{push-pin map // travelogue}

I’m a weekend explorer.  But, you already knew that.  Nothing better than getting out and finding new places.  Hiking trails.  Restaurants.  Lots of bars.  Parks.  Beaches….you know I love a good beach.  Vista points.  Waterfalls.  Random stops on the side of the road for oohs and ahhs.

That’s where this push-pin map comes into place.  How fun is it to document where you’ve been on a map?  Using little push pins to marks all the spots you’ve stopped.

Maps are so incredibly gorgeous.  And the sad thing is, we rarely use or look at them anymore.   I mean really, when is the last time you held a map and actually looked at it?

Look below…all the colors.  Lakes.  Counties.  Freeways.  Waterways.

Fucking beautiful, right?

Bay + I made a push-pin map for our home years ago.  We’ve been pinning our fave places since.  It just gets better and better as it ages ♥

We recently moved and it’s become my favorite wall art.  Without fail, every time someone new comes into our home, we end up in front of this map.

Maps make great icebreakers.  Not that I’m inviting strangers over…lol.  But, as soon as you start looking over a map, inevitably, you start reminiscing.  The town you grew up.  The yearly family camping trip.  That time you stopped and had the best meal of your life in such and such town.  “This one time I picked up a hitchhiker”……

I love the conversations maps start.

 

(excuse my toter in the background)

So for Valentine’s Day, Bay + I decided to make Cory his very own.  He’s been in love with ours for years.

I snapped some pictures on insta-stories and I was going and got lots of DM’s asking what I was up too.  So here ya go.  Another easy + cheap diy from xoxostacyb.

 

Here’s what you’ll need:

• map
• large cork board
• spray adhesive
• ruler
• X-Acto knife
• ball push pins
• heavy books

 

If you’re a member at AAA, you’re in luck.  They have the best selection of maps.  There were over 5 California maps to choose from.

If not, Amazon is a great place too.  I love this USA map.  Or if you’re a more diverse traveler, this World map is gorgeous.

 

Here’s what you do:

Depending on the side of the cork board + map, you may need to use an X-Acto knife to trim the map.  I chose a really large cork board, so trimming wasn’t necessary.

You will need to do this next step quickly as the adhesive drys fast.

Spray the adhesive to the back of the map.  Quickly adhere to the cork board.

Using a ruler, drag firmly across the map to get out any creases or bubbles.

Go back and spray additional adhesive around the corners to make sure they are secure.

Place heavy books over the map.  I left them overnight.

And there you have it.  The finished product.

 

My cork board was really large, so I ended up with a border around the sides.  This ended up working perfect.  I leave all the extra push pins on the borders.

The bottom I left an even large space.  I want come up with a fun title to place there.

It’s currently still blank as I still haven’t come up with anything catchy…lol.

 

Then the fun part….

Grab the push pins and start tracking your adventures.

This is where you spend hours.  Bay + I did this together and reminisced about all the places we’ve been and funny memories.  We left extra push pins around the perimeter of the map.  That way, when you remember another place you’ve been…grab a push-pin and mark it.  You’ll come up with random places for the weeks to come.

 

Fun push pins……

Flag Push Pins would be really cute

And these pretty metallic pins

Rose gold, so pretty

 

Some ideas for the colors of the pins…..

You can used a certain color, lets say yellow, for all the places one person has been.

Maybe blue for the other person.

Red for all the places you’ve been together.

I think it would be so cute 🙂

 

Hope this inspires you to make your family a push-pin map.  Map out all your fun adventures.  Make it a piece of art for your home.  I promise you’ll love it forever!!

 

xoxo stacyb