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Organize Your Family History

Stay focused and happy while exploring your roots

Improving my ancestor map

May 25, 2013 By Janine Adams 2 Comments

A map, cork board, foam core and frame make a great way for me to map my ancestors!I love the map I’ve put together to mark the birth and death places of my ancestors. Back in October, I blogged about the strategy I put into place on what to pin and how I make the pin flags. I pinned as far back as great grandparents before I hung the map, and that’s where I ran into a snag. I had been using a fabric-covered Homasote bulletin board that I had just pinned the map to. But when I rearranged my office and went to hang the map on the wall, I realized that the old bulletin board was so bowed it wasn’t going to hang well.

So I put a lot of energy (probably too much) into figuring out how to have an attractive, pinnable map hanging on my wall, and here’s what I came up with:

  • I purchased a sheet of 1/4″ thick cork board
  • I purchased a put-it-together-yourself metal frame kit
  • I purchased a piece of foam core
  • And of course, I already had a large map of the U.S.

My husband, Barry, who in a prior life worked in a frame shop, helped me assemble the frame (well, he did it for me). I took all the pins out of the map and took it off the old board. Barry layered the map on top of the cork board on top of the foam core and slid them into the frame. Naturally, there’s no glass covering the frame. I then had the pleasure of repinning all the pins!

The result (pictured above) is attractive, I think. And very functional. I haven’t taken the time to add more pins (though I want to!), but even just with my parents, grandparents and great grandparents pinned, it’s such a treat to glance up and see where my roots lie. (That would be in Alabama, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, and Washington…and one outlier in California.)

I’m not a big DIYer, but this was one project that was not difficult for me. And I’m very pleased with the result!

Filed Under: My family, Organizing Tagged With: excitement, maps, organizing aids

Comments

  1. Wendy says

    June 5, 2016 at 8:54 pm

    I love this so much! I’ve now got a world map up in the hallway, although I think I might have to use sticky flags instead of pins. I’ll be adding the state map in a month or so. Thank you SO much for the idea!

    Reply
    • Janine Adams says

      June 6, 2016 at 7:01 am

      You are so welcome, Wendy! Let me know whether the sticky flags allow for enough precision. My family is clustered together in the same towns, so I was glad to have pins for the individuals. But that may be more precision than is necessary. Enjoy!

      Reply

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about me

I'm Janine Adams, a professional organizer and a genealogy enthusiast. I love doing family history research, but I find it's very easy for me to get overwhelmed and not know where to turn next. So I'm working hard to stay organized and feel in control as I grow my family tree.

In this blog, I share my discoveries and explorations, along with my organizing challenges (and solutions). I hope by sharing what I learn along the way I'll be able to help you stay focused and have fun while you do your research, too.

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