How to make butterfly art from travel maps

Turn vacation maps into easy wall art

Nearly 40 million people are expected to take a  trip this holiday weekend, according to the AAA. Many will pick up driving maps, street maps, and tour maps in their travels.

Here is an easy do-it-yourself project that puts those maps to decorative use by transforming  them into paper butterflies. This project was inspired by the artwork of Image Surgery. The company makes laser cut butterflies from vintage maps, and the results are stunning.

Print a silhouette of a butterfly, trace and cut map

For a similar look using your own maps, do a search online for images of butterflies where the outline of the butterfly is distinct. Print it out at about 1/3 larger than life. Cut out the butterfly and trace the shape on to your map. Use multiple butterfly shapes for variety.

Put a dab of glue on the back of the butterfly and "mount" it on a push pin and allow it to dry.

Paper butterflies can be mounted for display

The butterflies can be mounted directly onto a wall, bulletin board or memo board. Or you can create your own easy display boxes using household items. See my DIY project on how to do this here.