I used to love scrapbooking. It’s probably been about five years since I’ve cropped and matted a photo, but I still miss the nostalgic activity of saving mini mementos. These days I use digital photo books to capture memories (and still I’m years behind…) but I’ve been collecting nick knacks in memory boxes. I have one for every 3-4 years or so, but I wanted to share the girls’ baby boxes with you today.
I design and purchase the boxes through Paper Coterie. They are so great and so sturdy! (PS this is not a paid product review.) I was looking for just this solution a few years back when Paper Coterie was offering a promotion for a free memory box with paid shipping (found it through a friend through this site but Paper Coterie is offering discounts regularly), and then began using them to print family boxes for collecting tokens from trips or happy moments. I like that they fit on a bookshelf and that they’re not enormous, it will be an awesome collection to pass down one day (and much more manageable that a giant trunk in the attic or closets full of saved memories).
Now back to baby boxes…
Liv’s is filling up fast! I’m keeping early mementos like hospital bracelets, a newspaper snippet of the day she was born, adorable knitted caps and maternity pictures, but am also adding bits and pieces as she grows up, like our yearly Christmas card and a favorite preschool drawing.
Taylor’s is brand new.
I purchased the ‘Wide Stripes’ memory box for Taylor:
And the ‘Love Life’ design for Liv:
That same friend (thanks Cass) gave me a blank notebook with baby pictures of Liv to capture – in writing – what I might normally scrapbook. These are also by Paper Coterie.
I pull the book off of the shelf once a month or so and jot down notes on her growth (when she rolled over for the first time, her first words, her first swim lesson), and lately the funny things she says and does ;). I’m leaving that left side blank to add photos, dance recital tickets, you name it later on.
Loved it so much that I bought one for Taylor, too.
That’s my scrapbooking solution for now! Much easier to manage and equally as special as a traditional baby book. These days everything is flying by so fast, it’s nice to stop and capture the little things… and this, for me, is the easiest way to do it. Now when I do get those digital photo books finally finished I’ll share them here, too ;). Oh, sweet time! We need more of you.
PS more motherhood moments shared here.
Just beautiful. A box is such a better way to keep all those special mementos. The box my daughter received from the photographer from the newborn pictures was a great one for storing all these special treasures.
Thanks for sharing.
I agree! Thanks for your comment, Chloe :).
What a sweet idea! About the closest thing I have is the box with T’s baptism certificate and candle. I really like the idea that you can throw mementos in the box. I bet your girls will really cherish when they grow up the moments when you go through everything in their boxes sharing the stories of their lives.
Thank you, Leslie! Yes – so easy to throw it in a box and not worry about it. I loved looking through just these last two years worth of mementos from Liv, brings back great memories.
these are so sweet. I began a journal for my daughter, my only child, with a picture of the pregnancy test stick. She is now 25 and I stopped journaling for her when she graduated from high school. All in all there are about 7 journals full of her life’s moments, pictures, dance recital programs, ribbons etc and I was originally going to give it to her at graduation but felt she was still too “young” to really appreciate it. So now my plan is to give it to her on the birth of her first child. She asks about them occasionally but has never read them so it should be quite special, as yours will be when your little ones grow up.
That’s beautiful! I really like the idea of gifting them when she is in a life stage where she will truly appreciate them. I think I will consider that for the girls. Thanks for sharing, Diane.