OS Team • Family activities • Oct 20, 2023 • 5 mins
The countdown is on for Christmas! So get crafty with your old paper maps with these 10 festive ideas on how to repurpose them.
Don't want to chuck out your old paper maps, but need room on the shelf for new ones?! Put them to good use by creating some mappy Christmas crafts. Make decorations showcasing your favourite places, family crackers that will get everyone talking and a Christmas tree that will last a lifetime - old or damaged OS Paper maps certainly have their uses!
The focal point of most homes at Christmas time is the tree. So get folding and be the envy of your neighbours with this mappy masterpiece of a tree! Make yours with this quick guide.
There's heaps of different mappy ornaments you could make to adorn your Christmas tree. Map stars, hearts, angels, reindeer, snowflakes, the options are endless! Simply cut some shapes out of maps, mount them onto card, punch a hole in the top and loop some string though and voila!
Here's how Jamie at Splendry made hers.
Globe garlands. Credit: Poppytalk.com
Try your hand at origami with these fantastic mappy globe garlands. Fold, flip, repeat and blow to inflate them into cute little globe shapes.
They may look a tad tricky to make, but Poppytalk have a helpful step-by-step guide for you to follow here.
How about replacing your tinsel this year with homemade map bunting? Simply cut out mappy triangles and stick or staple onto a length of ribbon. Great to wind up staircases and brighten up ceilings!
Check out this DIY guide to make your own map bunting.
Add the finishing touch to your Christmas decorations at home with these awesome 3D star decorations.
Pillar Box Blue have a free template you can use to make yours here.
Mappy Christmas cards are an easy way to delight friends and family. Make them personal and use the section on the map from where they live, their favourite campsite or bit of the countryside in Britain. Stars, Christmas trees, a snowman or baubles are all easy shapes to cut out for the front of a card. Why not make a crafty morning of it and get the kids involved in making them for the whole family!
Map stars. Credit: pillarboxblue.com
Possibly the most simple yet effective idea yet, wrap your Christmas presents in your old paper maps. Rather than ripping the paper off with reckless abandon, you can give the gift of geography before they've even opened up their present.
Map bunting. Credit: annabode.com
Map wrapping. Credit: Wooden Bee Pinterest
Christmas Card. Credit: theimaginationbox.com
Another crafty idea that anyone can put their hand to - simply cut out Christmas-shaped tags from your old maps and Sellotape or string them onto your presents.
A bunch of map flowers would make the perfect finishing touch to your Christmas dining table. Even better, borrow or buy a Christmas-themed hole-punch and scatter mappy-snowflakes across the Christmas crockery!
Map flowers
A must-have for every map-lover, your very own handmade mappy Christmas Crackers! And it means you can choose some half-decent trinkets to fill them with too! Thanks to Pillar Box Blue you can find a step-by-step guide of how to make yours here.
Mappy Christmas crackers. Credit: pillarboxblue.com
Mappy Christmas crackers. Credit: pillarboxblue.com
Mappy Christmas crackers. Credit: pillarboxblue.com
Have you got other genius mappy Christmas craft ideas? Share them with us below or on social media, we'd love to see them!
Browse the OS Christmas Shop to find the perfect outdoorsy present.
From planning & creating your own routes, or discovering ready-made ones; to following & recording your progress and staying on track; OS Maps puts mapping & navigation tools at your fingertips to make it easy for anyone to get outside safely and discover the outdoors.
Be inspired to do more and go further by equipping yourself with the best tools for the job. Our maps are built on 220 years of experience - we keep walkers, runners, cyclists and more safe in the great outdoors all year round.
Available from local outdoors retailers, bookshops and our online OS shop.
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