butterfly. But this is also more than I pay to fly to Europe.





However, this seemed like a terrific inspiration for reusing maps from vacations - giving you a vacation memento and a bit of wall art all in one.

Here are my materials - a free book of Brooklyn neighborhood maps, small cardboard boxes from the recycle bin, scissors, glue stick, silhouette shapes of butterflies via Google, push pins and a fabric remnant.

To make the mounting boxes, check out my earlier DIY post here.

Cut out the butterfly silhouette and trace it on the back of your map, then cut out the butterfly shape from your map. (Hint: Make the butterfly about 30 percent larger than life for more impact.) Put a dab of glue on the back of a push pin and place the push pin in the center of the back of a butterfly. After it dries, center the butterfly on your mounting board (or inside of a photo frame or stick it directly into the wall.)



Admittedly, mine do not look as cool as Image Surgery's, but you can't beat the price tag - free.



20 comments:

  1. My best friend is a big butterfly lover. This would be such a nice gift for me to make her.

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  2. what a fantastic idea! great job.

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  3. Those are awesome! I'm a transportation nerd, so I love maps in any form, but that's a really cool way to step it up a notch.

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  4. These are so beautiful! Lots of great ideas here, I'll be linking.

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  5. I was just about to do something similar to Image Surgery's and really appreciate the tip about making the butterfly larger than life. Will link when I get it finished! Thanks.

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  6. You just totally inpired me! Thank you!

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  7. Great Idea and I think your butterflies turned out great.

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  8. These are so pretty, I will have to try my hand at it.

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  9. Great post and thanks for the link. A big part of the fun is in finding the various maps. Old atlases are cheap, colorful and printed on good paper stock. Picking up free transport and tourist maps is also a top tip!

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  10. Thanks for the inspiration, Image Surgery. Your butterflies are spectacular.

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  11. HI!!
    Great tips! They turned out lovely. I'd like to try it out....
    Thanks for the shout out to The Estate of Things too.
    By the way, I owe you some info on my process for the stringy light thingy if you really want it!? I do have some pics throughout the process. Email me if you really care for the details! :)
    Betsy
    betsy@theestateofthings.com

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  12. This is so wonderful! I love the idea and your design looks so cool. thanks for sharing!

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  13. thank you for sharing this I will make these with the grandchildren.

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  14. Several months after this post, I'm just reading it. But you should check out Tracey Bush, a British artist who makes butterflies out of maps, manuscripts and all sorts of other paper items. She also does flowers out of candy wrappers. Stunning!

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  15. I love this look and had been pondering something similar, but I'd assumed I would need a butterfly punch. Thanks for the super-simple suggestion of just cutting them out!

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  16. it's a beautifull idea! very particulary thank yuo for this! Bye Ale

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  17. These are beautiful - Thanks for the inspiration! I saw this post quite a while ago and have finally got around to trying it out. Check out my post if you like: http://iheartsunnydays.blogspot.com/2010/03/map-butterflies.html

    Thanks again
    (have signed up as follower!)

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  18. Thank you so much it is a very good guide, now to make map butterflies is simple utilizing your recommendation. Kudos

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