When you unpack all your bags after returning from vacation, are you left with little bits and pieces of your trip that you don’t know what to do with? Sure, that fancy ceramic bowl will have a home on the dining room table, and that goofy “Mind The Gap” t-shirt will be relegated to the bin of gym clothes (hopefully). But the postcards that were never mailed? The subway tickets and museum passes? The restaurant business card so that if you ever go back to Timbuktu, you’ll know just the spot for a great cocktail?
If you don’t have a dedicated place to display those little memories, you’re not alone. I, for one, had several places for them: in my nightstand drawer, a cardboard box in the guest room closet, the kitchen junk drawer, my desk… I brought those pieces of paper home for a reason and yet never bothered to show them off. With stamps from about 25 countries in my passport (and nearly as many in Mr. JC’s passport), it was time to gather those memories and give them a home. A $10 apothecary jar from HomeGoods was the solution I’d been looking for.
A trek around the nooks and crannies of our house yielded all kinds of fun items for the jar, including:
- Turkish yo-yo from my first visit to Istanbul
- My husband’s ski pass from Chamonix, France
- Paris Metro tickets from a recent business trip
- Restaurant cards from various European countries
- Ticket from a baseball game Mr. JC went to in Tokyo
- Junior’s first plane ticket
- Postcard from a French friend of mine who will respond to my emails by sending me postcards from her jaunts around the globe
By prominently displaying our jar of travel memories and special tickets in the living room (under our newly bedazzled quatrefoil mirror), we can quickly empty our pockets and bags after a trip and immediately find a home for these paper souvenirs. At the same time, it acts as a pretty time capsule that will be fun to show our kids someday. I imagine filling a whole set of glass apothecary memory jars in the years to come.
Do you have a unique way to display your paper souvenirs and other travel memories? Do share!
I LOVE this idea. Totally going to copy!
What a fun idea. A collage of some of the paper things would be another way to display your souvenirs.
I absolutely love this idea!! What a great way to store vacation memories. I’m definitely trying this for our next vacation (which will hopefully be soon)!
It’s a wonderful idea. I keep my memories inside of a box, in my closet. Putting them inside a glass jar where everyone can see is a great way to share – plus, it might generate subject for great talking.
My mom has a canvas where she puts paper stuff (like Karen said). It’s beautiful, she first lined it with a piece of beautiful fabric and then pinned the papers, with lovely pins. It has its place among drawings, pictures and portratis (even a nice mirror!) in a special wall in our family’s house hall.
Love the idea of covering canvas with fabric to create a memory board!