A Summer Essential - Road Trip Kit by Marie Lottermoser

Here's a random summer project to bring along the next time you find yourself and your family on a long road trip to a fun, festive summer getaway! It's a Road Trip Kit using the new Open Road from CP Gal, Marie Lottermoser!

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Road trips are a big deal in our family. We go on at least five or six a year. But it seems like every time we get in the car, my kids head straight for their electronics and miss most of the beautiful scenery outside. When I received the Open Road collection, it reminded me of the car trips we used to take when I was growing up. We would make up games using license plates or road signs to pass the time. It gave me the idea of creating a road trip kit which will help my own kids look out the window more and look down at their screens.

I started off with a tin pencil container. This collection is full of vintage colors, so to coordinate I painted the lid blue and the base, yellow. Then I started adding chipboard and stickers, using the colorful state map as a focal point.

Next, I gathered together a set of journaling cards and joined them together to make a scavenger hunt book. Not only are they just the right size for my tin container, but they are also sturdy and will hold up to some wear and tear.

On each journaling page, I put a different item for the kids to spot. Many are generic landmarks you might see on any car trip, and some are specific locations we always pass. I used photos from previous road trips placed under chipboard frames, and also, used the fun vintage icons that are part of this collection. The journaling cards are double-sided with a different design on the front and back, which makes it twice as easy to use them for a book or mini album.

I also added some interactive elements on the cards. For instance, on the 'hawk' card, instead of just using glue to hold down the feathers, I tied them from string held down by my tiny attacher, so they actually move.

The tiny license plates in this collection reminded me of the game we played growing up trying to spot license plates from all 50 states. We actually got all the way through this game once when I was a kid, finally finding the state of Hawaii at a campground. I included a list of all the states so we could cross them off as we spot them and added a license plate as an accent.

Once my scavenger hunt game was complete, all that was left was to fill up the rest of the kit. I added in chewing gum, a first aid kit and some other odds and ends. We are now ready to hit the road, and hopefully this time we will be paying more attention to the sights around us!