This Supereasy Project Turns Your Vacation Into Works of Art

By Rebecca Orlov
POPSUGAR Photography | Rebecca Orlov
POPSUGAR Photography | Rebecca Orlov

These extralong and sunny days of Summer are giving us major travel fever. Right now is a great time to plan a getaway, take a break, and grab some R & R. Whether your travel mode is up, up, and away to a faraway destination or a quick weekend trip to a city nearby, Summer travel is the perfect refresh for the mind, body, and soul.

When you get back in the real-life mix, you can still keep your vacation glow going inside your home by collecting and showcasing your memories as decor. We have a supereasy, affordable, and time-efficient one for you — collage postcard collections. Check out how we turned a box of vintage postcards that we picked up during a Paris vacation into a collection of wall art for our new office in just a few simple steps.

Step 1

Step 1

Decide how small (or big!) you want your collection to be. We were covering an 8x4 foot wall and we had about 20 postcards. Our choice was to create four collages of five postcards.

Step 2

Step 2

Pick up some frames (on sale, even) at your local craft or frame store. We snapped up these affordable and large square shadowbox frames from Ikea for about $15 each.

Step 3

Step 3

Select your background. This is the perfect design opportunity to style your project with your room's color palette in mind. We wanted to stay neutral yet add a bit of depth, so we went for two-toned gray stripe picked up at Michaels for just a quarter per piece of 12"x12" paper.

Step 4

Step 4

Create your collage with a some tape and imagination. We added memory notes on the back of each postcard as well.

Step 5

Step 5

Create and hang your gallery. Check out our quick tip for hanging frames exactly where you want them:

  • Tape together pieces of packing paper to the size of your wall space.
  • Lay the large paper down on a hard surface and then measure; place and then trace your frames exactly where you want them.
  • Even include a circle for where the nail will go.
  • Remove the frames, pick up your paper, and tape it to the wall.
  • Nail right through the paper where you had drawn your nail circles.
  • Pull the paper down.
Step 6

Step 6

Step back to admire (and remember) your vacation memories view.