DIY Map Painting

I have a habit of thinking something up in my head and then feeling the world has personally offended me when I cannot find exactly that said product for sale. Such, this was the case with the artwork now hanging in our bedroom.

I wanted a simplistic world map. Just a solid color background with a solid color print of the world map. This, I though, was far less extravagant than some other ideas that is brain has cooked up. So I was shocked when I could not find it for sale anywhere! 
Finally, I decided if I could not find it - I would make it. However, the reality of me being able to freehand an outline of the world map... in a way that would look like artwork that one would actually want hanging on her bedroom wall... set in quickly and I had to put my pretty little thinking cap on. 
A stroke of genius reminded me of 'engineer prints.' These are prints that you can have done at Staples Copy and Print Center. (Or other printing companies, I'm sure.) They are intended to be blue-prints. So, that means the paper is BIG! I found a simple outline of the map and ordered it to be printed on an 24x32 inch engineer print for a whopping $4.19. The low price of this big print is probably one of my favorite parts of this entire project!
Next I went to Michael's Craft Store for the rest of my supplies. I lucked out that they were having a sale and I was able to purchase a 24x32 canvas for only $20 when they usually cost $40. But the Michael's app always has a 40% off full priced item coupon that you could use. I also picked out my paint colors, a few brushes, and an exacto-knife. 
Once home, I laid my big old print down on the kitchen table and started the process. Using the exacto-knife, I (VERY CAREFULLY) cut out the outline of the map. This left me with a giant stencil of the map. (Don't forget to have something underneath the paper to protect the surface you are cutting upon. I used a cutting board from my kitchen and it worked wonderfully.) I saved the cut out continents so that I could later retrieve bodies of water. I decided to issue creative license and did not include every tiny island, as I wanted a very simplistic look.

The Stencil as a Work-In-Progress

Next I laid out the canvas and painted 2 coats of my base color.
Once the paint was dry, I taped my giant stencil to the canvas (neatly and evenly) and began to trace in the continents. (Don't forget to add in bodies of water for accuracy!) 
After removing the stencil, it was just a matter of coloring (er, painting) in the lines! 

Then, VOILÀ - you're done and ready to hang your masterpiece.

The Finished Product!