Map Flower

Map_Flower
My bookshelf is littered with travel books from trips from earlier times. Outdated and taking up space, I’ve been loathing to get rid of them even though they are basically useless because they remind me of wonderful times. If your bookshelves are bulging with old travel books or you have a pile of maps sitting around that you just can’t let go of, put them to work as a fun, decorative flower that is a more productive way of keeping your memories.

Things you’ll need:
Maps
Modge Podge
Paintbrush
Buttons
Thread and needle
Pinking shears
Scissors
Circle stencils or various circular shapes to trace
Pencil
Sewing machine (optional)

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Things to do:
1. Brush 3 thin coats of Modge Podge on each side of the map, allowing each coat to dry before applying the next.
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2. Once the paper is dry, cut a series of decreasingly smaller circles, with the largest at around 4 inches and the smallest at about 1/2 inch.
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3. At this point you can stitch around, across or just randomly with decorative stitches on your machine to add some extra interest to the circles.
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4. Trim the edges of some of the circles with the pinking shears.
5. Find the center of the largest circle and stitch a button on tightly. Sew through the button and into the center of the next smallest circle. Continue to add circles with a button in between each to add depth, until you have stitched all of the circles into a flower, finishing with a decorative button.
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6. Cut a leaf shape from the remaining pieces of map and stitch or glue to the back of the flower.
7. Attach to packages or add a broach pin to the back to create a pin.

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