Obviously I rely very heavily on photography to help document my personal memories, but I also have things that I’ve saved from vacations and fond moments throughout the years. I’m a firm believer that objects with special meaning should be displayed instead of crammed into a shoebox and shoved away on a closet shelf, but sometimes it’s hard to figure out HOW to display things and they just end up in that box. I have a handful of random things that have just been tucked away in a small lidded basket, and I have recently been brainstorming fun ways to display my cherished keepsakes. I thought I’d share a few of my ideas in hopes that it will help you find a way to honor your own special memories.
My first two projects were as easy as just putting things into pretty jars! Strange as it is, I saved a baggie of sand from my first vacation to the Outer Banks with Chris, and it’s just been sitting in my “memory box” for over a decade. I also have a seashell that we found, and an OBX sticker that I bought in one of the gift shops. It occurred to me that there aren’t too many ways to display sand, but I found this cute jar from IKEA for $2.99 and it works perfectly! I just poured the sand in there and nestled the shell and the sticker (with the backing in tact) on top. Easy breezy, instant art/display/conversation piece:
In addition to that baggie of sand (so weird, I know), I’ve saved nearly every ticket stub from every movie, concert and show I’ve ever seen.* If you and I have gone to an event together, I probably still have the stub. It’s a habit from when I was in middle school and it just stuck – I can’t throw them away! So every time I return from an event, the stub went into the memory box. Since the jar worked so well for the sand, I decided to try the same method for displaying ticket stubs, and I love it! I found these two apothecary jars at Pottery Barn, but there are plenty of places that sell similar containers, or you could even use fun flea-market finds. I keep the stub from the first movie I saw with Chris (Good Will Hunting) displayed front and center.
So what do you think about jarring your memories? I think it would work really well with so many things. You could collect a few details from your wedding like an extra favor, a save-the-date or invitation, your garter, etc. It would also work well to corral collections like wine bottle corks, matchbooks, or pretty much any small items.
What memorable items have you saved? Do you habitually collect anything like ticket stubs? Let me know if you have a fun way to display your keepsakes! I have a few more projects that I’ll blog about soon.
*With the exception of movie dates pre-Chris. 🙂
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