How To Make A Map Sailboat. See how to make a sailboat from a piece of found wood and a map. This is a fun summer craft that you can create in a short amount of time.
July Handcrafted Society Challenge
Are you ready for the Handcrafted Society’s July challenge? Excellent, me too! If you are new to my blog, the Handcrafted Society is simply a group of bloggers who share a love for detail and craftsmanship. Each month we take our assigned medium and set our creative minds to work.
This month we are using maps as our assigned medium. Be sure to check out the links and photos at the end of my post to see what my friends are sharing too. This sweet group of ladies always have the most fantastic ideas.
How To Make A Map Sailboat
I love displaying a few coastal touches in our home even though I’m landlocked and the ocean is many miles away. Now I have a sailboat that I can mix with shells during the summer months. If you have dreams of coastal living like me, then I think you’ll love making a simple boat like mine.
Maps make a beautiful medium to work with due to their variety of colors and fonts. I particularly like road maps to study, because you can discover all sorts of little towns that you’ve never heard of before.
To get started here’s a helpful list of supplies that you may need for this project.
Supplies For A Map SailBoat
- piece of wood
- dowel or straight stick
- map
- cotton string or embroidery floss
- eyelets or grommets
- eye screws
- short piece of ribbon
- pencil
- scissors
- craft glue or hot glue gun
Before we jump into the project, here are the dimensions of my sailboat. This my help you decide on what size you want to make yours. The piece of wood for the boat is about 10″ long, the dowel for the mast is about 13″ long.
Wood For The Boat
If you search on Pinterest for drift wood sailboats, you’ll get loads of ideas for wood pieces that you can use for a base. However if you don’t have access to drift wood, just keep your eyes open for possible alternatives. On my walking path there are all kinds of sticks and fallen branches from oak trees, and that’s where I found mine.
I used an old tooth brush to remove dirt and loose bark, then rinsed the wood off with water. When the wood was dry I gathered my supplies for my map sailboat project.
The mast
To create the mast you can use a straight stick or a dowel. You will want to drill a hole off center on your piece of wood, then inserted the dowel or stick. Use craft glue in the hole if you need to secure it.
The Sails
I’m using a small world map poster to make the sails. I bought this poster a few years ago for a project, but lucky me I never used it. To create the sails, I’m simply cutting out two right triangles of different sizes.
You may want to make patterns out of scrap paper then trace around them before cutting your map. For the mainsail, I’m using a colorful section of the map with lots pink, green, orange and blue. The jib is mostly blue ocean.
Metal eyelets are optional, but I think they give the sails a finished look. They also prevent the paper from tearing when tying your sails to the mast and boat.
The Rigging And Flag
Use cotton string or embroidery floss for the rigging. Loosely tie your map sails to the mast, and to the eye screws. I say tie them loosely, because you don’t want to wrinkle or tear your paper. Nothing fancy here, since all I know how to make are granny knots LOL!
For the flag at the top of the mast, I’m using a narrow blue and white gingham ribbon knotted and slipped over the mast. You can also make a paper flag if you wish.
Some of the boats that I have been admiring on Pinterest have little flag garlands stretching from the top of the mast to the corner of the jib sail. I decided to change up the look a bit using pompom ribbon instead. How fun is that?
To view last month’s HS project click on my post Cutting Board Wood Carving DIY.
Be sure to follow Thistle Key Lane on Pinterest, where the boards are up to date with seasonal inspiration you can use right now!
You can view all the Handcrafted Society projects below by clicking on the photo or the name of the blog under the photo. Thank you so much for stopping by today for my tutorial on how to make a map sailboat. Happy sailing!
Cheers!
More Map Projects For You
This project is hands down my favorite. I want to make one for my home. A stunning and very creative home decor item. Five stars, my friend!
You’re so sweet Tammy! Thank you so much!
Hi Michelle! This sailboat is absolutely adorable! How creative to use maps as sails, and the addition of the pom poms is fabulous! Perfect for summer decor, but suitable for use all year round! Pinning now!
Thank you Donna! I’m sure I can keep it out well into fall, since we don’t cool down until late October. 😉
This is so incredibly creative, Michelle! I would expect to see this in a chi-chi boutique in Nantucket! I love how you think outside the box and come up with such great projects! Pinned!
Thank you for the sweet comments Missy! I’m so thrilled you like the project! Hugs!
Oh Michelle, you blow me away every month. And this is certainly no exception — perhaps my favorite! The blue gingham flag is beyond adorable, and the pom pom encased rigging is jut the cutest. I can’t wait to make one of my own!!!
Thank you Diane! I had a different ribbon in mind at first, but I think the gingham is a winner. Plus it goes with the pom-poms! 😊
I absolutely love this Michelle. Such a great idea. Pinned, I want to make one right now! Thanks for the inspo. XO- MaryJo
I’m so happy you like the sailboat project! I think you should go for it and make one too! Hugs!
Okay, that little boat is absolutely the cutest thing ever! Michelle, your creativity never ceases to amaze me—I mean, why didn’t I think of that? You truly knocked it out of the park!
Thank you Wendy for the sweet comments! You did a great job picking out the medium this month. The projects were all fantastic!
Michelle
This is such a great idea. I can’t wait to share it next week on my DRA.
That is so sweet of you Rachel! I appreciate the share! Hugs to you my friend!
If this isn’t the cutest little “sailboat that could” ! Absolutely charming. This would be such a fun project to create with nieces and nephews. Can’t wait to see what you create next month.
Thank you Anna for the sweet comments! I have to admit it turned out a lot better than I imagined! 😊
Michelle,
What an adorable sailboat. Congratulations, you are being featured on TFT.
Hugs,
Bev
Thank you so much Bev for the feature! Heading over to link up again!
well, this has to be the cutest thing I have ever seen… now I need to go find a piece of drift wood!! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much Heather! I hope you have fun with the project!
Wow, Michelle, this is simply amazing! So very beautiful! I’m featuring this post today at Thursday Favorite Things. 🙂
Thank you Pam for the feature this week! Heading over to link up again. Hugs!