Make It: Hip stationary from old maps

If the doldrums of school or work have you down, brighten up your day with a nifty craft project recycling old road maps.

Start by making your very own personalized stationary, as you’re dreaming of exotic adventures across the wide expanse of these United States.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE: Make It: Hip stationary from old maps

What you’ll need:

• An old card and envelope (for a pattern)
• Old maps or an atlas
• Pencil/pen
• Scissors
• Glue
• Card stock or thin construction paper

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE: Make It: Hip stationary from old maps

Gently open up and flatten out the envelope and trace the outline onto one of your maps. You can choose particular states and cities if you prefer.

Cut out your new envelope, and glue to another piece of map or atlas page. I used a paintbrush to get good, even coverage.

Press down and smooth out to ensure you’ve removed any air pockets, pressing from the inside of the paper to the outside.

Re-glue edges if needed.

Cut out the envelope shape, fold and crease edges inward.

Fold in the sides, copying the shape of the original pattern, applying glue to the side edges. Press the bottom flap up and press down on the glue-covered flaps, creating a seal. This will hold the three sides together.

Wait for the glue to dry before sending!

For the card, use the original card as a pattern and trace onto your card stock or paper.

Cut out and glue to your map or atlas. Press down and spread from the middle out to remove the air bubbles and re-glue edges if needed.

Fold card in half, let dry and it’s ready to send.

Repeat this process until you have as many cards and envelopes as you’d like.

From sea to shining sea, these note-worthy notes can document your travels, or use them as thank you notes or even give as a gift.

STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE: Make It: Hip stationary from old maps

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Twinkle VanWinkle was born in a small town in Mississippi. A life-long lover of music, media and food, she grew up following those three things along her path. She has almost 20 years of professional cooking under her apron strings, feeding thousands of friends, family and other folks while working in restaurants and bakeries in Oxford, Miss. She baked apple pies for the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and appeared on Food Network's “The Best Of...” in the same year. Along with producing dynamic lifestyle content for LIN Media, she is a mother, musician and social media fanatic.

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