Update: Here is how to make a a license plate map the easy way!
This is the original license plate map my mom and I made…
I’m not going to lie, this was pretty tricky… my mom, me, and one of my best friends all worked on this one together…it currently lives in my mom’s house! If you are seriously interested in making one, feel free to e-mail me with ANY questions…craftaway [at] gmail [dot] com. I will help you as much as I can.
Here a few tips for this lovely piece of license plate art:
1: My mom bought a set of 50 license plates on e-bay. She had to specially order 2 black Texas and 2 blue CA ones (for this size, TX and California took 2 plates)
2: My mom and dad made the board the map it attached to. They just used scraps of wood, and stained it…(my mom was excited to use her miter box!)
3: We found a free printed map in an old National Geographic magazine that was the perfect size.
4: We cut out each individual state to use as a template for the license plate map.
5: The map you see in the picture was our reference guide. It gets tricky in the Northeast!
6: Not all states have to be cut out perfectly, some of them are under another plate…most of the time you only need to cut out 2 or 3 sides of a state.
7: We used white nails…to blend into the plates and painted a few tips of nails to match the specific color of the plate (blue for CA, black for TX)
8: We started with the North Dakota to Texas row.
9: We used tin snips to cut the plates…this worked well for most of the license plates.
Click here for detailed instructions about how to make a license plate map.
Comments & Reviews
I saw this on HGTV forever ago and have wanted to make it ever since, but you DID! That's awesome to know it's actually doable. Thanks for the tips.
This is amazing!
This is so totally bad ass!!! Great work!
Amazing! That is awesome! Love the board it's on too. Showcases it perfectly.
just saw this on one pretty thing. Wow do I love it. My hubby and i just saw something like this at Target and my hubby was entranced. (he loves geography and traveling…) I was trying to come up with a way to make one myself, but figured I wouldn't be able to find the stuff I needed. I can't believe you can order plates on e-bay! So now I really want to make this for my hubby for Christmas. Can you tell me how much the plates cost?
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This is really cool. How hard was it to snip TX? I've never worked with snips
Ruth of Hammer & Thread
Hi- Jaimie-
Just saw this on On Pretty thing. I always wanted to make one as I love how colorful it is. I figured I would never be able to get all the plates. You did a fantastic job. So unique.
Thanks again for featuring my film canister project 🙂
My best- Diane
I just saw this on One Pretty Thing and it caught my eye! I actually bought an original piece of license plate art from Aaron Foster 5 years ago. That is when I first saw this type of art and I fell in love with it. He is now more famous, used to have a show on HGTV but has since gone bigger and is in Target. The funny thing is I haven't found a spot for the artwork I bought from him yet…it was way bigger than I had thought and can't find a wall big enough for it. But I still love it! I can't believe you did one yourselves. It looks really awesome, congratulations that must not of been easy. It looks great. Here is his web site if you want to take a gander.
http://www.aaronfoster.com/base.html
FANTASTIC!!! The males in my life would love one of these.
This is SERIOUSLY AMAZING! You did a WONDERFUL job! Such a cool idea — now I want one! 🙂
THIS is AWESOME!!!
This is super cool and so creative. What a fabulous piece! Would love to have you stop by The Sunday Showcase Party if you get a chance. Hope you are enjoying your weekend! Love this! ~ Stephanie Lynn
That is just the coolest thing ever! I would buy something like that!
That's very cool! I'vew always loved those license plate maps!
Amazing. You all did a fabulous job.
I love it!! I have been wanting to do a headboard with old license plates for my son. They are hard to find… And you have one from each state… That is so great!!! Great job!! :O) I will have to check out ebay now!!! Thanks!!
How unique! Such a fun piece of art to look at. It's got that 'junk' aspect that I adore. Very cool!
Thanks for linking up to SNS!
FJ Donna
incredible!!!!
This is really cool! I'll have to remember this to make someday.
SO neat! Great job!!
I never would've thought that you could cut that thick metal into such intricate shapes….looks FABULOUS!
Great job…I have seen these and they are EXPENSIVE!! I may try this someday with the hubby
That is AWESOME!!! I have a thing for states decor…did cutting the plates kill your hands?!? I guess it was worth it because that is super cool 🙂
I have always loved these! How much were the 50 plates on ebay?
I. LOVE.THIS. Really really love!!!
This is the coolest idea I've seen in a very long time. I am your newest follower at the moment. Stop by one day if you have time. I have two blogs, http://www.unengine3.blogspot.com and http://www.julie-thegoingtobenewme.blogspot.com
You have so many cool ideas. I'm off to read some more.
Take care and God Bless!!!
Just fabulous!
that's incredible. What amazing work!
totally cool! 🙂
This is amazing. You guys did such a good job.