DIY Destination Map Ornament for Christmas

Sometimes ornaments are meant to look uniform and conservative, but I like my ornaments a little on the crafty side, especially when I can make them unique and commemorative. This year, I wanted to make a "destination" map ornament as a gift for my hubby because he gets to go on this spectacular trip in a few weeks. He'll be doing an international excursion to China for a business school project, and since it'll be his first trip outside the US, I thought I'd join in on his excitement and make it a highlight to remember for the upcoming year.

The supplies that I used for this project:

• one clear glass ornament (pictured here is a large ornament but I actually used a medium sized ball)
• one sheet of map paper for every medium-sized ornament
• Modge-Podge
• Fiskars Round 'n Round Squeeze Punch Extra Large (2")

To make this, I started with a medium, clear ornament and roughly measured the circumference with my piece of paper to ensure that I'd have enough circles to cover it completely. I printed a color copy of this map of China, then used the punch to get a number of circles of both land and sea. Without the punch you could easily trace circles with a pencil and cut them out by hand.

I tried to keep the land circles together and the sea circles near the bottom, while trying to connect red borders as much as possible. Paint some modge-podge underneath the circle then place it where you'd like it to go, and then gloss up all over the top as well.

This stuff dries super fast and with such large circles (these are 2" in diameter) you might need to help flatten it with little creases with your fingers. Once all the spaces are filled, give it another coat of gloss and you're done in a matter of minutes!

You could add a gold star to an important location on your map, or maybe even adding some glitter to parts of it. This is a great gift idea for friends or loved ones who are doing a study abroad, have recently moved, or have done a lot of traveling this year. It is a neat way to highlight anywhere that can be found on a map. Try it out this year and sing out, "I've got the world on a string"!