Map Heart Valentines 3D Picture Frame

Bristol is where I met my wife to be, and is where we now have our home. I thought I would make something to record that!

You can make this for yourself or you can make it as a present.

It cost me just over £6 to make.

Dont forget to vote for me in the valentines competition. Thanks. 

Date Made: Feb 2013
Approx Cost: £6
Approx Time: 2 hours
Difficulty: Easy/Medium

Step 1: Things You Need

1. A deep picture frame - I used an ikea ribba frame. £4.25
2. Double sided sticky foam pads - I used 5mmx5mmx2mm (ebay £1.44 for 400no) 
3. Scissors/Knife
4. A ruler for getting straight cuts (if using a knife)
5. Printer/Computer
6. A piece of cardboard
7. Pritstick or Spray glue

Comments

[katvanlew]

I really like this project! well done.

[Blechmen]

I printed off the heart template and it doesnt fit my matte board, I have the same frame as you

[Mr_o_uk]

Make sure you print it at 1:1 on A3.

[Blechmen]

oh i don't have A3 :(

[Mr_o_uk]

You could print it centrally on A4, (but you still need to print it at 100% original A3 size. Depending on your printer you'll either have to set it to 1:1, or 100% or "original" or take of "fit to paper" or something like that - you might have to play around a bit).

You can check it has printed to the right scale by measuring the print and checking it ties up with numbers printed on the template.

You will lose some of the picture though as A4 is only 210x297 and the frame is bigger than that - smallest cut pictures should be 215x215. I guess you won't see the upside 50mm so it won't matter except that you will somehow have to fix them all in position so that it doesn't move around in the frame.

Or you could use 2 pieces of A4?

[Blechmen]

Hahaha Yesss thanks so much it helped alot

[Mr_o_uk]

That should say "outside" 50mm. Because you can't see that outside 50mm, you won't see that the paper is slightly smaller. If you cut your cardboard to size by hand and stick everything (centrally) to that still, it should work exactly the same.

If you are struggling to get it to print on A4, let me know and I will do an A4 PDF for you.

[Blechmen]

Well i think i got it but others may have the same issue so if its not much work maybe making one for A4 would be a good idea

[Blechmen]

This is sooo cool, amazing job and it looks fantastic, I voted for you

[Mr_o_uk]

Thanks. Much appreciated.

[Mr_o_uk]

I guess this doesn't have to be a map. It could be a photo, or a drawing or something.

If anyone uses something other than a map, I'd like to see it.

[shootr]

YEAH! Something I can actually do for my Valentine! Great description and idea, thanks!

[Mr_o_uk]

Let me know how it goes!

Remember to get hold of bigger sticky pads if you can.

Another couple of tips I forgot to mention are:

1. Cut the smaller hearts first. That way, if you mess it up, then you can cut a bigger one out of the same 'set up' instead of wasting a template and map.

2. I used the 'void former' box from the frame as a guide when stacking the cut maps together. If they are the same size you can drop them on top of each other inside of the box.

[Kiteman]

I like this - no matter who does it, it will always be personal.