Postcards & Passports

Ten Crafty Travel Projects

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.ten crafty travel projects

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..

postcard-travel-journal

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!

Ten Crafty Travel Projects

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)

ten crafty travel projects

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.

ten craft travel projects

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!

ten crafty travel projects

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!

ten crafty travel projects

Design a luggage tag and print on cardstock

ten crafty travel projects

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.

ten crafty travel projects

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:

Be sure to save this post for all of your crafting needs!

ten crafty travel projects

56 thoughts on “Ten Crafty Travel Projects

    1. Tami Post author

      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.

  1. Kassie

    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!

  2. Lisa Kubin

    I love all of these ideas especially the little map magnets. Wish I did more traveling so I could try more of the projects.

    1. Tami Post author

      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!

  3. Lindsey

    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!)

  4. Kirstan

    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!

  5. Stephanie

    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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  11. Claudia

    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

  12. Barb

    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.

  13. Sandy N Vyjay

    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.

  14. Megan Jerrard

    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!

  15. Dave

    Great ideas. I like everything that has to do with traveling. The wooden boxes are perfect for keeping all the travel mementoes.

  16. Lauren

    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.

  17. Reshma

    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!

  18. Molly

    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

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  20. Becky

    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!

  21. Cindy

    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.

  22. Marti

    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!

  23. Lisa Lofquist

    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.

    1. Tami Post author

      Lisa, I can certainly see your point. However, there is nothing in this article that even suggests taking sand away from the beach.

  24. Karen Mills

    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.

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