Top Five Travel Craft Projects

Travel and crafting are my two favorite hobbies. Whenever I can find ways to combine these two loves together, I jump at the chance. Plus, creating beautiful projects are a great way to commemorate and reminisce on great memories for years to come. To this end, I have compiled my top five travel craft projects because you too can create beautiful and fun projects from your travels.

Travel Map

This project is pretty inexpensive, and evolves throughout the years as you travel. All you need is to purchase a U.S. or world map such as this one that has both and then you can start printing our your photos. For each state or country you have visited you print out a picture to cut out into that shape until you fill your map, a potentially life long endeavor. We have chosen to put pictures only of states we visited together and then placed a star (purple for me orange for Ryan in a state we have visited individually and a car sticker for a state we have just driven through. The hardest part can be getting the right size photo. Your best bet for the really tiny ones is a photo where you are farther away ordered in wallet size which can be cut down. I use tissue paper one might have to put in a gift bag to trace the state to then transfer and cut out my pictures. For a simplified version, I have also seen basic scratch of maps like this one to check off your travels.

Seashell Jar

The number one travel souvenir has got to be the seashell. Who among us hasn’t gone along the shore picking up these beautiful pieces of nature to bring home with us, to do what with is anyone’s guess. Check customs regulations before trying to bring them home internationally. For this project, pick a favorite jar, vase or other glass container to arrange your seashells. You can make a lovely decorative accent or table centerpiece. I have also seen similar projects using brought home sand on Pinterest such as this one if you’re brave enough to risk a suitcase full of it for a project. Whenever I am feeling particularly blue on a winter( or self isolating) afternoon I can glance over at my seashell jar and remember great beach memories.

Scrapbook

Scrapbooking is hands down best way to store and share your memories for years to come. I am an avid scrapbooker in addition to being a traveler and cherish the process of creating such nostalgic projects. It can be a more expensive and time consuming endeavor compared to other projects but it is well worth it considering the end result and I have compiled some great beginners tips in our post here.

Canvas Print

In the days of Instagram , we have all become our own favorite photographers. We snap pictures of all our favorite things and especially our travel and vacation memories. A great project for these travel photos is to make them into canvases. They double as fantastic home decor that can remind you daily of your favorite trip memories. You can order them online easily like we did with our Lake District photos. Or for the truly crafty, you can follow tutorials like this one and several others on Pinterest to make your own.

Vision Board

Full credit for introducing the idea of a vision board goes to my stepmother. She always finds or comes up with great ideas for inspiration or goal setting. And now while a lot of us are stuck in our homes outside of essential outings we not only have got plenty of time but could use a little of the optimism involved in planning future trips. Pull the old magazines out and make a good old fashioned collage of all the lovely places we want to visit or just feel inspired by while we wait the pass of the peak of this virus. I think we all could use some hopeful inspiration right now.