It seems to me that we have a huge accumulation of trinkets and souvenirs from several vacations and countless weekend and day trips that we’ve taken over the years! Now that spring break season is over, I’m guessing that more than just family members returned from all of those get-away trips! All kinds of treasure from the beaches, forests, amusement parks, and what-not shops will find its way into our homes! If your family is like mine…we’ve brought back some interesting finds! And what do we do with them when we get home? Often times they go in a keepsake box in the kid’s rooms only to get shoved in a drawer or closet! But there are some keepsakes that evoke the most wonderful memories and it’s a shame to tuck them away, never to be seen again…until we purge the closets! Today I’d like to share a fun project that can highlight some of your favorite trinkets and bring back those sweet remembrances! This can be a great activity for the entire family…so gather your souvenirs and get ready to create something so simple but so full of joy!
treasured memories captured…
i love mason jars…but the fun thing about creating a memory container is that you can use anything you like for holding all the goodies! whether it’s a small apothecary jar or a little fish bowl, any pretty vessel will be perfect! memories of beach vacations with my family will be captured in one of my vintage canning jars!
the color actually reminds me of the ocean…a nice coincidence!
during one of our trips when my oldest was quite young, he insisted on bringing home sand from the beach…so we did! i still have the baggie in a storage box with tons of shells that we’ve collected! but if you’re creating a beach memory, you can buy clean sand at craft stores or use playground sand. and it really only takes minimal supplies…
a nice collection of found shells, sand dollars, and even some tiny sea horses & stars purchased at a shell shop will fill my jar with wonderful memories of vacations past!
i just poured some of our Florida sand in the bottom of my jar…
it turned out that my hand was too big to fit all the way down inside…but i really wanted to use the blue jar so i carefully dropped a few of the shells inside and used a chopstick to position them. it probably would be worth considering a container with a bigger opening…but if you’re set on a jar with a little mouth you CAN make it work!
and once my container was complete, i placed it on a wood plaque along with an old wine bottle filled with the rest of our sand and a large shell…a sweet, “beachy” vignette!
so simple…but so sentimentally sweet!
you can create a memory jar with ANYTHING special! i had so much fun with the sea shells that i decided to make another one! we’ve made some wonderful memories taking trips to Disney World with our boys! (yes, i am a Disney geek!) so i gathered a couple saved trinkets and placed them in an old candy container filled with some crushed stone.
you can find lots of fun things in craft stores to fill the bottom of your jar. you can’t really tell from my photo but i love the way this crushed stone looks like sparkly sand! you can find crushed rock at craft stores and it comes in several colors or you could choose tinted sand, tiny pebbles, fake snow, or even chunky glitter! it just depends on what fits the style of your memory! it doesn’t take much to create…in this jar i tucked in an old room key, luggage tag, and a couple trinkets!
i think it’s so cute, an it brings back cherished memories of magical time with the boys! so gather your souvenirs from a special trip or moment…it makes no difference what they are!