6 Clever (and Useful) Travel Souvenir Ideas
When you travel, do the colorful souvenir booths always seem to call your name? Do you go to them like a moth to a flame and buy whatever catches your eye? Or do you look at them and decide not to buy anything because you don’t know what to buy… and then regret that decision when you’re back home and you don’t have anything to remember your trip by? Here are 6 ideas to show you how to buy the right travel souvenirs and how to display them in your home long after the vacation has ended.
1. Tiny Souvenirs for Shadow Boxes
Buy only small souvenirs that will fit in a shadow box and then create a shadow box collage for every country that you visit. This is a great idea to display your travel souvenirs in an attractive way and will help reduce the amount of souvenirs you’ll need to lug back home.
2. Key Chain Souvenirs as Christmas Ornaments
You can easily find a nice-looking key chain souvenir at any location, but what do you do with them once you’re home? You only have so many keys, right? Turn them into pretty and memorable Christmas ornaments with the help of a ribbon! Try a red velvet ribbon or a gold ribbon and tie up your key chains. Every Christmas, you’ll be able to sit down and enjoy all of your traveling memories with your family. How nice!
3. T-Shirts for a Quilt
Collect unique t-shirts from hotels, restaurants, museums, and other locations you visit while traveling and turn them into a quilt that keeps you warm and keeps your travel memories fresh! Souvenir t-shirts are easy to pack up in your luggage and you can find them anywhere.
4. Pressed Pennies as Jewelry
The thrill of watching a penny get pressed with the image of the location you’re visiting is so fun, but putting them to a real use is a lot more fun. Turn your pressed pennies into a pretty charm bracelet! You could also choose one special pressed penny and create a simple necklace with it. See many more ideas for pressed pennies as jewelry here. If you’re not a jewelry person, you could put all of your pressed pennies in a frame or in a glass vase.
5. Beer Bottle Caps as Magnets
If you enjoy trying a new local beer for every place you visit, you’ll like this way to incorporate travel souvenirs in your home decor. Bonus: it’s practically free! Just pack up a bottle cap from every beer you drink and turn them into magnets with hot glue and magnet circles.
6. Postcards for a Travel Journal
Postcards are cheap, light, and everywhere. But when you fill out a postcard and mail it to a loved one, you’ll probably never see it again. Even if you keep a couple of postcards for yourself, what do you do with them once you’re home? Here’s a great idea: write out what you did on a postcard and mail them to yourself! When you get back home, you’ll have a pile of postcards from the cities you’ve visited with your memories written on them. Punch out holes and attach them with binder clips or decorative tape and you’ve got yourself a beautiful travel journal you’ll always cherish!
What do you think of these travel souvenir ideas? Do you have any smart travel souvenir ideas that you’d like to add to the list above? Are you looking for a few more ideas for traveling? Try these tips for creating a Family Travel Kit for Hotel Stays!
Featured image via Better Homes and Gardens.
I’m Elisa and I live in Austin, Texas with my husband and our two little girls. I used to teach reading and writing, but now I stay at home with my two kiddos and read and write in my spare time. I also love to undertake DIY projects, find new recipes on Pinterest, and dream about someday finally completing our home. Above all, I love to learn about new things and sharing my new-found knowledge with others.
Great ideas! I love glass jars to store everything like shells and rocks and sea glass. I also make a canvas of important photos from trips. Check out my blog for more ideas: ow.ly/MByZK