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Home » Photography

A Fun Guide to Decorating With Travel Souvenirs and Photos

Created On: January 8, 2017  |  Updated: March 17, 2025  |   42 Comments

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links from which we may make commission from. As always, we only recommend places and products we love! In addition, we try our best to keep our articles up-to-date with current prices, locations, and hours of operation however we always recommend double-checking when planning a trip as these items can change frequently.

Table of Contents show
1 Decorating With Travel Souvenirs and Photos
2 Shadow Box
3 Polaroid Photography
4 Gallery Wall
5 Display Cabinet or Bookshelf
6 Framed Postcards
7 Postcard Bunting
8 Old Maps

Decorating With Travel Souvenirs and Photos

One of my favorite things to ask people is what they typically pick up for souvenirs when traveling! I used to collect coffee mugs from cities but after my first trip to Japan when I bought five to bring home from various cities I visited, I decided that I might want to slow down on the breakable items. Although, I will admit I still get a piece of pottery every now and then, especially when I’m in Japan.

A few of my other favorite travel souvenirs I’ve picked up on my travels are knives, chopsticks, art, tea, and incense from Japan. Jams, wine, olive oil, and honey from France. Balsamic vinegar and parmesan from Italy. Spices and lace from Hungary. And of course, miscellaneous clothing items, candies, and snacks. But I also enjoy picking up postcards, saving ticket stubs, and brochures, and of course, taking photos on my trips.

So now that you went on an amazing trip, took hundreds of gorgeous photos, and picked up a few travel souvenirs along the way what do you do with them now? Decorating with travel souvenirs in your home doesn’t have to be difficult or even cost much! Here are some ways we have displayed our travel souvenirs and memorabilia from our trips.


Shadow Box

Shadow box - how to decorate with travel souvenirs
Shadow Box

I’ve always been a fan of shadow boxes because you have the ability to create such a unique collage of items and travel souvenirs. Plus you can change out the items as you collect more. Some of our favorite items to put in shadow boxes are ticket stubs, stickers, keychains, photos, or any other items you want.

What you’ll need to create a shadow box:

  • A shadow box frame (any size) $15-25
  • Ticket stubs, stickers, trinkets, stamps, postcards, photos, or any other items you want to include FREE or minimal cost
  • Straight Pins (any colors) $4
  • Picture Hanging Nail Kit $8
  • Hammer $10

Total cost: Around $25-30 if you already have nails and a hammer.


Polaroid Photography

Polaroid photography
Polaroid Photography - Decorating with travel souvenirs

I love my Fujifilm Instax because it captures a unique perspective. Rather than placing all of my Polaroids in a book, I have turned them into fridge art! Originally I took my Instax with me when traveling, but now I have a Fujifilm Instax Mini Link which allows me to print photos from my phone onto Polaroid film! Now I snap my mementos and tape them to my fridge (or wherever else you want) with washi tape! This one is a little more expensive than other ideas for decorating with travel souvenirs but after the initial cost of the camera or printer, it’s not too bad.

What you’ll need for polaroid photography:

  • Fujifilm Instax or another Polaroid camera ~$80+
  • Fujifilm Instax Mini Link Printer ~$100
  • Fujifilm Instant Film ~$15 for 20 sheets
  • Ultra-Thin Sharpie (if you want to caption your photos) $4.50 set of 5
  • Washi Tape $3.50 for 5 styles

Total cost: Around $100, however after the initial cost of the camera it’s relatively inexpensive to decorate with polaroids!


Gallery Wall

Gallery Wall - Travel Decor, photos framed on left and right, large map of Asia in the center
Gallery Wall

Creating a gallery wall is an easy way to fill up wall space with photos you’ve taken from your trips! You can do this in several ways including framing printed photos, fabrics, postcards, posters, and other travel souvenirs. You can mix and match frames if you’d like or you can use the same style of frame to create a more cohesive look.

What you’ll need to create a gallery wall:

  • Picture frames
  • Prints, photos, postcards, etc. Price varies depending on the cost of your photo prints. We prefer Mpix because they’re inexpensive and have beautiful quality prints. 
  • Nail(s), hammer

Total cost: $35-40+


Display Cabinet or Bookshelf

China cabinet decor - decorating with travel souvenirs

A lot of our travel memorabilia came to us as family heritage pieces. Timeless and priceless artifacts such as our sake set, geisha doll, and vase that Logan’s grandmother brought with her when emigrating from Japan will always be a few of our favorites. We store these items and a few others we’ve collected while traveling safely on our living room bookshelves.

What you’ll need for a display cabinet:

  • For fragile items, I recommend buying Museum Wax which will hold items in place! Perfect if you have kids or worry about something falling over.
  • A display cabinet with glass doors for viewing or bookshelves. Our suggestion? Search garage sales, flea markets, and antique shops.
  • Artifacts to put inside – we used a lot of family heirlooms for this including vases, nesting dolls, trinkets, sake set, and tea set but you can put any items you want inside.

Total cost: $150+ depending on the cost of the cabinet. 


Framed Postcards

Gallery Wall Photo Frame

One cheap souvenir to purchase while traveling is postcards. Usually, they are under $2 and have quality photos, artwork, or designs. Another perk? They’re also extremely lightweight so you don’t have to worry about lugging around something heavy when traveling.

What you’ll need to frame postcards:

  • 8 X 10 picture frame or larger
  • Postcards: $6-8 (if each postcard is $1)

Total cost: Around $20 or less


Postcard Bunting

Postcard bunting - decorating with travel souvenirs
Postcard Bunting

If you save ticket stubs, photos, postcards, and other small paper goods, creating a bunting is one of the easiest DIY projects for decorating with travel souvenirs! Another huge perk is you can change out the items as much as you’d like.

What you’ll need to create a postcard bunting:

  • Photos, postcards, or other small paper items.
  • Twine $5
  • Mini or regular clothespins $2.50
  • Tape (or nails and hammer if tying the twine around nail)

Total cost: Around $10-15


Old Maps

travel souvenirs

We have two large old maps and three smaller ones and they are some of my favorite pieces in our home. They have so much history and character plus they fill up our walls nicely.

My parents found our maps at a flea market and I’ve seen them at other flea markets since then! You can also search for them on eBay or Etsy.

What You’ll Need:

  • Old maps
  • Nail(s) and hammer

Total cost: Around $5-$200


What are some ways that you decorate your home with the travel souvenirs you brought back from trips? What are some of our favorite travel souvenirs you purchase or save while traveling?

posted in: Lifestyle, Photography

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    Comments & Reviews

  1. Lydia says

    January 8, 2017

    I’m a textile addict and usually bring back a few handmade ones from my travels. Pillow covers are light and easy to pack in any luggage including a backpack. 🙂

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 9, 2017

      Pillow covers are such an excellent idea! I will have to look for some of these on our next trip. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Suz says

    January 9, 2017

    I’ve been compiling a list of ways to display all of our travel memorabilia! I know I want to do a scrapbook, even though it’s cliche, but I love them. I can look through old scrapbooks for hours with a cup of coffee. I’m also going to do a gallery wall with travel photos, I think it’s the thing I’m most excited about! I also love your idea of a fireplace; I wish I could do it, but I’m pretty sure the apartment we’re moving into doesn’t have one. There are so many ways to incorporate your souvenirs into your home, I can’t wait to get started in a few weeks! Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 9, 2017

      I love scrapbooks Suz! We have a few from our travels and completely forgot to include those in the post. The gallery wall is such a simple way to fill wall space with items from travels. Please let me know when you decorate with your memorabilia! I’d love to see it 🙂

      Reply
  3. Adrianna says

    January 9, 2017

    That is awesome! I dont have polaroid camera but I found place where I can print my regular photos in polaroid style. And they now on my wall in my living room ( almost filled up the whole side) . Such a perfect idea to display them

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 9, 2017

      That’s so cool! Where can you do that? I would love to do that with some of our other photos. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Wendy says

    January 9, 2017

    I love the idea with the box

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 9, 2017

      Thanks Wendy! It’s a simple way to put odds and ends together.

      Reply
  5. Louiela says

    January 9, 2017

    Memories are what we have after traveling and we always want to keep them… Glad you have these suggested this memorabilias.. I love the shadow box as I tend to collect and keep any papers pertaining to my travels including receipts?

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 9, 2017

      I completely agree with you. The shadow box is a favorite of ours as well because you can put so many different items in it. 🙂

      Reply
  6. Victoria says

    January 9, 2017

    Oh my word!!! The insta camera wall is my fave!

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 9, 2017

      Our fridge is getting so full from the photos! 🙂

      Reply
  7. Erin says

    January 9, 2017

    Such cute ideas! I’m totally going to do a shadowbox wall!

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 9, 2017

      Thanks Erin! I’d love to see your shadowbox after you complete it. 🙂

      Reply
  8. kallsypage says

    January 9, 2017

    Thank you so much! We have a lot of fun searching for old maps at flea markets and collecting items to use for gallery walls. Those old maps sure feel like they have stories to tell! 🙂

    Reply
  9. kallsypage says

    January 9, 2017

    That would be a great way to display some of your souvenirs! 🙂

    Reply
  10. Kelly Hogan says

    January 10, 2017

    Love love LOVE these ideas! We have a massive National Geographic map hanging where we pin the places we’ve been, but haven’t found a way to show off our other travels yet. I’m one of those people that keeps EVERYTHING – ticket stubs, brochures, etc., plus the billions of photos we take. I’ve had a gallery wall in mind for awhile now but just haven’t gotten around to it. I absolutely love the polaroid idea, though…might have to do that in the interim!

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 10, 2017

      Thank you so much Kelly! We have been looking for a world map for awhile now to do the same! I keep a lot of small papers as well (as you can probably tell). The polaroid is a new favorite of ours – such a unique way to document travels! 🙂

      Reply
  11. dentjuli says

    January 10, 2017

    I haven’t seen the polaroids on the fridge before! I’ll have to try that!

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 10, 2017

      One day I realized that our fridge was cluttered with papers and receipts so I decided to tape a few up there and thus began a trend! 🙂

      Reply
      • D. says

        August 13, 2020

        I got polaroid pictures of my kids from a princess theme birthday party. I put them on my fridge until they were in high school. I didn’t use tape, I used a magnet strip retrieved from either old business magnet or from NFL schedule magnets and stick it to the back of pictures. Then it is easy to move around.
        I also have started some magnets souvenir collection now on my fridge.
        Keep thinking to use the map, travel stub and tickets, but haven’t got to that yet.
        Your ideas are great.

      • Kallsy Page says

        August 14, 2020

        Hi D!

        I love your idea to reuse magnet strips on the back of your polaroids! I have some magnets from doctors, pizza places, etc that I don’t need anymore so I may have to give that a try. 🙂

        Thank you for reading! Let me know if you end up doing something with your travel stubs or tickets.

        Kallsy

  12. Staci says

    January 10, 2017

    You’re so creative, these are beautiful – I make a scrapbook for every trip but now I’m thinking shadow boxes could be fun too. Thanks for the ideas!!

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 10, 2017

      Thank you so much Staci! I need to get back into travel scrapbooks. 🙂

      Reply
  13. Robert says

    January 10, 2017

    Some great ideas, I’ve pretty much got my office walls and shelves full of travel memorabilia! Excellent idea with the Shadow Box!

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 10, 2017

      Thank you Robert! The memorabilia seems to just grow and grow doesn’t it!? 🙂

      Reply
  14. Prerna_Malhan says

    January 10, 2017

    This made me remember the time when i was in college – i used to make scrapbooks and albums to preserve all memories. I am definitely going to do this for my travel souvenirs. Thanks for inspiring.

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 10, 2017

      Some of my most cherished memories are in scrapbooks! I need work on some of these again. Thanks for reading! 🙂

      Reply
  15. Collette Stohler says

    January 10, 2017

    You’re so creative! I may need to hire you to decorate for us 🙂

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 10, 2017

      Thank you Collette! You’re too sweet. Happy to come help. 😉

      Reply
  16. kallsypage says

    January 10, 2017

    Thank you! I have a lot of fun with it. 🙂

    Reply
  17. Luci says

    January 11, 2017

    I love the fridge Polaroid idea! Goodness knows I look at my fridge MANY times during the day – how lovely to be reminded of fun adventures in different cities and countries!

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 15, 2017

      That’s exactly why we did this! 🙂 We visit our fridge a little too often 😉

      Reply
  18. Lena Ameri says

    January 12, 2017

    These are such great ideas! We are always wondering what to do with our travel memorabilia. We started adding shells from beach vacations to a lantern that’s filled with sand from Costa Rica. Bassam is also obsessed with getting a shot glass from everywhere we go. Needless to say, our collection is getting out of hand. Your ideas seem to be much more organized and streamlined than that. Great post!

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 15, 2017

      Love the idea with the shells Lena. We have a bunch of shells that sit in a bowl but have always wondered what to do with them. I love that Bassam likes collecting shot glasses, those are so funny! Some of the best I’ve seen were in Australia! 🙂

      Reply
  19. bruceschinkel19 says

    January 14, 2017

    Some really great ideas here! I’ve done the shadow boxes (even given them as gifts), and they turned out great. We also have a bit of a gallery wall with a mix of pictures and fun souvenirs like a boomerang, maracas, and ukulele 🙂

    Reply
    • kallsypage says

      January 15, 2017

      What a great idea to give a shadow box as a gift! I will have to do that in the future. You’ve also inspired me to hang the boomerang that I bought in Australia! 🙂

      Reply
  20. kallsypage says

    January 15, 2017

    I completely understand your woes. We’ve got to stop collecting so many things! That’s why we’ve started switching to papers and photographs. 🙂

    Reply
  21. Turpin says

    January 25, 2017

    Beautiful ideas for displaying holiday memories!

    Reply
  22. wahamiltron says

    March 11, 2017

    Some really cool ideas! I recently started working on a gallery wall at home, but maybe I’ll try one of your other suggestions after my next trip 🙂

    Reply
  23. Paula Morgan says

    March 11, 2017

    I have been meaning to do a shadow box for ages!

    Reply

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