Crafting Away With Vintage Maps

My Daddy had this Atlas forever. It's almost as big as I am! Well, it was as big as I was when I was 4 years old :D I've moved it from room to room over the years, but it still got water damage, silverfish, you name it. I decided to make some pretty things with it before it entirely disintegrated. The tattered map I used on these hat boxes said 1939. My youngest sister always brings me the best stuff from yard sales. Last time she was here, she brought two unfinished hat boxes. I decided to gift them back to her :D Here they are with a couple coats of clear spray finish applied. I still want to put some metal eyelets and use some cord to make it look more like a hat box. And either find a luggage tag, or print one out for each one. Then to top it off, I plan on making some yellow roses I saw on Martha Stewart made by a lady named Cassie.They're just stunning! I hope mine come out as realistic as hers. Twin gave me some rose scented spray and I cut out enough for six roses and placed them in a baggie with the scent. Let's hope it doesn't interfere with the painting, I'll let you know before you try it :D
So here are the boxes before and after decoupage. I used what I had, which was white school glue. I mixed it with water just to make it the consistency of paint and it worked just fine. A couple coats was all it needed.






See that rose? That was my practice rose...don't laugh at it! LOL I made this yesterday, but after I'd cut all the pieces out and started to make it, I realized I didn't have any florist's tape. And I still went ahead and made it. Of course, it fell apart after I painted it, and it dried...BUT, I can say this..it was a lot easier to paint than you'd think! HossFly had run to the dollar store and bought me 2 packages of 40 cone shaped coffee filters, $1 each, and an inexpensive set of childrens watercolors, $1.50. What a bargain! I got out a bowl of water and brushed water on each petal first, then used yellow which bled into the paper and looked very natural. As soon as I finished all the yellow, I used watered down red and just painted the tips of each petal. They bled nicely to fade into the yellow, just like a real rose! As soon as I finished that, I used less watered down red, just on the very tips of each petal. I was amazed that I could paint it so easily and it was so pretty! I wrapped wire around the bottom of the flower and hung it on a box fan to dry. It didn't take long, less than half an hour. You curl each side of the petals on a bamboo skewer. I already had those and didn't have to spend any extra money. Even with my practice rose looking all shaggy, Twin thought it was real, so did a couple other people :D

I'm looking for a few other craft/decorating ideas I can use some more maps on. I made this 3-D star for another sister. I think it might look good on her living room wall, but of course, no one is obligated to use a gift the way you intended it, right?!? LOL...it's a pretty large star. It involved math, so I had to get Hoss' advice on that part. Here it is, not quite finished, I used a glue water mixture on the top for one coat, nothing on the back yet. I decided to do the front in maybe 4 coats, let dry, then do the back. I want it pretty stiff for displaying on the wall, or on a cabinet or shelf.




I see it needs a little trimming before I put any more coats on it.