This post contains affiliate links. That means if you click on my link and buy an item I will make a small commision off that purchase at no additional cost to you. To see my full disclosure policy click here.

There are two things in this world that I am passionate about: travel and interior decorating. When I knew I wanted to start a blog, these were the only two subjects I was even remotely interested in talking about every week for the next umpteen years.

I like to eat, but a cooking blog wasn’t my “thing”, and parenting blogs are best left for people who actually like kids enough to talk about them. I have teenagers. It goes without saying that I don’t want to talk about parenting them – because it sucks and no one wants to hear me whine all day.

Travel and interior decorating were my only choices. But which to choose?

Since I traveled an insane amount last year and had tons of stories to tell, travel was a natural choice. Besides the fact, I had only just moved to Saipan. We live in a rented apartment, and I don’t even own half of the decor inside (our apartment is “semi-furnished”). Interior design seemed a bit out of reach for me to choose.

And, so, I began writing this travel blog, trying to remain faithful to the subject always.

Until one day, we went to Tokyo.

When we came back we had several souvenirs. Now, I don’t know about y’all, but in general one of two things happens to my souvenirs once I get back home. They might get lucky and end up on a shelf somewhere. But, just as likely, they might come home with me, where I will put them away with full intentions to do something with them so that someday they will be displayed.

There they will sit, until one day, many months into the future I find the forgotten about souvenirs and realize I will never do anything with them. They will most likely get tossed, and with them, all the happy memories they would have given me if only I had actually displayed them.

Back to Tokyo…

We came home with a few small souvenirs. I got a small Buddha from the Great Buddha’s gift stand to match the one my great Grandmother bought in the same spot 70 years earlier. Tommy bought himself a “grow your own” bonsai tree (which sadly never grew). And J got himself a tea towel that had Godzilla in the middle of the famous Japanese picture “The Great Wave off Kanagawa“.

When we got back home, it occurred to me – What is a teenage boy going to do with a tea towel? I laugh even typing that sentence out.

While mulling it over, an idea dawned on me. I had an epiphany, you might even say.  Sure, this blog could only be about travel. There’s nothing wrong with that; plenty of people enjoy travel blogs.

But, what if…

What if this could be a blog that somehow managed to combine my two favorite things? Interior decorating and travel seem pretty far apart, could they possibly find some common ground?

Looking at that tea towel, it occurred to me that they, in fact, could.

All that being said to say, today I’m introducing what I hope will become a regular series: “Decorating With Souvenirs“. I hope to inspire some of y’all to take a look at your travel mementos with fresh eyes. My goal is to find unique ways to display them. My aim is to have travel mementos blend seamlessly into your home’s decor.

Yay for new goals!

Ok, now back to our regularly scheduled programming…

I went to Pinterest to see what type of ideas I could find. Surprisingly “Displaying Tea Towels In A Teenage Boy’s Room” is not a popular search term.

I then went to look at display ideas for silk scarves. That was when I saw how silk screens are mounted before they are painted on. A frame is built around the scarf, and the scarf is attached to the frame with ribbons.

Image courtesy of Etsy / Irisit

I considered mounting the tea towel in a frame like this. I really liked the idea of the ribbons attached with buttons. But, there was something missing. While this is pretty enough to stand on its own, I wanted the tea towel to be unique.

A few days later, I was driving down the road, when I saw in a neighbor’s yard the solution to my tea towel conundrum: Bamboo. Since the tea towel came from Asia, I wanted to give that a nod. What wood is more Asian than bamboo? (I mean… the jokes I could make here.)

Once that was settled, I played around with the design. After trying several layouts with the bamboo and tea towel, I decided that just having one piece of bamboo to hang the tea towel from was plenty. The piece of bamboo I am using is very thick, and I felt it would have been too heavy all the way around the tea towel. If you try this at home and have a thinner piece of bamboo, let me know if you try framing it all the way around. I’d love to see it!

Living on an island means that the word “convenience” isn’t a part of my vocabulary. There are no Targets, Wal-Marts, or craft stores here. When I want to have an arts and crafts party, I have to carefully consider the supply list. If I can’t find it on island, I ain’t making it is my rule. There is no reason to add to my carbon footprint by ordering what I can’t get from Amazon.

Work with what ya got, and your Mama Earth will thank you for that choice.

On down to the local office supply store, I went to find my arts and crafts/sewing needs. (Yes, you read that right. You get these things at the office supply store. Don’t question island logic. It will drive you mad.) This project is SUPER simple. If you can thread a needle, you can do this. Here is what you will need:

Supplies:

• Tea towel
• Bamboo, cut to size
• 1″ Ribbon of your choice
• Sandpaper
• Fabric glue
• Buttons of your choice
• Heavy duty fishing line

The plan is to have ribbon loops spaced out across the top edge of the tea towel. These will be used to mount the towel to the bamboo. Then the bamboo will be hung on the wall using fishing line.

The first thing I had to decide is how long the ribbon needed to be. I measured the bamboo and found that it was five and a half inches around.

Since I wanted the ribbon to hang about an inch from the bottom edge of the bamboo, I added two inches (one inch for the front, and one inch for the back). I also figured in around a half-inch seam for the ribbon to be attached, so the ribbon was measured and cut to be eight inches long.

The tea towel is 34 inches long, so I decided to put a ribbon loop approximately every six inches. This means that I needed six ribbon loops, each one eight inches long.

To attach the ribbons, I used “fabric glue”. Now before I get into why I used quotation marks in that last sentence, I want to say you could just as easily sew these on with a machine, do a quick hand stitch, or even attach it by ironing on Stitch Witch. Whatever is easiest and works best for you. I live on an island and moved here less than a year ago with only what I could fit in a suitcase. My sewing machine didn’t make it over, so that wasn’t an option for me. I couldn’t find Stitch Witch anywhere on island. And, since I knew I was already going to be sewing on the buttons, I didn’t want to hand stitch more than I had to. I decided to use fabric glue.

Now, I know how American this will sound, but what I got is most definitely not what I would consider being fabric glue. I grew up using Aleene’s Tacky Fabric Glue, which is basically extra strength white glue. What I got came in a tube, and is what I remember from the 80’s being called “Rubber Cement”. That was a bit of a surprise to me – a very messy surprise at that. Ever tried squeezing rubber cement? It doesn’t stop coming out of the tube just because you stop applying pressure, FYI.

Once I figured out how not to make a huge mess, I attached the ribbon to the back of the tea towel using the glue and a small brush. You first want to attach the bottom of the ribbon, giving it a quarter-inch seam. Then, loop the ribbon over, and glue it down to itself. Repeat this every six inches or so until you have a row of ribbons running across the top of your towel.

At this point, you will want to let it fully dry, which is anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour. Here is the point of me explaining that my fabric glue was not what I expected. Aleene’s dries clear. This fabric glue did not. As you can see, there were spots on the front of the tea towel from the glue on the backside.

While looking for sandpaper at the office supply store, I found these buttons (there’s a sentence I never said before I lived on an island). The first thing I noticed is that they said “Tokyo” on them – it was meant to be! $1.50 later they were mine. I attached the buttons by hand stitching them over the dried glue spots. Even doing this by hand, it took me less than ten minutes to attach all six buttons.

Once all the buttons were on, it was really starting to take shape.

The bamboo was measured and cut to fit next. I wanted the bamboo to be around six inches longer than the towel on either side. Tommy cut it at the knuckles so it would be a cleaner edge. Then he lightly sanded it to remove any dirt and smooth out any rough places on the bamboo. After a quick wipe down with a damp rag, the bamboo was slid through the ribbon loops, and ready to hang.

When I saw the tea towel for the first time with the bamboo, I swooned a little. This was one of those projects that turned out better than I imagined. It gives me a smiley face every time I see it because it exceeded my expectations.

To hang it on the wall, I attached heavy-duty fishing line (bought at – where else? – the office supply store) to both ends.  I wrapped the fishing line around the bamboo and tied it off with several tight knots. I made sure to leave some slack in the line, so it would be able to hang. I love how the fishing line disappears when you’re looking at it, and the tea towel appears to be floating.

Here she is!

Isn’t this such a big improvement? From before being held up with tape…

To the final product!

SO much better, amirite?

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you did, please let me know in the comments. Also, if there’s a specific souvenir you’d like to show off but are having a hard time thinking of a unique way to display it, let’s discuss it in the comments. Maybe we can brainstorm a solution together!

I really and truly appreciate you stopping by! Feel free to share with your friends, or you could even Pin this. Maybe this will help?