DIY - Memory Jar

Do you remember those dioramas that you made from an old shoebox in elementary school? What if you could save memories for your children (or even yourself) in the same manner?

Trade out the shoebox for a glass jar, fill it with things collected from a vacation - and maybe even some pictures - and what you get is a 3D memory jar.

I can't claim this idea to be my own, although it is really a good one! Actually, I ran across this in the August issue of Parents magazine.

The timing of this find couldn't have been more perfect because our family had just spent the 4th of July camping, and as a part of our trip, we had my son do a nature-themed scavenger hunt. What started out as an idea just to keep him occupied and interested in a hike, turned out to be a great opportunity to create memories and also bring home some of what he found.

My son has a bit of the photographer gene, so as a part of his scavenger hunt, we asked him to take pictures of two of the items on his list. With those pics uploaded, I jumped over to PicMonkey (seriously the best free photo editing website!) and created a collage, adding words and a couple of graphics to the photos he took. (I thought it would be cute to put a © symbol and his name on the photos as well, because he did take them!) 

All you need is a clear glass jar, the magazine suggested using a pickle jar, but I only had a mason jar on hand, so that's what I used.

A few items is all you really need. I think less is more with something like this. Adding photos is a really nice touch. Especially if you have a lot of photos in mind, creating a collage is a nice way to incorporate all of them.

Lastly, I wanted to have more than one way to view the items, so I removed the lid, leaving the rim that goes with the mason jar. I cut a circle slightly larger than the mouth of the jar out of a plain ziplock baggie. With the plastic in place on top of the jar, I was able to still screw on the rim, creating a "sunroof" of sorts.

This was so much fun to create and I know that my son will enjoy collecting more memory jars for years to come!

DIY - Family Photo Collage Frame

What started out as a simple way to fill a space left on the wall of my son's room - after we took down his crib and put up his "big boy" bed one year ago - turned into filling a different kind of spiritual space.

When the crib came down, I had to hang something on the wall above his bed because the gap between the wooden letters spelling out his name, and the top of the bed was too much for me to handle.

In a devine moment of inspiration, I decided to print photos of my son's family members from both sides of our family and put them into a collage picture frame.  Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room for aunts and uncles, but we did squeeze in a space for his cousins, since he loves them so much.

There are four generations represented in this frame, and one has since passed, which makes me even more appreciative that pictures were taken when they were, because regardless of whether or not they are still here;

"Family is forever."

Trust me, I am not delusional. We all have moments when we aren't the biggest fan of someone(s) in our family for whatever reason, but honestly, they are forever and my husband and I really want to make that impression on our children.

The truly inspirational part of this story has nothing to do with simply hanging a picture frame, our son created that all on his own. 

It started as him standing on his bed and pointing to each photo and telling us who was in it.  Soon, it became a quiz of sorts and we would ask him where someone was and he would jump up, climb onto his bed and point to them.  At one point, he even asked where his youngest cousin was. (She had just been born - which reminds me, her picture still isn't in the frame!)

Family collage. If you want to add in more people, just use
a larger frame. The more the merrier!

Photo tip:

Try to take multi-generational photos when you can. Trust me, it will be worth it later on. Also, when creating a collage try to throw in some black and white or sepia-toned images amongst the color photos. Doing so breaks up the monotony of color photos, not to mention, some photos just look better without color.

Speaking of families, sometime soon I intend on creating a multi-generational family gallery on our hallway wall. Once, I do I will share that with you as well. You think I like pictures now, well I LOVE old pictures, and have some big ideas on what to do with them!

This project is so simple yet, at least for our family, it ended up meaning so much more than we had ever intended or imagined.