Step by Step Guide to Making Holiday Memory Boards

I don’t know about you, but when I get back from a holiday I’ve often got hundreds and hundreds of photos on my camera roll and a lot of random keepsakes I’ve picked up along the way.

As a holiday doesn’t seem to be on the cards this year, I’ve been reminiscing on previous trips, remembering what it’s like to be somewhere other than at home. I realised I’ve got random tickets, wristbands and leaflets stored away in a box under my bed and so many pictures capturing valuable memories just sat on my phone that I rarely look at.

So, I was brainstorming ideas, thinking of what I could possibly do with them, and I decided to collate all of these memories in a frame so I could display them around my home. When I was making mine, I was winging it but I wished I had a step-by-step guide to follow. So, I thought I’d just create my own!

Below is an easy step-by-step guide to making holiday memory boards.

Everything You’ll Need:

Shadow Box Frames – I got mine from Hobbycraft but I’m sure they’re available elsewhere. If you’re planning on adding things other than photos, like pins, leaflets, tickets, wristbands, etc, you need to make sure you’ve got a deep box frame to ensure there’s enough space between the back board and the glass.

Printed Images – I like to print my images with Photobox as I like a mixture of their normal prints and retro images. If you took a disposable camera, this would be the perfect way to display those pictures. I like to include a mixture of images, including pictures of the hotel, scenery, food, myself and the people I went with – a wide range of different things that really capture the whole trip.

Keepsakes from the trip – This can be anything you brought back. Mine include hotel wristbands and tickets from attractions. I’m a very sentimental person and keep things that don’t really need to be kept. But they’ve come in handy with this!

Glue, Blu-Tack, Drawing pins, basically anything you can use to stick down your memories! – I used standard PrittStick glue for this as I had some on hand and a drawing pin for my bigger objects.

Optional Extras – You can make a great holiday memory board with just the above materials but if you want to add a little extra touch to it, you can use pretty pens to add captions or drawings, coloured card for nice backgrounds or labels, decorations or photo edges. I added a small label to say where we’d been.

Step 1: Collect your memories and keepsakes.

As I mentioned before, I had a little box full of different bits and bobs I’d collected whilst away. This included things like hotel wristbands, event tickets and leaflets for different places I’d visited. All of these can be featured in memory board – it also ensures you don’t lose them, and, if you’re like me, frees up space under your bed! If you don’t have any of these, it doesn’t matter as you can just add in extra photographs. If you’re planning to make one of these after an upcoming trip, just make a little note to remind yourself to collect a few bits like this whilst you’re away.

Step 2: Print your photographs.

I like to print mine from Photobox. It’s quite nice to have photos in different print sizes and shapes, but it’s up to you how you have yours. It may take a while for your printed photos to be delivered so if you’re planning on making one of these, think ahead and order in advance! Alternatively, you could print them at home if you have access to photo paper.

Step 3: Arrange your memories on the board.

Once your photos have arrived, open up your box frame to get to the backing board – this is where you will arrange all of your objects into the design you like. I used white paper as a background then stuck this onto the board, but you could use white card, stick them directly to the board, or something more sturdy if you’d prefer. Play around with a few different arrangements and decide which pictures go where and how your keepsakes will fit in. This took me a few goes to get right as not all of the photos fit together and I had to trim a few down.

Step 4: Check how it looks in the frame.

This is one of the most important steps. Before you start this step, I would suggest taking a picture of your arrangement once you’ve got it right just in case anything moves around whilst you’re doing this. As carefully as possible, try to put your frame back together, without securing it, so you can see what your design will look like at the end. This will show you if the frame casts any shadows over certain pictures or cuts out other parts. This is the perfect time to rearrange if needed.

Step 5: Start sticking your items down.

Once you’re happy with your design and how it looks in the frame, it’s time to start securing your items. If you have anything overlapping, start with the bottom layer first and move upwards until everything is secure. For example, I decided to pin a hotel wristband on and left this until last so I could place it above everything else.

Step 6: Add the finishing touches.

This is when to add all your extras like labels, photo edges or drawings. I added a small label that said where we’d been and the year of our trip. If you like it how it is, feel free to skip this step!

Step 7: Put your frame back together.

Once everything is secure and positioned how you want it, put your frame back together and you’re good to go! My plan is to have a whole holiday memory wall full of these frames. So far I’ve only done two but it’s a work in progress! I’m hoping to complete ones for trips I’ve already been on and make one for each new place I visit.

I hope this step-by-step guide helped you to create your own holiday memory board or gave you some inspiration for how to display your holiday pictures.

If you have used this guide, I’d love to see what you made! Tweet me a picture or tag me on instagram @alexfaithwrites