Lets have fun looking at these 10 fun nostalgic activities for your kids. In our last blog I gave you a challenge challenge on to you to turn off the TV for one night. Do fun things like they did in the past without a TV. Let’s discuss some nostalgic activities to do with your kids.

I hear it all the time. “The reason to have kids is so you can play with the toys yourself.” It brings back memories. challenge on to you. Turn off the TV for one night. Do fun things like they did in the past without a TV. To learn more ideas of things you can do, stay tuned in for out next blog.

1. Go outside and fly a kite. Make education more fun for your kids, by teaching them while they get to have fun at the same time.

2. Put on boots and jump in puddles. You can go way back in history and put bread sacks over your shoes with rubber bands to hold them on. Who remembers doing that? My grandma always saved old bread sacks just in case we wanted to go outside and did not have our boots with us.

3. Climb a tree. Remember when we used to see who could climb the highest in the tree? Spend time bonding with your child and make a homemade tree house. The tree house is where some of my brother’s best memories come from.

4. Skip stones across a pond. Again, it is a time to see how many skips your rock does. I still think my brother miscounted, even though he always won.

5. Have a picnic outside and make animals out of the clouds in the sky. This is a great activity to stretch your child’s imagination.

6. Sit back and just spend time listening to the rain under a tin roof. Teach your kids how you can tell how far away a thunderstorm is by the number of seconds between a lightening bolt and the thunder crack sound. It is approximate, but the number of seconds between the lightening bolt and thunder, equals how many miles away the storm is.

7. Visit a farm and see the animals. Take a horseback ride. Teach your kids not everything you eat comes from the grocery store.

8. Write a letter to yourself in the future. What do you think the world will look like 10, 20, or 50 years from now?

9. Get out your old toys as a kid and play with your child’s new toy dolls. It is like meshing two generations into one play family.

10. Make a time capsule together, preserving some of our child’s toys. You can also make a family time capsule together. Let each of your children throw in one special toy that they do not play with anymore but want to save. Pick out other items that represent your family.

Recall your old school life or childhood with your friends and siblings, as you play with your old toys of the past. Break out your Rubics cube. Call your friends over and tell them to bring some of their old toys. This could be one fun baby sitting hour with your children, while you go back in time playing with each other. Remember Teddy Ruxpin? What other stuffed bears were popular in your time? Have a Super Soaker squirt gun fight in your yard. You can still find some old Super Soakers on Ebay.

What was your favorite toy of the past? Compare your old baby doll to the newer technology dolls for your child today. I remember when Cabbage Patch kids were popular. Now there are baby dolls that talk, cry, and are very life like. What about the popular time of beanie babies? What is the most popular stuffed animal of today? I am sure it will be worth a fortune years in the future.

Save your old toys in a time capsule, to pass on to your children in the future. You never know how much of a collector’s item these toys will be in the future. You are preserving your child’s college fund when you put these items in a time capsule now.  You can get your own DIY Time Capsule here, to get started today.

So go outside today. What old nostalgic activity would you like to do with your kid today? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

The post 10 Fun Nostalgic Activities for your Kids appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Photo by: Corbis, Mike Kemp/Rubberball

Do you ever wish you could freeze time? Let’s discuss the importance of preserving memories, as you may go out to eat with your family this week, or to a special event. What are you doing with your family and friends this week? Will you take your cell phones with you? What was life like before cell phones? You know there is a cost to popularity or fitting in. I heard someone the other day say, “who doesn’t have a cell phone now?”

You know we all used to do some pretty stupid things when we were young. Some of you may have wore bell bottom pants in the past. I wore them myself sometimes. I am not talking little, but big bell bottoms. Oh, they were ugly. Why did I wear them? They were popular. Why did so many of you buy pet rocks in the past. You know the rock you could name, pet it, and give it pet rock food and talk to it every day. It was stupid. People did it to be popular.

Are you more concerned about being popular than standing up for who you are uniquely made to be? Have a passion for the world and your family, but popularity gets in the way? Why do we long to be popular?

Why do we buy a Happy Meal? We want that toy. Then, we are happy. Although 15 minutes later the toy usually breaks. Then, what do you have to do? You have to go back to McDonalds and get another Happy Meal to be happy again. It changes our whole way of thinking from a young child ourselves. We learn to look for things to make us happy. We as adults have toys too, but they are more expensive. Most of the time, we are looking for toys thoughout life to make us continually happy. When that wears out, I will buy another toy, and then when that wears out, then I will buy another toy. Sadly we even take it into our relationships sometimes, treating people like play things or toys. When they do not make us happy, we will get another play thing or adopt another family.

Some of us are so protective of our possessions that we forget what is important. Possessions is not what it is all about. As long as you look for happiness you will never find it. Instead look for times to give to others, then you find happiness. There are many different ways to give back in life. Many of us become consumed with possessions that we consumerism and having the latest things.

What about the old things in life? What about the value of time together compared to the value of the latest cell phone? What is worth more to you? Now don’t get me wrong, I am not saying things are not nice. I have lots of things. However it is amazing how we live in a society that pushes for us to have things, to pamper ourselves. It is amazing that no matter how many things you may have, you can still feel empty.

We here at The Original Time Capsule company value time. Time with your family, friends, elders, youth, co-workers, etc. Leadership and happiness is about going out and helping others. That is more valuable than the latest gizmo that says you are a popular leader in your pack. We either sacrifice our family to our passions, or we sacrifice our passions to our family. What are you willing to give up in order to spend more time with your family and make a difference in the world? Stop protecting your phone, and start protecting your family. Protect them by preserving memories with them. You never know what each day brings.

There is a point to all of this. Spend more time with your family. I am tired of going out to eat and seeing the whole family on their own cell phones, instead of spending the time together discussing their day at work or school. How do you bond with your family, if you are doing it with friends on your cell phone instead? How do you bond and learn to de-stress by talking things out with your family, when you are instead trying to play the latest game on your phone?

I was challenged this weekend and now I pass this challenge on to you. Turn off the TV for one night. Do fun things like they did in the past without a TV. To learn more ideas of things you can do, stay tuned in for out next blog. Ha Ha (“tune in”) Pun intended.

A time capsule is all about preserving time. Many times we want to freeze time. Many times we don’t know what we have until it is gone. Don’t wait until it is too late to bond with your children. Make your own Family Time Capsule today with our “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule.

Let us know that you too have learned the importance of preserving memories. What would you put in your time capsule to show how you spent your family time together? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

The post Importance of Preserving Memories appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Looking for creative ways to save college money for your baby. Congratulations on being a first time parent. I am sure there are many things going through your head right now. This is an exciting new time in your life. I know for many parents, as they have a new baby, one of the major things they try to take care of is starting a college savings fund. You may feel like your personal piggy bank account is anorexic after having your baby, however this is also a time to plan for the future life of your child. It seems like tuition rates increase about every year. When you start now, it makes it easier as your child is ready to go off to college.

1. Open a baby’s college savings fund, IRA, or Roth IRA

It is never to early to start saving money for your child’s college. You could even ask friends and family members to help get the savings started at your baby shower by donating to their college fund.

2. Save coupons

You would be surprised at how much money you save up over time, if you donate the amount you save from a coupon into their college fund.

3. Accept Hand Me Down items

Mothers love to help out other mothers. Accept hand me down items, like clothes, toys, walkers, strollers, etc and calculate how much you would have spent on each one. Then, put that money saved into the baby’s college savings account. It all adds up over time.

4. Find a friend or family member to babysit

I would love to just pick up my work and take it to my niece’s house to help my sister in law out financially. Not everyone can do this I know, however many times there is a family member or friend who may know of a friend (who charges cheap) to watch your baby while you are at work. It never hurts to look around and ask. Put the extra money you would be spending on a normal daycare or babysitter aside in your baby’s college fund.

5. Celebrate a Milestone event in your child’s life with a money card

When your baby grows up and has their birthdays, graduation, first communion, bar mitzah, gets straight A’s on their report card, or other milestone moment events, family and friends can send a card with money in it specifically donating to their college fund.

6. Save all change in a basket 

When you go somewhere to eat, get gas, or do anything try to pay with cash. When you get change back, throw it in a basket to go donate to your child’s college fund at the bank later. Again, change adds up fast.

7. Buy cloth diapers instead of disposable diapers

If you have to, have a diaper themed baby shower, and each guest to bring at least one cloth diaper. Reusing cloth diapers alone, will help the savings add up over time, which means more money in your baby’s college fund. When guests feel like they are buying the cloth diaper for a good cause and it is a part of your baby shower party fun, then they are more likely to do it and bring one.

8. Get a library card

When you go to your local library, many times there are many free books to read to your child, videos to watch, or CDs to help your baby go to sleep. All these will add up and save money to donate to your baby’s college fund instead. Many times your baby is so young that he or she will not even remember some of the books until he/she starts growing up. So save the money, and go to the library to get them.

9. Use Credit Cards wisely

There are credit cards and programs like Upromise or BabyMint, which help you save money for your baby’s college fund by donating a percentage of everyday purchases to your child’s savings account.

10. Use a Baby Time Capsule as a Piggy Bank

Set a baby time capsule in your baby’s nursery on a shelf to collect savings bonds, or put money in each time a birthday card comes from grandma or other loved ones. You can also save things like baby’s first shoes or other sentimental mementos in the time capsule, for your baby to open when he or she graduates high-school. How much money will be saved in this time capsule, or their first piggy bank? You can even leave “Message to the Future” letters of predictions or words of advice for the baby in the time capsule. See if your predictions of what college they go to comes true when they open the time capsule 18 to 20 years later. Get your decorative Baby Time Capsule here today.

So have you heard of some creative ways to save college money for baby? Share your ideas in the comments below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

The post Creative Ways to Save College Money for Baby appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Let’s discuss five ways to participate in family history. You will not regret reading this for ideas. She is wittier than anyone I know. She is the glue that has been helping to keep our family together. She is the one always there when you just need a hug or someone to listen to you. She is 87 years old. She is full of stories. She is incredibly encouraging. She still acts like she is in her 50’s. She  is determined. She is a bundle of memories. She is my grandmother.

Grandma is someone who you can count on for anything. I love her so much. I am sure you have that someone special in your life too. So how do you keep her young forever? How do we make sure we never forget her influence on our lives. She has led a legacy life, especially living through the depression era.

With places like ancestry.com and other online ways of connecting with our history, or tracking our heritage, there is no reason at all for us to not find ways to share our family stories. Family history is so much more than the typical boring things you learn about in history class, like dates, names, and records.

 1. Family Reunion

The next time you are at your family reunion you could pull out the old photos that have been stored in boxes for several years. While everyone is there, tell the stories shown in the photos. If you have extra photos that are of someone else there, and you do not want them give them to that person who may find meaning in that photo you too, of them. You could even play a game of name that person. Some people change a lot over time. So when you see a very old photo of someone, see if you that person and what event they were at or what they were doing.

2. History Class Project

For the kid who does not like history, make it fun with a different homework project. You could even use several websites online to help write an essay about your family name and it’s meaning. Where did your ancestors come from? With help from historians online, you may even find out your great grandfather, 5 generations ago, was a famous person or had a major influence in the world. When we can attach  a more meaningful purpose to our history, it helps our history classes come alive. Who knows, your child may even be more excite about going to history class after this project.

3. Create a Family Blog

With the world flying by sometimes, it can be hard to keep up. My mother’s side of the family lives in Texas and I am in Indiana, so it can be difficult to keep up with their lives and who they are. Thankfully, we all now have social media which helps, but what else do they do during the day? What are their life struggles or moments of joy throughout their day? Set up a family blog for each of you to have access to so you can write what is going on in your daily lives. This will be a forever place your kids, grandchildren, and children of future generations in your family can go to and read about what life was like when you were alive.

4. Create a Scrapbook Together

If you are the crafty type, you could make a scrapbook or digital scrapbook to preserve your memories and photos. Creating a scrapbook is a great way to bring everyone’s own personality on the pages with extra stickers or other adhesives, designer pages, or other embellishments.

5. Create a Family Time Capsule

Where do you keep all your tangible heirlooms? Don’t wait until everyone is sitting at the family reunion table and asking, “what ever happened to grandpa’s baseball?” Be creative as a family and put together a family time capsule. Pass it around in your family, so everyone has an opportunity to put something of significance in the time capsule. Take the time to interview your family members, especially your great grandparents who may not be around in 10, 20, or 50 years when you decide to open the time capsule as a family. If you want ideas of how to interview your family members, check out this blog.

Use your own family photos to print and put on the outside of this blank “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule. Decorate it as if you would decorate a scrapbook page, creating your own Family Time Capsule. Then, on the inside of the time capsule, put your “Message to the Future” letters from yourselves to your future children or grandchildren. Describe what the world is like now. What is currently trending. What do you predict will happen to cars or other things 20 years from now? Most importantly, save your mementos and memorabilia in the time capsule. Get your own “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule today and get started bonding with your family now. Get it at www.timecapsule.com.

So what would you put in your own Family Time Capsule? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

The post 5 Fun Ways to Participate in Family History appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Have you ever wanted to write a message to the future letter to yourself? It sat in my closet for years. I don’t even remember what is in it. Do you remember making a time capsule as a kid in elementary school? Do you know what ever happened to your own time capsule?

How have you changed over the past years? What has affected you in life to make those changes? What advice would you give to others or your own children or grandchildren about life today? A time capsule is a great place to save that advice, so when your loved one is of a specific age, you can give them the time capsule filled with your valuable insight about life.

Write Letters of Advice

When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone you love? Remember that feeling of receiving an actual letter in the mail, rather than email? Technology is amazing, don’t get me wrong here. I would not be able to stay up to date with the life of my aunts, uncles, and cousins in Texas if we did not have social media and email. However, there is nothing like receiving a personalized note or letter in the mail.

What to Do with Your Accumulating Wisdom

So as we all grow up, we accumulate more wisdom on a daily basis. So what is your view on life? What mistakes have you made that you do not want your children or grandchildren to make? What success have you had and what steps did you take to get there? Most importantly, do not ever forget to tell your loved one how much you love them in a letter. You never know what can happen to your life, unfortunately.

Don’t Wait Until You are Gone to Be Remembered

Pass on your legacy today. There are many different ways to share your wisdom in life to your children and grandchildren. How else do you know what you have in common with your grandparents or great grandparents, if they never share their stories with you?

Topics to Write About in your own “Message to the Future” Letter

1. Favorite recipe and how you created it or who it has been passed down from.

2. Teach a skill, like fishing, fixing something on your house, or how to advance yourself at your job. The ideas are limitless. Share your gifts and talents with your children and grandchildren.

3. Talk about your family tree and use one or two words to describe the personalities of each person.

4. Pretend like you are going through family interview questions, and talk about your own biography. Many people’s lives are so fascinating, but you will never know about them if these stories are not written out. Talk about what life was like when you were young.

5. Talk about what clothes you wore as a kid, or what you did for fun when you were bored.

Make a Bigger Connection and Add Personal Mementos and Memorabilia to Your Time Capsule

Finally, add more tangible items to your time capsule, along with these sentimental letters. I am sure you have a box somewhere or a storage container in your attic with items that can help tell your life story. What do you want to pass on to your children or grandchildren that you want preserved forever? By passing on your memories, you are making sure you will never be forgotten about.

Do not wait until it is too late to pass on your life story. It will be the most memorable and lasting gift you can give to your children or grandchildren. Check out this other helpful article about Five Ways to Pass on Wisdom to Younger Generations. Get your own time capsule here today and get started on your “Message to the Future” letter to your children or grandchildren.

What is your favorite story from your grandparents? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

The post 5 Topics for your Message to the Future Letter appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Do you miss some of your childhood memories? I was seven years old when the Atari 2600 came out. This was truly an amazing machine. With a full 8 bit processor, over 350 games that attached to your tv, it was sure to allow for hundreds if not thousands of hours of family fun. To think this was all for under 50 dollars.

My family has always been competitive. We compete in sports, board games, and even life in general. Soon, we would be competing in the electronic world of video games. A few years back, my mom was at a garage sale and for a quarter picked up a plaque that you hang on the wall. This plaque had a plastic tube for which you put dimes in. According to the plaque, once it was full, you had 50.00 worth of dimes. Our family had been saving all of their dimes for a little more than a year. The time had finally come to purchase a “family” gift. We had decided on Atari’s new joy machine.

We purchased the entertainment system at K-Mart. It was $50.00 well spent. The box was plain and simple, without much printing on the outside.  I remember wanting to open it in the car on the way home. We had purchased two additional games with the machine, which came with two as well. The two included games were Stampede and Pac -Man. We also purchased Pong and Combat (Combat had 64 games built into one). This is every kid’s dream. Everyone knows the classic Pac-Man, but the graphics on this were terrible, certainly not like the arcade version.  In Stampede, you are a cowboy on a horse running a track roping all of the loose cows. While I was not much of a real cowboy, nor did I ever want to be, Stamped allowed me to escape into a world where riding horses and five gallon hats not only made me cool, but made me think that pressing a button would help me catch cows.

Let the Competition Begin

Over the next two to three years, we purchased a huge collection of games. At one point, we had over 400 cartridges which gave us almost 500 games including everything from Pitfall to River Raid, Keystone Capers, to Crackpots. We had a sheet of paper taped to the entertainment center, where we kept track of our high scores. No score could be legally changed without a witness. (Although I think my brother may have changed some of his when no one was watching. I never would have done this. Wink Wink).

It was years later before the Nintendo came out. While all of our friends and neighbors bought these systems and played their games, which we better in their graphics and speed, and harder with their extra button on the controller, we never upgraded from our Atari 2600. Our family would challenge each other for hours with the phrase ‘I play the winner.’ This kept the competition going and going, and going.

Relive your Childhood Memories Today

A few years back while shopping at Goodwill my wife and I purchased an original Atari 2600. While the newer gaming systems provide high def graphics, realistic sound, and a much better playing environment, to me they are not quite as good as the Atari 2600. When I begin to play Pitfall 2, Dig Dug, or Burger Time the memories of my childhood come flooding back. I was especially good at Baseball and Tank Wars. Although, I could never beat my brother at Football (either electronic or in real life). Nothing brings back fond memories with my family quite like the hours spent playing these games. It is amazing to me 30 years later, that I still find joy in these simple games for children. Currently, I can play these games with my parents and have friendly competition and believe it or not, life lessons were learned through this game system. Practice makes perfect. Competition is good. Life isn’t always fair, and don’t be a sore loser or winner. These are the moments that count.

So what is the most precious thing I would keep in a time capsule…a game cartridge from my Atari 2600. You could also save your family score sheet you all wrote on keeping track of your own family competition throughout the years. The blue ink over the black ink is a dead giveaway that my brother changed the scores. Ha Ha. I know he changed that score from a 3 to an 8. Preserve these items in your own Family Time Capsule by using this “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule to create your own Family Time Capsule. Get yours today here. Check out this other fun article about 50 Things only 80’s Kids can Understand or Remember.

What memories do you have of your childhood that you relive today? What brings you closer to your family? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Mark

The post How to Relive your Childhood Memories appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

When is the last time you wrote a love letter to someone? So I was curious what that large box was in my parent’s closet for years. No one ever opened it. The box was extremely heavy for my eight year old arms to move, so I had to push it out of the closet with my feet. Once I got the box out, it was filled with a lot of old photo albums and letters. The letters were written from my mom and dad back and forth while my father was in Vietnam and my mother was still in college in Texas. It is interesting what you can learn about your parents when they are not looking. Secretly I started to read the letters. They were definitely in love. Yuck. I was not into boys at that age.

Now that I remember this moment when I was eight, I reflect back and realize how romantic that was. It was a collection of moments my parents might have forgotten about had they not saved every letter. It was a priceless moment.

Hold on to Love Letters

With Valentine’s day coming up, it is important to realize that love letters are not just meant for a girlfriend or boyfriend. They are meant for anyone we care about deeply. Handwritten letters add intimacy and interest to your heritage scrapbook pages or “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsules. You can also pass on touching, love letters to your baby or grandchild in a Baby Time Capsule from www.timecapsule.com.

Hold on to your love letters for you never know when that special person may be gone and you long to hear their voice again. Just pull out that old letter again, and it is like they are still here with you.

What could be better than a love letter from your Grandfather to your Grandmother during the war or a sweet note from your sister about your baby? Document these memoirs in a scrapbook or preserve them in a time capsule. You will regret it if you don’t.

What to Write About

A message from the heart means the most. Your letter can express appreciation from those who have significantly affected your life. Who brought special joy, pleasure, or happy memories to you? Express love, apologies, seek forgiveness, reconciliation, or use the opportunity to express unfinished business (especially if you know someone is about to pass). Please be cautious not to give the letter to someone if it may harm their health more and stress them out more. Use the letter opportunity as a means to get things off of your chest that you have held onto for years. Then put the letter in a balloon and as the movie Frozen teaches, ‘Let it Go.’

Share your hopes and good wishes, or predictions of what happens to survivors. Share your values, or what you hope your family remembers from you. What do you want your children and grandchildren to pass on into the future and never forget.

Share Wisdom

Watching my parents now raise their own grandchildren has taught me a lot. Grandchildren love to talk. Grandparents are there to listen. It is a great role to use as a grandparent and explain to your grandchildren how things work in the world, answering their questions with a great amount of patience. You can use letters to let your grandchildren know you are always there for them. Teach your grandchildren what life was like when you were born through a letter. Explain about colors, flowers, animals, or share with them experiences you have when you were their age. You can communicate to them through the love letters. Save your art projects you make with your grandchildren in their own time capsule, so when you are no longer around, they can open the time capsule and hold something tangible and remember the time spent with you making that craft together.

With so much social media available nowadays, it is even easier to track your life everyday. Record what you do on a daily basis and put it on You Tube. You could even write down in a love letter to your children or grandchildren, the links to your videos, so when your child is older he or she can go back and watch the videos to know better what life was like for you while they were growing up. What were your questions as a parent or grandparent? What were your emotions or thoughts while raising your child? If you are a parent who is not allowed to see your children currently, due to a divorce or something else, use things like social media or You Tube to record your messages of hope, advice, or words of wisdom you want to offer your child in the future. You can still teach your child, even when they seem out of reach.

So go now, even if it is only a small scrap piece of paper. Get started sharing your messages of hope, stories of unconditional love, humor, and recipes you want to keep in the family. Write them down, save them in a time capsule, or give to your loved ones today. It is the greatest gift I can think of for you to pass on to your family this Valentine’s day.

Who do you want to write a love letter to today? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

The post How to Write a Love Letter to Someone appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Well, tomorrow is New Year’s Day. I cannot believe this year has already flown by. Who can relate? How are you celebrating the beginning of 2015? If you are like me, you are already working on writing down your resolutions. When we write things down, it makes us more likely to commit and follow through.

There is so much out there, especially since we have access to the internet now, to help us learn from wise people. Each year, I try to do one thing to make my life better. As you look into 2015, what do you see? How do you plan to make your life count this year? You never know if this year will be your last. Never take life for granted.

We ourselves only have one life, yet how many lives do you think you have influenced for the better? You only have one chance to make you life count. What ever has passed, has passed. However we can use it to grow better or bitter. How do you help others with your past and present life. That is the value of a time capsule. There are many tangible items that help define us and our life story so far. There are also things like a New Year’s resolution list that can help define our future and how we want to live better or make our life count more.

How can you use a time capsule to give back to others with your life story?

None of us know how long or short we will live. So if you could write down everything you have been taught that has helped you each year of your life, how long do you think the list would be? As we grow up, we may not think about the lessons or moments in life that helped us get through the tough times. We may not think about all the specific praise we received or think to write down our exact feelings during a milestone moment in our lives. That is where we are here to help. I know if you are like my family, we grow up so fast and forget these lessons many times in our busy daily life.

Then like others I know, who have had children now, we try to recollect what our parents taught us to help us raise our own children now. Do you remember or know what your mother did to help you fall asleep as a baby? Do you know or remember what your parents did to stay away from peer pressure as a teenager? What other questions do you find yourself saying or thinking (what would my mentor, mom, dad, or friend have done in this same situation in the past)?

Write your resolutions on your own “Message to the Future” letter to include in a time capsule you make for yourself. You can open your time capsule at the end of 2015 or whenever you choose, to see if any of your resolutions were completed. Make your life count and leave tangible, heirloom items in the time capsule to pass on to your children, or other family members in the future when the time capsule is opened. What are things in life that God has entrusted to you that you can use to make your life count? Make sure to take pictures of your gifts and talents in action, so you can look at them years later and reminisce what life was like in 2015. Can you still do these same talents years later? Have you expanded the use of your gifts years later, when you open the time capsule? It is always humbling to see our beginning moments in learning things in life. It helps keep us grateful.

Time is such a precious thing. When our treasures start to diminish, fade away, we start to treat things with more respect. Our perspective in life, for memories, start to change. Keep an attitude of gratitude and that is when we are starting to make our life count. A time capsule helps us remain thankful, especially when we open the time capsule and reflect on what we have had in the past to help shape who we are.

Is your life of great value to you? Don’t hold it all to yourself. Give back and teach the children of the future by filling our a “Message to the Future” letter to put in a time capsule. Pay it forward and teach others what helped you make it through your school days, work life, child rearing, and empty next. Start today and get an “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule from www.timecapsule.com. What better way to start your New Year, than with a keepsake that counts.

What is one piece of advice you would put in your time capsule, for children of the future? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

The post How to Make your Life Count appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

There are many different topics, hobbies, interests we all have. What would you make a time capsule about for future generations to learn more about what life is like now?

With Christmas coming and the new year approaching, what would you put in a time capsule to represent 2014?

There are many different themes or ideas you could make a time capsule for. Basically, anything you see pictures for on your cell phone you could probably create a time capsule for. See the suggestions below. Then read on about ideas of what to put in some of these topical time capsules.

Different Time Capsule Ideas

1. College years
2. School (elementary and high-school)
3. New Career
4. Business
5. Housewarming (Welcome Home)
6. Family
7. Pets
8. Clubs (boys and girls club, academic club, social club, etc)
9. Vacation
10. Youth Group
11. Military
12. Church
13. Anniversary
14. Seasons (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter)
15. Memorial
16. New Years
17. Christmas
18. Easter
19. Thanksgiving
20. July 4th Independence Day
21. Valentine’s Day
22. Hanukkah
23. Any hobby
24. Farming
25. Sports
26. Any holiday
27. Baby Shower
28. Bridal Shower
29. Relationship or Dating
30. Bucket List
31. Cars
32. Music
33. Movie
34. Outdoors or Camping
35. Science
36. Nature
37. Eras (80’s, 90’s, or whatever you want)
38. Social Media
39. Best Friends
40. Adoption
41. Sweet 16
42. Quinceanera
43. Bar Mitzvah
44. Birthday
45. Over the Hill
46. Weight Loss
47. Inspiring Life Quotes
48. Self Help
49. First Car
50. Baby
51. Wedding
52. etc. (Other or anything you can imagine). The sky’s the limit.

What to Put in a Time Capsule

So what would you put in these “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsules? What items from your time period, are important to you? Make sure to include modern things and heirlooms of the past. If you include any digital or electronic items, make sure you also include the media to play your videos or audio recordings in the future as well.

•  Daily local and world newspaper
• DVD of family, friends, social events, etc.
• Television guide
• Favorite magazines
• Event programs, ticket stubs, or passes
• Pictures
• Receipts from events, or daily life (like the cost of gas at this time)
• Popular toy
• Items (heirloom and new) that show significance to your for a specific subject or event.
• Floor plan or first key to your home
• Popular music recorded
• Menu from a favorite restaurant
• Daily calendar showing your life in just one month
• Drawings or messaged from friends and family sent by cards, email, text, etc.
• Current currency
• Year in Review worksheet filled out
• School, work, or club rewards and certificates.
• Message to the Future letters from friends and family
• Bottle of your favorite candy or drink.
• Fashion Catalog
• Travel pamphlets
• Current ads
• Papers written
• Party trinkets
• Souvenirs
• Favorite quotes or sayings
• Cards
• List favorite books, authors, etc.
• Top 10 movies or actors
• Future goals
• etc.

Talk with your friends and family for other ideas of what to put in your “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule. Get your time capsule today at http://www.timecapsule.com/product/milestone-collection-any-occasion-diy-time-capsule/. Also check out the other helpful ideas from Mashable listing 13 Must Have Items in Your 2014 Time Capsule.

What are some other items you can think of to put in a time capsule?  Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

The post What to Put in Any Occasion DIY Time Capsule appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Growing up in a family with little money, meant making the most out of the few vacations we had. My husband’s family went on several vacations growing up. When we married, it was like bringing two different, beautiful worlds together.
My mission is to inspire people to care about family, bonding moments, preserving memories, and helping you pass on traditions as keepsakes. One way to make memories, is taking family trips together, whether it be close or far.

Take a Vacation to Places your Ancestors Lived

My parents were all about creating “teachable moments.” Growing up in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where the Allen County Public Library holds the world’s second largest family-research collection, it is a no wonder why I would encourage the use of time capsules and preserving family. One great “teachable moment” would be to take your kids on a vacation visiting all the places where your ancestors grew up. This would be a great to have lessons on heritage, and taking pride in where you come from as a family. Read our previous blog to help you build a family tree as you visit these vacation spots, at http://www.timecapsule.com/time-capsule/how-to-create-a-family-tree/. This blog will also help you find out where your family ancestors came from, and therefore know where to travel.

Preserve your Souvenirs

While you are driving around preserve your family fun souvenirs you find in a time capsule. What a great way to pass on these road-trip memories to your children’s children. You could even make a game out of it and put together a geocache container to leave as a mini time capsule near one of your past relative’s properties, for others to find and get to know your family. What a great legacy to leave behind. Leave behind your family motto in the time capsule container. Again for more geocaching ideas, check out our blog at http://www.timecapsule.com/creative-baby-ideas/time-capsule-baby-shower-game/.

What to Bring to Enhance your Memory Lane Vacation

• Journal to record your family thoughts and feelings.

• Camera to take pictures to possibly put on your family tree later, put in a scrapbook, or keep in your family time capsule.

• Map and highlighter to mark where your family’s ancestors live and you visited.

• Comfortable walking shoes to take hikes and collect seashells, rocks, postcards, or leaves while on vacation, to keep in your time capsule.

• Extra small containers to save sand in, and bring home.

• Jar or Baby Time Capsule to collect your mementos in as you travel from location to location.

Save your items in the Baby Time Capsule, to give back to your child to open when he or she is older and has children himself or herself. It will be like taking that family vacation all over again as you all gather around the time capsule and reminisce about your ancestors. You can get a Baby Time Capsule at http://www.timecapsule.com/product/babystimecapsule/.

We hope you have fun on your trip, and grow closer as you discover more about where you came from. We also hope this blog was able to give you some creative ideas to help you on your trip. You can also make your family vacations memorable by asking fun questions like these at http://mrdarcycheated.blogspot.com/2013/04/50-questions-for-family-road-trip.html.

What would you put in your time capsule from your ancestors? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie
www.timecapsule.com

Note: “Every Summer Has a Story” quote photo taken from http://photoletters.blogspot.com/2013/08/summer-quotes.html

The post How to Make Family Vacations Memorable appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.