When I stumbled upon the idea of a Memory Jar over at Steamy Kitchen, I knew it was something I wanted to start for my family.

I used to have a family blog that I would regularly update, but I just don’t have time for that anymore! And sitting down to upload all the pictures and write everything out can seem so daunting. So I love the simplicity of this idea.

Just keep a “memory jar” that you can fill with little memories – all those little moments that are touching, funny, or sweet that you might forget about in years to come.

When I started out the memory jar, it was as simple as it gets. I slapped a crappy label onto a mason jar and kept a folded up piece of paper inside to scribble my memories on (because apparently cutting it into strips was just too hard).

While this still served it’s purpose, I knew I wanted something better. What happens at the end of the year when you empty the jar? Where do the memories go??

So for my new jar, I actually use a cute little box. I used my Cricut to cut out some cardstock shapes, which I keep by the box. These only took about 20 minutes to cut out, and make a huge difference in presentation.

Then when something happens, I go to the jar and jot down the date and a little synopsis. It’s filled with important events, funny things the little monkeys say or do, sweet moments that fill our home with love, etc. And when my kids are old enough, they will be able to contribute to the jar as well.

Then at the end of each year, you get to read through the notes and reminisce about all that happened. If you’re feeling ambitious, you could even put those notes in a scrapbook! You can make it as simple or as elaborate as you want. The important thing is that those fun memories are preserved for years to come!

For this scrapbook, I used a stack of brown paper bags. I folded the bags in half and hole-punched them like so…

Some of the edges will be the bottom of the bag, and some will be the top. Alternate them so every other page is the bottom. With the tops, glue down the folds so it creates pockets, like this:

Then cut down some cardstock {just smaller than the size of the pockets} and add a little ribbon tab.

Tuck these away in the pockets for cute little pages that pull out!

Bind it all together with some ribbon and you’re good to go!

It’s a perfect way to record all of those precious moments that will make you smile 20 years down the road! And it’s so easy to do! It takes about 30 seconds or less to jot down a memory, and you’re done! And with a little extra prep work, it will be easy to transfer those little notes to a more permanent home. This is definitely a tradition we will keep for a very long time!

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