For travel lovers out there, I hope this DIY Guest “Book” Adventure Map inspires you!!! Alex and I hope to travel the world over the years to come, so incorporating a little hint of “adventure” into our wedding day was fun to brainstorm! There are so many types of guest “book” maps out there, but I loved the idea of tacking names onto a corkboard. So we made it happen, all thanks to my SUPER crafty and talented mother!!! Not only is she crafty, but she loves problem-solving. So when we put our heads together, we came up with this project I’m excited to share with you all today!!!
Whether you just want to have a personalized map hanging in your home … or you plan to use it at your wedding … this is an inexpensive way to make it happen! 🙂 Enjoy!!!!
Supplies you need for your map:
Silhouette/Cricut machine, computer, cutting supplies, iron
Colored vinyl
Muslin Cloth
Spray Adhesive (the Gorilla spray worked great!!)
Cork Board (bought one for $10 at Goodwill!)
Acrylic Paint + Paintbrush
Wood trim + Hardware (something to cut the trim down, nails, hammer, and caulk)
Trim Paint/Paintbrush + Hanging supplies
Do You Have a Silhouette or Cricut Machine?
If not, I HIGHLY suggest getting a Silhouette or a Cricut machine if you see yourself potentially taking on projects like this. 🙂 I cannot rave enough how many things you can do with it … Like make custom t-shirts, mugs, wine glass etches, wooden signage, and SO much more!!! It really is like having Etsy in your own home. 🙂
Here is an example of what a design looks like after it is printed and “weeded” (on the left). Just iron it on a piece of fabric and wah-lah! It looks professionally made! 🙂 We applied the same technique with the map too! After figuring out the dimensions, my mom went to work on the computer, printed, and weeded the entire design! We ironed it onto the muslin cloth to get the results you see below (on the right)!
Cut, Glue, Paint, and Apply Trim!
After your design is in place and ironed, it’s time to cut the cloth to the size of the corkboard. Since I decided to have a piece of wooden trim around the edge, there was a little give if the cut wasn’t 100% perfect. 🙂 Take the corkboard and cloth outside and spray it in place with a spray adhesive.
To fill in the design, I took my acrylic paint supplies and mixed it with water to create a watercolor effect. You can go as crazy as you want with colors, but I wanted a simple white and blue color scheme. After it dried, it was almost ready!
I cut down four white trim boards I picked up from Home Depot (or you can have them cut it down for you), and liquid nailed/nailed the four pieces in place. After it was secure, I caulked the edges, so it looked seamless and painted the trim. Finally, I attached hanging hardware to the backside to hang it in our home after the wedding. 🙂
Our Wedding Guest “Book” Adventure Map
As our guests walked into the wedding, they were greeted with a little sign, push pins, strips of vellum paper, and markers. The sign read: “Where Shall We Go Next? Sign a tag, grab a tack, & pin a favorite destination on the map!”
How We Use it Today
The map is on display in one of our guest bedrooms. 🙂 We love seeing where our family and friends have been!!
This DIY Guest “Book” Adventure Map was so fun to make, and I hope it inspires you to tackle this project too. 🙂
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