My new passport came today, and I am not happy. It is so new. And smooth. And clean. And perfect. When I present it to the customs official for the first time, I might be embarrassed. He will think it’s my first trip. I do look forward to breaking it in, though.
On the other hand, my old passport looks as if it has been run over by an airplane loaded with passengers, and I love it. It is soft, dirty, wrinkled, stamped and stamped and stamped some more. It carries a lot of my story for the last ten years. Like the trip Jordan and I took on our bicycles through parts of Africa, including the Sahara desert. And all of the trips to third world countries that we took to do volunteering. And the trips to Europe to ride our bicycles through the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, England, Scotland, Wales, Luxembourg, and Spain. And the trips to Southeast Asia where we met the most charming people and also did some amazing bicycle tours. And our trips to work with the nuns in South America. It’s a part of me.
I don’t want to just throw it into the back of a drawer and forget about it. When my last passport expired, I took the pages apart and decoupaged them onto a tray. Many of the stamps are really quite attractive, and it made a very unique item that I use or see everyday.
Sometimes I use it as part of a vignette.
The rest of the time it rests on the counter top in our kitchen. I get to see it everyday, and it is a great conversation piece. Guests in our home really like looking at it and talking about it. I’m having a creative block, though, on what to do with my newest expired passport. Do any of you have suggestions? If so, please share.
LOVE the tray! I would imagine that very few people have as many stamps and visas as you do, Janette. I can’t imagine that you could do anything else so beautiful, but maybe it would be fun to create a couple of prints to frame using the same technique? I can imagine two pieces of the same size, perhaps with wide white mats. Or you could decoupage some of the pages onto pillar candles (like the DIY Easter candles I made–tutorial is on my blog). But of course that wouldn’t be so lasting as your tray.
I’m pinning this for future reference. My son has collected lots of stamps in his passport; it would be fun to create something like this for him!
Coasters! You could also frame them, similarly to how you did the tray, and make a collage wall, along with some of your photos from various travels grouped with the framed pages. I I plan to reuse mine also, and the tray is probably where I’ll start (or a small, side table top). 🙂 Happy trails to you!
Rita C at Panoply
These are so good ideas. I just applied for my first passport too this week. Perfect timing!
Jennifer,
Congratulations on your first passport! Enjoy your travels.
Cheers!
Great idea – we just got our new passports, now on to find a surface to decoupage them onto! Thanks for the inspiration.
Fun! I’m also very attached to my passport. So much so I couldn’t bear to tear it apart to craft with it so I used color photocopies instead but its the same idea. Those stamps are earned 🙂