This post was most recently updated on January 12th, 2022
When you love traveling as much as I do, it’s probably on your mind a lot! I know I’m always drawn to travel magazines, travel landscape pins on Pinterest, and the travel guidebook selection at Barnes and Noble. So it probably won’t surprise anyone that I like to do travel-related craft projects. I’ve collected ten crafty travel projects that looked fun to make with maps, postcards or souvenirs. I was super excited when I found these ideas, so I’m sharing them with you, too.
Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
1. Travel Keepsake Kits
Get a box. Label it. Put all of your postcards, ticket stubs, receipts, and favorite photos in it. These are fun to display and even more fun to take down and go through the contents. They’ll be conversation starters, for sure! Travel keepsake kit idea from MarthaStewart.com. I love these boxes with a simple lock.
2. Postcard travel journal
Buy a postcard in each city you visit. Journal your itinerary or thoughts on the back side. Be sure to include dates and other pertinent information. Then punch a hole in each and assemble with a ring. It’s an easy way to journal your travels! Original idea from FrecklesInOurEyes.com. Inexpensive rings can be found here..
3. Postcard serving tray
This is a simple project, and it comes out looking so nice. Buy a wood tray, download some postcard printables (or use your own postcards), arrange in a random pattern, and apply with Modge Podge. Use a second coat to seal and give a satin finish.
4. Cereal box postcards
Because I love postcards, this craft really appealed to me. You could even make postcards out of cereal boxes in different languages! Cut out the most interesting parts of cereal boxes. Round corners, add writing lines on the back, write a message, apply postage, and drop in the mailbox to your favorite pen pal! Thanks to infarrantlycreative.net for this creative idea!
5. Travel vignette in your home
Display your favorite travel quote, stack up some vintage suitcases and an old steamer trunk, add some travel photos or other souvenirs, and you’ll have an awesome travel statement!
6. Travel shadow boxes for keepsakes
I thought this was a beautiful way to use less-than-perfect photos AND show off your smaller trip souvenirs: such as sea shells, tickets, subway passes, receipts, labels, etc. It’s a classy way to display your travel memories! Use a shadow box to mount on the wall, line the back with scrapbook paper, and cut out letters from your extra vacation photos. (idea by AthletesAbroad)
7. Map magnets
This is a great way to use all those empty Altoids tins you don’t know what to do with. Buy clear glass gems with a flat back. Cut out a section of map to line Altoids tin and circles to glue to back of gems. Add strong magnets to the back with epoxy. This would make a very thoughtful gift for a friend who loves to travel! Love this project from Scrappergirl.
8. Postcard gift decor
What a creative way to use postcards! Just glue or tape your favorites on packages wrapped in brown paper, with coordinating ribbons or other embellishments. If you’re not willing to part with your souvenir postcards, check out some of the free printable vintage postcards I found here or here. Thanks to nicety.livejournal.com for this great craft idea!
9. Luggage tags
I have a laminating machine and am always looking for more opportunities to use it, so I thoroughly enjoyed making these luggage tags. For this project, all you have to do is design a tag, print it out on cardstock, fill in necessary information (Name, email address, and cell phone number), and laminate in a laminating pouch. Trim edges, punch a hole and attach a ribbon or heavy string to tie to luggage handle. So pretty! You could also use the same technique to make a travel bookmark for your favorite reading book. Someone stop me before I make too many!
Design a luggage tag and print on cardstock
Print name, email, and cell on tag and laminate, add ribbon
10. Map book covers
Use old maps, or pick up some new ones from your local AAA office. Open up flat, lay book on top, cut a few inches larger than book and fold inside book flaps. Tape to secure. Just like when you were back in junior high, and you made book covers with paper grocery bags! Especially appropriate for your travel journals or guidebooks. This project came from SweetHomeStyle.
And a bonus…a pushpin travel map
As travelers, we obsessively document our adventures, fill our passports with stamps and adorn our living spaces with trinkets from around the globe. That’s why a pushpin travel map is the perfect way to showcase memories, plan for upcoming adventures and map out dream destinations. Sure, you could purchase a pre-assembled version, but they’re often costly and lack the sentiment that goes into creating your own.
To solve this, Car Rentals put together this beautiful step-by-step tutorial complete with photography examples, a detailed material list and custom legend printables to help you create a pushpin map that matches the aesthetic of your home. In 2-3 hours you can have a travel-inspired piece of art that is ready to hang. Ambitious DIYers might consider making an extra to gift to friends or family!
This is just a small sampling of all the crafty travel projects out there. I’ll keep looking and sharing them with you. Do you have any ideas I should add to my Ten Crafty Travel Projects?Please include links to any great projects in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you…
Here are some more travel craft-related posts you might be interested in:
- “Travel Crafts You Can Make!”
- “Ten More Crafty Travel Projects“
- “Using Travel Photos to Make Cards & Books“
- “Travel Art You’ll Love”
Be sure to save this post for all of your crafting needs!
Here’s another one from Martha Stewart that I’ve been meaning to try! It’s a way to document where you’ve traveled using stitching and a map. Basically, you could frame it and hang it up on your wall to show all the wonderful places you’ve traveled, especially if you road tripped around several cities or countries! http://www.marthastewart.com/375160/map-artwork
Thanks for sharing this idea, Heather. I’d like to stitch the route we took through Italy or France and add it to my travel vignette.
I made magnets out of my foreign coins from my travels. It’s a great way to display and use them!
That’s a great idea, Jessica! Much better than sitting in a jar in my cupboard.
Love this idea. Any other ideas for those pesky foreign coins I find once I unpack?
I absolutely love the Postcard travel journal! I always buy postcards as souvenirs but never know what to do with them! I can’t wait to make this!
I was the same–always collecting postcards and then not knowing what to do with them!
I love all of these ideas especially the little map magnets. Wish I did more traveling so I could try more of the projects.
Lisa, most of these crafts could be easily adapted to non-travel themes, too. None of us get to travel as much as we’d like to!
I love the set of Travel Keepsake Boxes. What a great idea!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Postcard travel journal, thank you.
I love it! I think that making crafts are so fun! Creative ideas!
I love them! Can’t wait to make those boxes for keepsakes as well as the postcard journal. Finallly, something to do with the hundreds of postcards I have. 😉
I love the shadow boxes and the postcard journals! Definitely going to try these on our next big vacation (or maybe even the next little one!)
I was looking for ideas to use for students as they leave our international school as keepsakes of their time with us. This springboarded some great possibilities! Thank you!
These are fabulous ideas! Especially all the postcard related ones! I’m a huge postcard collector and really love maps too and will have to try the map book covers!
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Such unique and clever ideas! I especially like the Keepsake Kits, such a cool idea to display and organize your travels. And those little boxes there look so beautiful and cute! And love the idea of decorating serving trays with post carsd, such a cool idea to put old post cards to use
There are some great ideas here to remind you of your holiday. And to dream about your next trip too! These would be great for school kids.
These are such cool ideas! I will also start wrapping my books with papers of maps. They look good and they protect the books as well.
These are really amazing ideas. These would undoubtedly help in bringing back the pleasant memories of travel when you are not traveling. I loved the idea of Travel Vignette, you have done it so charmingly. I want try this out at my home too.
I’ve collected so much travel maps too from the many tourism offices I’ve visited. This neat post gave me an idea. Thanks a bunch!
I love the postcard journal idea! I’m collecting postcards from every destination I visit anyway, as lovely little keepsakes – I usually stick them to my wall but recently they’ve been sitting in a drawer. Going to start making the effort to make itinerary notes and thoughts on the back and string them together for a great keepsake!
Great ideas. I like everything that has to do with traveling. The wooden boxes are perfect for keeping all the travel mementoes.
I’m suuuuper crafty and love making things! This gives me so many ideas. Thank you so much! Rainy day activities with a travel influence.
Ahh! So glad you enjoyed it. Best of luck to you in your crafty adventures!
I love gifts and souvenirs that involve maps because I’m just obsessed with them! I was looking some travel-related gift ideas and I’m glad that I bumped into this. I loved the map book covers and travel vignette. Postcards are probably the easiest to make of them all!
These are such good ideas! I love the shadow boxes. I have got all my keepsakes in a box, but I definitely want to have a go at making a few of these so they are on show!
Love these ideas
This is right up my street
Some good projects for Easter and the next few weeks while I´m at home
Thanks for the suggestions
Glad you enjoyed them — have fun crafting!
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Wow! These projects are truly creative! I will definitely try some of them!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them. Happy crafting!
Awesome ideas! Thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed them!
I especially LOVE the map book cover idea. I was just ready to throw out some old maps, even though I hate to because they are rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Now I have the best excuse not only to keep them but to make them useful at the same time. Thank you, thank you!
Becky I’m so glad you can use that tip!
I like the idea of using a box to store special items from a trip. Another use of foreign coins would be to decorate the binder of the box.
Cindy, that’s a great idea!
Interesting ideas!Thank you
I am inspired to do a map of my own metropolis with markings for the areas I have seen.
We have a reuse/recycling stores, and old maps are easy to find.
It would be funny to do cereal box slippers covered with destinations!
It’s a fun project!
Please stop taking sand from beaches. Especially Hawaii. If the 10 million visitors per year there took just a little sand home with them it would be devastating.
Lisa, I can certainly see your point. However, there is nothing in this article that even suggests taking sand away from the beach.
Wherever I travel in the world, I send myself a postcard with a highlight of the trip and normally something funny that happened. So fun to look back on. Plus it’s such fun to get mail & a reminder of the trip.
Karen, that’s such a great idea!
This is so useful especially the travel bag tags. It makes it easy to identify your bags on transit
I love the travel keepsake kits and love how they can just look like a book stack for decor.
These are awesome ideas. My favorite is the serving tray. Great project to do with the kids!
I haven’t traveled much but now I really want to, just to try out these crafty ideas! I love the shadow boxes 🙂
That’s great idea, thank you!
Glad you liked it!