Vacation Souvenirs

When you go on vacation, do you ever buy something special to remember it by? Maybe it’s a mini bottle of sand from the beach or a t-shirt from a brewery you discovered while on Vacation.

I’ve always enjoyed picking something up while on vacation as a reminder of time spent with my family. 

Kid’s, Souvenirs, and Vacation

Ever since my daughter was little, when we were on vacation, she would get to pick out something small from a store or gift shop. It was usually a stuffed animal. One year I remember it was a snack pack of Oreo cookies from the hotel gift shop. I still remember the clerk laughing as my little Missy carefully looked through the store for the perfect souvenir. 

I’ve never been someone to buy something just for the sake of buying it, but I do love walking past something in my home and catching a glimpse of a souvenir purchased on a family vacation.

I think the older my daughter gets, the more I’m looking to be reminded of times spent together-you know before all the teenage angst and suddenly I’m the least fun person to hang out with:) But I digress.

The Perfect Souvenir

Several years ago, I came up with the perfect souvenir-cookie cutters. This may sound like a strange souvenir, but they are inexpensive and can be used for more than just making cookies!

Different Uses for a Cookie Cutter               

• Cut out shapes from a thick slice of watermelon.
• Curate a cheese board with different shaped cheese.
• What kid doesn’t like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the form of a butterfly?
• At Christmastime, you could set up a mini Christmas tree in your kitchen and decorate it with your souvenir cookie cutters. 
• And, of course, you can cut out sugar cookies with them!

I only wish I would have started my cookie cutter tradition years ago. It’s become a scavenger hunt for my family and me. We stroll around different shops on vacation and see who finds the first cookie-cutter sighting. I love that each cookie cutter tells a story of our time on vacation.

Given the quarantine this year, we are just planning short day trips around the area for our “vacation.” Even so, we’ll pick out a new cookie cutter to remember our time spent together in 2020.

First Day of Summer Tradition

This year I’m starting a new tradition. On the first official day of Summer, I will make up a batch of cut out cookies using our vacation souvenirs. Hopefully, it will spark some talk about what we did in previous years. Then maybe we can start planning our next vacation together.

Do you or your kids have a go-to souvenir you get while on vacation? Tag @toledo.moms on Instagram and let us know!