Introduction: Revamp an Old Globe

Hey everyone!

So, I love travelling and I especially love maps and globes.

I've been seeing a bunch of stuff online about things you can make with globes and I decided to try my own spin on it. The plan was to make a chalkboard globe like I saw online but to outline the continents first as I still wanted to see the shape of the world on the globe.

I found an old globe at a garage sale for $1.00 and the other materials I already had around the house (except for the painter's tape, $2.57). This made this project only $3.57 and 6 hours of my time to make.

Step 1: Get Your Materials Ready

After you find a globe you want to use, it's time to get all your materials ready.

Materials Needed:

~Globe

~Painter's Tape (I bought the 6mm thickness)

~Chalkboard Spray Paint

Optional Materials:

~A different colour spray paint if you want to change the colour of the base (I used white)

~fine sandpaper to sand the base first

~I guess you could use a primer paint to cover the base first (I didn't)

~paper towels or cloth with a bit of water to wipe the base down after sanding

Step 2: Tape Off Your Continents

It was pretty easy to pop the globe out of the base and then I just set that aside for the time being.

I got the globe from a garage sale so it was a little dusty. I wiped it down with a slightly damp paper towel and then I was ready to begin.

I started off taping the continents and then moved to smaller little islands and stuff after. The islands and all the little inlets took up a lot of time because I had to keep ripping tiny pieces of tape to cover them. I chose to outline the continents so that it covered the land part and not the water as I wanted to see all the colours and not just the blue of the ocean. All in all, the taping took 2 hours to finish.

Step 3: Spray With Chalkboard Paint

After you finish taping off the continents you're ready to paint!

You may want to put down some old newspaper or other material to keep your painting area tidy.

This was my globe after one coat of paint. I flipped it over after about 10-15 minutes or so and then painted the other side. That should have been good but then my dog decided this looked like a fun toy and swiped his paw at it and THEN a huge gust of wind sent my globe rolling down the hill (thankfully, it was almost dry at that point) so I put another layer of paint just to cover up a few minor scratches (after cleaning off some debris and mud) :/

Step 4: Peel Off the Tape

Once the globe is dry and ready to go it's time to peel off your tape.

Most of it peeled off pretty easily but if you find some places are harder to peel off, make sure you use your finger and roll it over the tape instead of using your finger nail. I found that was better and didn't take off the chalkboard paint and/or peel off some of the globe.

Step 5: Paint the Base (Optional)

This step is totally optional, but I found I didn't like the black globe with the bronze base.

You could paint it any colour but I thought the white would make a great contrast with the black and look really fresh and clean looking. I had some white spray paint lying around but no primer. If I had primer I would have used it but it turned out alright without it. I sanded the base with some fine sandpaper first and then wiped it down with a damp and then dry paper towel. After that I sprayed it (2 coats) and let it dry.

Step 6: Put the Base and Globe Back Together

Once you finish everything and the paint has dried you can pop the globe back into the base.

Step 7: Enjoy Your New Chalkboard Globe!

I had several ideas for what you could do with this globe.

First, you might just want to leave it as is, not write anything. I guess you could even draw little pictures or whatever.

Second, I thought it would be cool to write the names of the continents in each area in capital letters and a nice font or something.

Third, you could colour in the countries you've visited on the globe and keep adding the more you travel.

Finally, you could just write a word or a travel-related quote you really like. I picked the quote "Not all who wander are lost" by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Thanks for checking out my first instructable! :)

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