You do a lot when you travel, and those things usually leave a piece of paper or other reminder in your pocket. Free maps and guides, museum tickets, shop receipts — what looks like trash is actually a record of your day. When you put it all together in this hanging travel journal you’ll have the best souvenir ever.
This is a two-part craft. Before you go, make a simple kit of ordinary household stuff like tape and string. Then, you’ll make one page of your journal each day. Here’s where (part two) you’ll attach all the bits and pieces from the day’s adventures: shop receipts, candy wrappers, paper napkins, museum tickets. At the end of your trip you’ll have a beautiful piece of art full of memories to hang in your room.
For kids, adding to their journal is a nice way to wind down at the end of each day. Recollecting the day’s events helps build working memory. And it’s fun. It might even make the end of the day something to look forward to.
Make and keep memories of your trip
Takes just a little space: do it on a desk, nightstand, bed or floor
Helps kids wind down from an exciting day and transition to bedtime
The best souvenir ever, made by you
Steps At a Glance:
Ready? Here’s how:
1
You’ll need:
String
Tape
Glue stick
Mini stapler and extra staples
Scissors
A sandwich bag or other container
2
Make your kit:
Cut a length of string — say about 6’ of string for a weeklong trip. It’s better to have extra than to run out.
Tie a loop at each end. Bundle up the string and put it in the sandwich bag with the tape, stapler, extra staples, glue stick, and scissors.
Tip: Check with your airline if you plan to carry the scissors on board. If it’s a no you can always buy some there or borrow a pair.
Tip: You can tuck the kit into a shoe when you’re packing to save space.
3
Collect your stuff
Hang on to things you find throughout your day. Paper bags, maps, tickets, bottle caps, small seashells, wrappers. Big or small, you can use it.
Try to save one bigger piece of paper during the day (the size of a sheet of paper, or a half-sheet). This could be a bag, a newspaper, takeout menu, or a map.
In the photo is stuff I collected on a trip to Japan: a convenience store receipt, a menu, a free map, some paper bags from small purchases, business cards from cafes and hotels, a tiny pinecone, and a paper crane. I even saved a paper tab from a teabag because I liked the printing.
4
Build your Day
At the end of the day pull out all the things you saved.
Start by making the page:
You want a piece of paper that’s the size of a sheet of paper, or a half-sheet. A paper bag might be just right. Or cut a piece that size from a newspaper or map. Your page can be a square, a rectangle, a triangle or any shape you want.
Fold over the top edge, hang it over your string, and staple the paper to keep the string inside the fold.
Lay out your stuff and see how you want to arrange it on the page. Paper items can be glue-sticked or stapled on. Use tape to attach hard or bulky items (like the pinecone). It’s OK if you only have one or two items for the day. They’ll look great. Got lots? Make two pages to hold all the day’s stuff.
As you’re playing around with your stuff, remember that you can
cut things to be smaller or a different shape
cut out and use just your favorite parts
layer them over each other
let them hang over the edge of the page
You can even decide not put anything else on the page.
This page started with the map, then I added the pink bag, the paper crane, and some business cards.
I cut one of the cards with scissors to make it fit and look more interesting.
5
Take it Home
Fold up your travel journal accordion-style for the trip home. Then hang it up from pushpins and enjoy looking at all the things from your trip.
You can add an extra page with the date and a title written on it.
Where to find stuff
Once you start lookingt for things to use in your journal, you’ll find them everywhere!
Here are some ideas to get you started:
Business cards from places you visit
Takeout menus
Brochures and maps from museums (and that pin they give you to wear)
The wrapper from the little soap in your hotel
Hotel note paper
Store receipts
Snack wrappers (remember you can cut them smaller)
Paper bags
Newspapers and magazines
Paper napkins, especially ones with printing on them
Empty sugar packets
Seashells, bottle caps, dry leaves, acorns, and other hard things you may find
Tickets from rides, buses, or trains
and try this
You can make a journal like this for special occasions, too, like weddings and graduations.
You could even make two, and give one to the person(s) whose special day it is.
Thank you for reading! If you have questions, please drop me a line.