Last summer, Mike and I went on a fabulous two-week vacation to London and Paris. Personally, I prefer to save up money for experiences and trips rather than expensive gadgets and material things, because the memories will last forever.

And we made a lot of wonderful memories during that trip, many of which I documented with my camera:

Along with taking pictures, I also documented our trip by saving ticket stubs from the trains and subways we rode and the plays we went to, along with maps, brochures and playbills.

At first my plans were to save everything in a photo album, but then inspiration struck: why not make a collage of my favorite photos and hang it up where I could see it multiple times every day and remember the amazing trip we had?

I went to Target and picked up an inexpensive poster frame — I chose a big size because I knew I had a lot of photos I wanted to showcase, but you could definitely do the same thing in a smaller size if you’d prefer.

I laid out everything before I glued anything down — I wanted to have the freedom to move things around and play with shapes and colors. I ended up using some of the tickets to make a border around the edge, and I grouped photos loosely together based on the different places we went. Then I simply used a glue stick to attach everything. {I’m sure double-sided tape would work well, too, but a glue stick was what I had on hand.}

It took a little while to get everything glued down, but I put on an episode of Friday Night Lights to watch as I worked, and the time flew by. I also didn’t worry about using a ton of glue, because I knew the plastic cover of the poster frame would protect the photos and hold them in place.

I hung it up right beside my kitchen where I can see it as I cook!

I love this project because it’s a wonderful, inexpensive way to organize and preserve your photos and enjoy them in your daily life. It’s also an easy, personal and home-y way to decorate your place!

How do you keep your photos and keepsakes organized? Any fun photo-sharing tips or crafts?

Always,
Dallas
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Time spent: about one hour
Cost: $5.00 for the poster frame + $12.00 to print photos