On New Year's Eve, Joe and I were chatting about our resolutions and plans for the year. I was telling him about how I wanted to choose a word for the year and about this really cool memory jar idea that I stumbled upon on Pinterest.
Have you seen them? If not, here's the rundown: Throughout the year, you toss in notes of the good things (big or small) that touched your life. Then, at year's end, you pull them out together and reminisce. To my surprise, he thought the jar was an awesome idea. Almost three weeks later and I finally have the jar done.
What I like most about this is that while it's obviously a fit for the New Year, it could also work just as well to record what happened between birthdays.
Need some ideas of what to share? Try some of these:
Surprise gifts
Daily blessings
Happy moments
Special memories
Momentous occasions
Life's little pleasures
Milestones
Accomplished goals
MATERIALS:
cardstock pack
large circle hole punches (I used a 3" & 1" punch)
quart mason jar
burlap jar coozie (optional - I wanted our notes to remain a secret throughout the year so sewed up this little guy)
number stickers
burlap pouch
INSTRUCTIONS:
Making this jar was an easy decision. I wanted to plan ahead and think of potential issues. First, I didn't want a junky jar sitting out on the counter. It had to be pretty. And even more importantly, I wanted it to be accessible and convenient to use. I decided that if I added some small note pages and a place to store a pen, it'd be super easy to jot down that happy little memory.
1. Choose several sheets of coordinating patterns out of your paper pack
2. Punch out tons of 3" circles (I did 50 to start) and a handful of 1" circles out of the remaining scraps
3. The 1" circles are just for fun so toss those in the mason jar -- I thought it would be nice to have "confetti" at the end of the year when we're pouring out our good memories
4. The larger circles are the pages that you'll use to write your notes on throughout the year. To keep those from finding their way all around the house, put them in the burlap pouch. I'd also suggest tossing in a pen or two. That way, everything is in one place and you're always prepared when you want to jot something down.
5. With one of the spare circles, apply number stickers to identify the year -
OR the age of someone special. Joe is turning the big 3-0 this year. It's gonna be a big year for us!
6. Now that the paper part is all done, let's get back to that big ole mason jar. Using either burlap ribbon or a koozie, cover the mason jar. Tuck the circle label into the burlap around the jar. No glue. No painting. No stitching. Every year, you can easily switch it out. Score!
I topped the jar off with a daisy cut mason lid. Why? Two reasons: one, it's flippin adorable and two, it gave me a place to secure the burlap pouch so it's always nearby (with papers and pen in stow).
And there we go. It's complete.
Our first memory that went in?
Joe's dad surprising both of us to new car batteries. We're blessed to have him. I can almost guarantee that come December 31, 2014, we would have forgotten all about that thoughtful deed. Not now :)
I'm really looking forward to looking back and revisiting all of the amazing things that happened to us this year.
I'm linking to:
Fun idea! I should make myself one of these. :)
ReplyDeleteDo it! We're loving ours already!
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