If your heart lives in airports, old maps, and faraway winter nights, why not let your Christmas tree and home environment travel too? Below are a few easy, cozy DIYs that turn travel memories and future plans into festive décor.
Travel-inspired Christmas ornaments are the perfect way to bring wanderlust into the holidays. If you love maps, destinations, memories from the road, and dreaming about future trips, a travel-themed Christmas tree can turn your home into a personal story of places seen and places still waiting.
In this guide, you’ll find easy DIY travel Christmas decorations you can make at home using simple materials like old maps, felt, and printed photos. These Christmas ornaments for travelers are budget-friendly, deeply personal, and ideal for gifts, small spaces, or minimalist trees that still feel meaningful.
These travel-inspired ornament ideas are great for using up paper scraps, turning old memories into décor, and making gifts that feel personal. Each craft below includes a free-to-use photo link for inspiration, a Pinterest board/idea link for more variations, and simple step-by-step instructions.
1) Map & Globe Ornaments
This is the craft for anyone who hoards metro maps, boarding passes, or book-page maps “just in case.” Map & globe ornaments instantly turn your tree into a mini travel mood-board—equal parts vintage and festive. The best part?
You can make each ornament represent a place you’ve been (or the trip you’re manifesting for next year). Add a tiny handwritten tag like “Lisbon 2023” or “Tokyo 2026,” and suddenly your decorations become conversation starters. These also look amazing as a set: pick one color palette (all blues, all sepia, all black-and-white maps), and your tree will feel curated, not cluttered.
Pinterest inspiration:
Map ornaments DIY ideas
How to make it (quick + pretty):
- Gather: clear fillable ornaments (plastic or glass), old maps/atlas pages, scissors, ribbon, glue or double-sided tape.
- Cut: slice the map into thin strips (about 0.5–1 cm wide) or small circles.
- Fill: curl strips with scissors and tuck them into the ornament, or layer circles inside for a “collage globe” look.
- Finish: tie a ribbon hanger and add a tiny destination tag (place + year).
2) Felt Travel Ornaments
Felt ornaments are cozy, durable, and wildly customizable, aka perfect for “travel icons.”
Think: a tiny airplane, a camper van, a mountain range, a little passport, or a beach sunset. They’re also ideal if you want to create a matching set (one ornament per destination) without needing fancy tools. Keep it simple: two pieces of felt, basic stitching, and a sprinkle of personality. If you’re posting this as a tutorial, film the satisfying bits: cutting the shapes, sewing the edges, stuffing it slightly, and the final reveal on the tree.
Bonus: felt ornaments pack flat, so they’re easy to store and easy to gift.
Pinterest inspiration:
Felt airplane ornament ideas
How to make it (beginner-friendly):
- Gather: felt sheets, needle/thread (or fabric glue), scissors, stuffing/cotton, ribbon.
- Draw + cut: sketch a simple travel shape (plane, mountain, van). Cut two matching pieces.
- Decorate: add windows, snowcaps, stripes, or a mini heart for your favourite city using scraps.
- Assemble: stitch around the edge (leave a small opening), lightly stuff, then close.
- Hang: sew in a ribbon loop at the top, and add a tiny label (destination/year).
3) Travel Memory Photo Ornaments (your trips, on the tree)
If you want maximum emotion-per-ornament, this is the one. Travel photo ornaments turn your favourite moments—street food nights, snowy hikes, that one perfect sunset—into decorations you’ll actually look at every year.
They’re also brilliant for long-distance families and friends: one ornament can hold a shared memory. Make it extra “travel”: add coordinates, a mini “boarding pass” tag, or the date in small print.
Pinterest inspiration:
Clear ornament photo ideas
How to make them (2 easy options):
- Option A — Clear ornament: print a small photo, roll it into a tube, slide it inside a clear fillable ornament, then gently unroll with tweezers. Add faux snow/glitter if you want.
- Option B — Mini frame: print a small photo, place it in a tiny frame (or make a cardstock frame), punch a hole at the top, and thread ribbon through to hang.
- Travel twist: add a tag with destination + year, or write coordinates on the back.
Travel-themed Christmas decorations are best with stories behind each ornament. A map from a favourite city, a felt airplane, or a tiny photo from a past journey can instantly bring back emotions, conversations, and plans for future adventures.
If you’re looking for unique Christmas ornament ideas for travelers, these DIY projects are easy to customize, easy to store, and easy to gift. They work beautifully for small apartments, minimalist homes, or anyone who prefers meaningful décor over mass-produced decorations.
Save this post for later, pin your favourite ideas, or use them as inspiration to create your own DIY travel Christmas ornaments. And if you want more offbeat travel ideas, creative storytelling, and inspiration beyond the mainstream, explore more stories here on Tourism on the Edge.
