Tag Archives: sharing family stories

50 Memory Clothes Ideas: #1 – sweater pillow

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sweater pillow from http://www.maidenjane.com

Do you have old clothes that you just can’t seem to part with? They might be your own or those of a loved one, or your child’s, but there are memories attached to those clothes that you don’t want to forget. How about using them to make a memory clothes project? Give those clothes a second life will keeping those precious memories close. This year I’ll be sharing 50 ideas using old clothes that you can enjoy or share with family and friends. Here is today’s idea:

With Christmas decorations gone, sometimes things feel a little bare. How about adding a cozy sweater pillow for a fun new accent? Great to snuggle up with for a nap or reading a good book. If the sweater has fond memories attached to it, that makes it even better. A sweater pillow makes a great gift too, especially if you share a story about the history of the sweater along with the pillow. I found three different tutorials with different approaching to making a sweater pillow. Click on the photos above and below for the links.

sweater pillows from StoneGableBlog.com

sweater pillow from sometimes-homemade.com

Anxious for more memory clothes project ideas? Check out this Pinterest board.

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Our Digital Footprints

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image from http://blog.energyearth.com

I read an article today on leaving our own digital footprints on AmericanFootprints.com. They offer a framework for creating your own digital memoir. While I’m not ready to sign-up it did get me thinking about what I’m leaving behind that really shares about who I am and what my life was like. Are there small adjustments in the way I live life everyday that would change the stories, feelings and memories that will still be around when I’m gone? I don’t know the answers but I agree with the idea that we need to keep things like this simple or they just don’t get done at all. Simple and incomplete is so much better than nothing at all. I remember hearing someone say once “what do you wish your great-grandmother had record?” What do I want my great-great nieces and nephews to know about me and why I made the choices I’ve made in my life?

I spend a chunk of time everyday organizing and tracking what I need to get done. I wonder if with a bit of a shift I could be recording simple stories about my day? The facts of my life are not what is important, it is the stories that make me who I am. Just some random thoughts for today. What are you doing to record your own stories?

Year in Review & New Year’s Resolutions for Kids (and adults)

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from thirtyhandmadedays.com

I came across this great printable today from Thirty Hand Made Days. It is a great way to record some of the basics about a child’s likes and life experience and hopes for the coming year. The real power comes from doing this year after year and Mique does an updated version each year. What a wonderful record of the growing and maturing that little snap shot will make. I also think this could be easily adapt to adults. In fact she has one! (see below). Click on the photos to get the free printable files

from hirtyhandmadedays.com

50 Jar Gifts: idea #50 – New Year Survival Kit

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New Year Survival Kit from SnapCreativity.com

This last post on jar gifts has been more than a year in coming. I’m so excited to finally complete this series. I though this survival kit would be the perfect way to complete 2014 and start 2015. Click on either image for instructions and more. It is a great way to start the year with the determination to write more memories and stories for future generations. I hope the new year brings many happy moments and lots of time with family and friends. Thanks for sticking with me through all the ups and downs of the past year. Happy New Year everyone!

tag for New Year Survival Kit from SnapCreativity.com

If this idea inspires you, let me know. I’d love to share your project here too.jar gift logos51

Want some more ideas? Visit my Pinterest board dedicated to jar gift ideas.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #49 – snow globes

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snow globes from tidymom.net

What could be more fun than a tiny snowy scene in a jar. Tidymom.net has a step by step tutorial on making waterless snow globes. Below are two more ideas for snow globes with the addition of light. Oh, the possibilities! Just imagine recreating a snowy scene from one of your family stories. My parents live on a quiet rural street with lots of trees along the road. My Dad even planted a make of trees with a winding path. I love to take a late night walk through the trees or down the road when we visit. It is so quiet and peaceful. I can imagine this as a simple snow globe to remind my family of their home in Idaho. Especially now as they will certainly need to move to a more manageable place in the near future.

Street Lamp snow globe from SaltTree.net

snow scene in a jar from BlitznGiggles.com

If this idea inspires you, let me know. I’d love to share your project here too.jar gift logos50

Want some more ideas? Visit my Pinterest board dedicated to jar gift ideas.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #48 – snowflake jar

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snowflake jars from YourHomeBasedMom.com

This idea uses tissue paper, scrapbook paper and Mod Podge to dress up any jar. YourHomeBasedMom also used her Cricket cutter to make it easy to cut out the snowflakes. This idea is adaptable to any season or any theme. It would be pretty with a candle inside or even filled with a tasty treat. You could even cut silhouettes of an ancestor and then share that ancestor’s story. Lots of possibility with this idea.

I entered the world of computer controlled personal cutters this month to make my Christmas gifts. I bought my niece’s Silhouette Cameo when she bought the latest model on a great black Friday special. I look forward to playing around with it on future projects.

If this idea inspires you, let me know. I’d love to share your project here too.jar gift logos49

Want some more ideas? Visit my Pinterest board dedicated to jar gift ideas.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #47 – Message in a bottle

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thumbdrive in a bottle from Urban Outfitters

I think this thumbdrive would be such a fun way to share a history of historical photos and documents with family. There is no way it would get lost among all the other storage devices kicking around our houses these days. I wonder how hard it would be to recreate this with an inexpensive thumbdrive and small bottle from a craft store. I’ll have to keep this idea in mind for some future project.

If this idea inspires you, let me know. I’d love to share your project here too.jar gift logos48

Want some more ideas? Visit my Pinterest board dedicated to jar gift ideas.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #46 – Potato Soup Mix in a Jar

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Potato Soup Mix in a Jar from innerchildfun.com

Can you tell it is still cold and snowy around here? The bad part is the storm is moving out and the real cold is on its way. So my brain is stuck on warm and comforting things these days. I also picked up a package of potato flakes at the store recently and made some potato soup for lunch yesterday. This mix is simple enough to have the kids in the family help put it together giving a great opportunity to share memories of working in the kitchen when you were growing up too. Or stories of warm comforting food on a cold winter night.Click on the photo above for the recipe and instructions on whipping up a batch of potato soup mix. It is quick and easy.

I enjoy throwing together a pot of soup from whatever I have on hand. Not sure where that comes from. While my husband doesn’t like “brothy” soups. He does better with thick stews and chowders. I’m guessing that both go back to childhood memories. What associations do you have with soup and your childhood?

If this idea inspires you, let me know. I’d love to share your project here too.jar gift logos47

Want some more ideas? Visit my Pinterest board dedicated to jar gift ideas.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #45 – force bulbs in jelly jars

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paperwhites in jelly jars from domaphile.com

After the holidays are over and the short days and longs nights of winter set in, there is nothing as wonderful as a touch of spring from forcing spring bulbs to bloom inside. For me they represent the hope of spring and that the cold days will eventual give way to warmth and green growing things. Click on the photo above for detailed instructions.

If you don’t have any family stories or ancestors that you can associate with spring and/or bulbs then how about a story of how hope for a better day helped a family member persevere through a trial. I know that for my current trial of getting my hand functional again there are days when it seems like it will never be the same. Part of the problem has been unrealistic expectations. It is going to take more time than I imagined. Just as there maybe some warm days in January but from experience more snow and cold is bound to come. But having a spring bulb on my table reminds me that spring will come and though it might take six months to a year, my hand will be fully functional again.

If this idea inspires you, let me know. I’d love to share your project here too.jar gift logos46

Want some more ideas? Visit my Pinterest board dedicated to jar gift ideas.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #44 – Wool Jar Cozy

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Red Wool Mug Hug from Wanderlust Small Goods on Etsy.com

Until just before Christmas we have had a surprisingly warm winter. Now we have snow and it sure feels cold. The thought of warm soup or hot chocolate sounds perfect right now and this wool jar cozy made by Wanderlust Small Goods and available on Etsy.com looks like the perfect solution to keep it warm. I love warm drinks and soup too, not just hot chocolate but hot lemon and honey and anything else I can think of. (Not a coffee drinker for religious reasons.) If you are handy with a sewing machine and have an old wool coat this would be a great project and a great opportunity to share memories of the original owner of the coat or of cold winter nights and warm things to eat or drink. No wool? I’m sure that fleece would make a suitable substitute.

I don’t have anything like this from my great-great-grandmother, Mary Taylor, but a cold snow night with a batch of wool jar cozies filled with something warm and comforting would be an effective time to talk about her experiences caught in the bitter cold and snow with the Martin Handcart Company in 1856. I’m guessing your family has a story about the hardships of winter too.

If this idea inspires you, let me know. I’d love to share your project here too.jar gift logos45

Want some more ideas? Visit my Pinterest board dedicated to jar gift ideas.