13 ways to treat your travel souvenirs creatively

Travel souvenirs or travel keepsakes can be planned in such a way, that it compliments your décor style back home and doesn’t end up as a “yet-another-trinket”. Let’s agree on this point, that we all want our travel souvenirs to contribute to our memories of a trip. So, what can we do to minimize our efforts yet maximise on the results? Does a travel souvenir have to be big? Absolutely not! If you are backpacking, picking up big souvenirs is not an option. Does that mean you don’t collect a memory? Of course not! Here are some easy tricks on how you can carry a piece of each place you visit and make it a part of your daily life. 1.      Travel souvenirs can be as simple as a pebble from a beach you visit (using a marker you can write a story/memory on the pebble), a tea towel (preferably with a country specific print), key chains, magnets, fabrics, t-shirts etc. that can go into any corner of your backpack. This is what we did with the tea towels we collected. Got back home, ironed it and got it framed!

  Those are our souvenirs from Innsbruck and Edinburgh (Golden Dach and Lochness museum respectively) . All we did to these machine pressed elongated pennies, was stick a magnetic strip on the back and voila our penny magnet was ready!

  Another thing that you can do is, create a memory jar. This jar will be specifically for your travel keepsakes. I knew someone who had a wicker basket, where he collected interesting looking seeds, dry leaves from which ever place he travelled to! And this basket was a part of his living room décor. Your entry tickets to museums, monuments etc. can go into the memory jar. The advantage of a memory jar is that you can keep updating it. You can even keep country specific jars, if the space in your house permits! 2.     On similar lines, for the sun and sand lovers, Jars of Sand is a great idea. Labelled with city names, the jars of sand are surely going to transport you instantly, rushing in travel memories. To make it stand out, try jars of various size and shapes. Along with sand, you can also collect rocks, pebbles, shells, etc.., to give the jar a beach feel.

  3.     That’s our magnet collection that goes on a separate board. You can create a board with tiny hooks and hang key chains..

  4.     A table with a glass top and a hollowed centre can be a great place to keep your travel knick knacks. Not only will it style up your room but also provide you with a subject to talk about, with your guests. I personally like the table where you can lift the glass top. It will it give us an opportunity to add or change the souvenirs and also dust it once in a while!  

 

  5.     A cubby shelf that can be wall mounted is another piece of furniture that can be turned into talking point.   http://   6.     Turn your good photographs into fabric and then get all creative 🙂  Turn it into quilts, cushion covers , etc.., Same thing with the fabrics / t-shirts you collected during your travel…turn it into anything that catches your fancy! 7.Decoupage maps, brochures, postcards, pictures into pretty boxes,  coasters, magnets etc….Check out few ideas at http://www.marthastewart.com/ and http://www.darkroomanddearly.com/ I loved how Martha covered a plain magnetic board with pretty paper and turned it into an organizer. We could use simple plywood as well, decoupage and stick our travel memorabilia on it. The same can artfully go on your wall above your desk.

 

  8.    If decoupage looks a big task. Try the simple frame! Make a collage of all the mementos you collected on your trip – photos, tickets, brochures, wrappers, maps, menus, etc. — and get it framed.

  9.     Post bar hopping, we collected coasters from all the cities we visited and turned it into a collage. Same for the beer labels. Yes, all those visits to shopping mall and lovely evening get together with our hosts/ friends, is a memory we preserve with us for life.

 

  10.Am personally not a big fan of scrapbooks. Although many people find it convenient to maintain; adding quotes, scribbling stories, sticking postcards from their trips. Well, whatever works! 11.  Having love for sorting out things, I absolutely loved the idea of a keepsake box. Paint the boxes in vibrant colours and put it up on display and whenever you are in a mood to relive your travel experience, pull out the box and go through its contents!

  12.Shadow Box A box with glass front case, that can be used to collect / display your trinkets thematically or location wise. Check these links, I personally liked, for ideas for a shadow box  -> Idea 1 and Idea 2

  13   Our current travel project is to collect Tortoise souvenirs from everywhere we travel to, and display it in a glass shelf, well, of course as a part of our décor! So, now when you travel, keep your eyes open for those little things that can be added on to your home surroundings. Have fun!