blond girl holding a framed map with vacation photos glued to it

Family Fun

Summer Vacation Map Art Keepsake

Skip the cheap souvenirs. Here’s a personalized and simple photo craft for the kids commemorate their summer vacation. Whether the family stayed home and visited local hot spots or traveled far and wide during summer break, all you need is pictures from your camera phone, a printer and a few supplies to create this simple keepsake. It’s one that they and you will cherish for years to come.

Supplies needed to create your Summer Break Keepsake Art

a map of the area you vacationed in (we just printed ours out from Google maps but you could use a printed map too)
5-6 photos of your vacation (or staycation) printed small enough to fit on your map
double stick tape
scissors
yarn or string (optional)
heart or star stickers (optional)
an 8×10 frame (we picked ours up at a thrift store for $2)

How to make your Summer Break Keepsake Art

Step 1: Cut out your pictures so that most of the busy backgrounds are gone.

Creative Note: If you find your photos are still lost on the map and you want them to show up a little more, you could add some foam between the photos and the map (as much as your frame will allow) to create a little shadow effect. We didn’t do this but it would probably look pretty cool.

Step 2: Arrange the cut-out photos on the map near the spots you visited. If you have several photos you love that center around one area and there is not enough room to put all the photos on that spot, place a heart or star sticker in that spot and then lay a piece of yarn or string from the photo placed elsewhere on that map. Or you could even use the yarn to signify your path along the map, if that works for you. Arrange them whatever way makes the most sense to you. Then tape down the photos and yarn and place in your frame.