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.

Time capsules are a great place to illustrate and save our spiritual and inward journey in an outward, physical way. Pass on your faith through a gift that lasts a lifetime. A time capsule can help you chronicle your introduction to faith. You can also store your questions and prayers, and then answers received, in this sacred place of the time capsule.

Photo from: https://www.facebook.com/UnionChapelMuncie/photos/a.10152257301876845.1073741836.131023046844/10152257303296845/?type=1&theater

Give a Baby Time Capsule as a Baptism or Christening Gift

After a baby dedication or baptism, ministers can give this timeless keepsake in the form of a decorative time capsule to the proud parents. You can get a Baby Time Capsule from http://www.timecapsule.com/product/babystimecapsule/.

The guests at the baptism ceremony can each write a note to the child using the “Message to the Future” letters included. This is a perfect for a Godmother to give away as a gift, let alone a gift from the parents of the child. The baptism of a baby is a joyful celebration, as many family members gather around taking photos. Use the photos as the first sentimental mementos to save in your baby’s time capsule.

Make sure to include a souvenir or item representing something from the religious belief or church. Also make sure to include things like a newspaper from the day of the baptism or christening. This is a timeless gift, for such a memorable milestone moment in your child’s life. Preserve this part of your baby’s history in a time capsule. Then store the decorative Baby Time Capsule in the nursery, or somewhere private for his or her 18th or 21st birthday or any other birthday or special occasion.

When the time capsule is opened, it will be interesting to see what life was like the year you baby was born, how things have changed, and all the nostalgic keepsakes inside which will probably create a few laughs and tears.

Youth Pastors can Use a Time Capsule

Youth pastors can also use a time capsule for lesson about saving yourself for marriage. You could have the youth each write a letter to their future selves about who they want to marry. You could also do a lesson about treasuring their days of youth, and using this time in their life to journal about their changes, challenges, and choices they are going through at this milestone moment of being a teenager.

The youth could do a lesson about putting away their old self, as they are trying to lose weight, get off drugs, learn how to avoid negativity, or bad company they hang around, by writing these things down, then putting them in the time capsule. It would be interesting as an adult, to open the time capsule years later to see how much you have grown or changed for the better as a teenager in youth group. This may be a great activity for a few of us as adults too, now that I think about it.

What one thing do you wish you knew as a teenager, now that you are older? What do you wish your parent’s had warned you about, encouraged you to do, or shared with you as a teenager? Have the parents of the teenagers, write out “Message to the Future” letters to the youth about predictions of where they see their son or daughter in the future, giving advice, or sharing funny stories of hope, encouragement, and life as an adult.

Photo from: https://www.facebook.com/UnionChapelMuncie/photos/a.10152257301876845.1073741836.131023046844/10152257304551845/?type=1&theater

There are many versatile uses for the time capsule. Just because it says Baby Time Capsule, does not mean you cannot buy it and collect items for your teenager now. I know you have a few spare photos of your teenager when he or she was a baby. Include those baby photos, along with a few mementos from your teenager’s life currently in the Baby Time Capsule.

Your teenager does not need to know when you purchased the time capsule. “It is the thought that counts.” After all, no matter how old your teenager is, they will always be your “baby.”So preserve your teenager’s story today, so he or she can reminisce tomorrow or years into the future. What a great Graduation gift.

What would you put in your child’s time capsule? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie
www.timecapsule.com

The post Who Can Use a Time Capsule – Church Time Capsule Ideas appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

We have been discussing in previous blogs about ideas of who can use a time capsule. If you are human, an organization, business, or pet, or basically anything of importance you can use a time capsule.

Help your hard-working boy or girl scouts review their accomplishments over the past year. Keep your projects or photos of your proud moments, or badges received, in your time capsule. What a special day it will be when you as an adult scout, open your own personal time capsule, to show your son or daughter what your own boy or girl scouts was like.

Yes, your parents are there to teach you lessons, teachers can make an impact on your life, and your youth leader or pastor can help guide you, but your boy or girl scouts can teach you special life hacks and other valuable skills. Hard work and determination help guide you through your journey of becoming a scout.

The Scout Effect

Boy or girl scouts can have a great effect on your life. When I think of a time capsule in general, it is interesting to see how scouting was different in the past compared to today. I never had the opportunity to be a girl scout, however I wish I would have because I am a very down to earth girl. I have talked with friends who were a part of the scouts. They talked about the learning how to start a fire with sticks and how much persistence that took, to receive their camping merit badge.

Why would you let your parent eventually throw that badge away after you grew up and moved out of your parent’s home? Save it in a time capsule. That was a milestone moment in your life. It effected you to be focused, finish what you start, and learn the rewards in life from not quitting. That is a great badge and lesson to pass on to your future children as an example.

For my other friends, the girl scouts have prepared them for their future careers. They were taught how to be confident and have a healthy self-esteem. What great lessons to pass on to their future daughters, using a time capsule.

When to Have Boy or Girl Scout Open the Time Capsule

The unique thing about a scout time capsule is that it can be filled with mementos and treasures that the boy or girl cannot open until they either earn their Eagle or Graduate High school. You pick. It is all up to you as the leader or the scout creating their time capsule. What a fun project for a scout troop to make together.

I know some companies look for great leadership and teamwork, so what better way to pass on these lessons you learned in boy or girl scouts, than with a Baby Time Capsule. Preserve your stories and badges in the time capsule, so when your child graduates high-school, he or she can open it and you can further instill the messages of what you learned in scouts as a way of encouraging the same behaviors and virtues in your grown child, in the real world environment now.

Have the scouts fill out an all about me worksheet, to save basic information about themselves in their time capsules, to read years later. Continue to read about this topic and 10 Things I learned from Boy Scouts at http://geoffreywebb.com/2010/08/03/10-things-i-learned-from-boy-scouts/. Also check out this article of girl scouts who opened a time capsule 16 years later at http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/local/junior-girl-scout-troops-open–year-old-time-capsule/article_81f8b670-42be-11e3-aee1-001a4bcf6878.html.

What would you put in a scout time capsule? Share your ideas below in the comments please.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie
www.timecapsule.com

Note: Girl Scout Quote Photo taken from http://article.wn.com/view/2014/05/15/READER_SUBMITTED_Panelists_Announced_For_Girl_Scouts_Of_Conn/

The post How Boy or Girl Scouts can Preserve their Memories appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

This is a continuation of our blog posts discussing, who all can use a time capsule. Time capsules are not just for the receiver, but for the giver who created it too. Grandparents are special people in this world, filled with treasured stories to tell us all. They are filled with so much wisdom.

When you make a time capsule about your life, your grandchildren gain understanding and insight as to why you are filled with your wisdom. It will be pure joy to save special paperwork or projects your grandchildren made on their own, for you. Time capsules help bring together many families and close the generational differences and/or geographic distance.

One special day, my cousins, aunts, uncles, and my parents decided to make the most special gift we have ever given my grandmother. She is one of the funniest, sweetest, and wisest woman you will ever meet. She has a lot of stories herself about life during the ‘good old days.’ We wanted to give back to her in a creative way, and make it something that would be remembered for years to come in the future. This is the point of our time capsules, to give back all these stories for generations to come.

How to Make a Grandparent’s Memory Book or Scrapbook

Luckily, we have a few creative people in our family, and we all communicate well. So, each family member was mailed decorative card stock paper in different sizes, like index cards. We were each assigned to think of sentimental stories, funny sayings, or fun memories we all remember Grandma saying or doing with us in years past.

The family profile really started to fill in quick, as we started to hear past stories about what my father did with his mother and brother when he was younger. This was such a great bonding moment for us all. This is also a great way to make sure your family heritage is passed on, and never forgotten. You can write about family accomplishments, milestones you have overcome together, projects made, and overall how things used to be (in the world without the internet or cell phones).

• Pictures of your grandparent’s wedding

• Pictures of what work in the fields looked like in the past

• Pictures of what family time consisted of in the past

• Pictures of family Christmas get-togethers

• Pictures of old vehicles driven or old tv shows of your grandparent’s time

• Pictures of making your favorite recipe with your grandmother

Do not forget to put in the Grandparent scrapbook, great photos to make her laugh, cry, and reminisce. Showcase her personality. Again, similar to our time capsules we sell, you can also include newspaper clippings about your grandparent, the bandana he or she always used, the candy wrapper showing her favorite sweet, her grandchildren’s artistic drawings, or anything else meaningful to describe her. Make sure to include a journal time line in the scrapbook answering the who, what, when, where, and why the moment was significant, for each photo or note card story you fill out.

After gathering your photos, stories on the colorful note cards, and memorabilia then you can put together your scrapbook pages, along with the additional scrapbook stickers, art, or stamped images to add more character and make the scrapbook a finished product to be proud of.

Presenting the Grandparent Memory Book or Scrapbook

It’s a party. It’s a celebration of life. Make sure you wrap the Grandparent scrapbook, and give it as a gift when you are all gathered around as a family. Also make sure someone video records this milestone moment. You do not know what you have until it is gone. You can even save your scrapbook in a Baby Time Capsule, to give to the next grandchild who is about to be born. What a legacy gift that will be. Get your artistic Baby Time Capsule from http://www.timecapsule.com/product/babystimecapsule/.

Start today and document your family’s history and create a lasting gift for future generations. This is a heritage scrapbook project that keeps on giving.

What is your favorite memory about your grandmother? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie
www.timecapsule.com

Note: Grandparent photo with baby taken from http://www.grandparents.com/family-and-relationships/grandparent-names/choose-your-grandparent-name

The post How to Make a Memory Book for Grandparents appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

She was scared to take baths as a three year old. Until, one day her aunt showed her how the doggy takes baths too. When you make things more fun, children are more likely to listen and imitate. My niece and I gave the dog a bath after playing fetch with the hose and the dog. Cinnamon, our dog, is a Chocolate Lab and Australian Shepherd mix. She is full of energy and a great life lesson teacher. After playing in the water, Cinnamon shook, which splattered all her water onto my niece and I. My niece, Skylar, laughed and realized taking a bath could be fun. Then a few hours later, Skylar gladly took her own bath, had fun, and shook herself when she was done. I laughed so much at her. I was happy she had fun, changed her perspective about a daily skill, and she and I had a great bonding moment to last for years to come.

What special milestone moments would you like to relive again?

There are many different benefits of a time capsule. A time capsule has the ability to transport both you and your loved one to a different place and time. It can be an activity to break up your daily worries or activities in life. Most people enjoy hearing stories behind mementos. So why not start making your time capsule today? It will be a legacy keepsake for your future generations to enjoy.

Benefits of a Time Capsule

1. It is a great bonding activity to do with other family members or friends.

2. It is a great way to get others communicating about their thoughts and feelings (can be very therapeutic).

3. It can be a form of meditation, as you are reflecting back on your life or where you want to be in the future. We all need to have goals in life.

4. It can be a way for you to bury your past (so-to-speak), and start a new life of freedom. This would be a time capsule I do not know if I would want to reopen in the future though, unless you completely feel healthy and want to see how far you have grown spiritually, mentally, emotionally, or physically. For example put a picture of how you look now in the time capsule, then lose weight, and see how far you have come years later.

5. Creating a time capsule can be a fun, rewarding hobby, like scrapbooking.

6. Similar to a classic movie or song bringing back great memories, creating a time capsule can do the same. This is especially important for someone with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. It is like reminiscence therapy. What is a classic movie you have not seen for a while? A time capsule improves memory and creates a family heirloom.

7. A time capsule would be a great, unique centerpiece for a Wedding or Baby Shower. Make a game out of it, and have guests bring things to put in it for the future couple or baby to see or read years later. What are your predictions of where the couple or baby will be in life, in the future?

8. A time capsule can make you use all of your senses to create and preserve your nostalgic moments.

9. It can help close the gap of generations. For example, explain how to use technological things like the latest cell phone (if we even have cell phones in the future).

10. It can help military families (especially those who are gone when their child is born), not forget any moments or memories (as you can write each day what is happening in a journal). Memories can fade easily, so help preserve those smaller, and seemingly less significant events that happened during your separation, while one of you is in the military.

11. Your family history is important, so include small notes on each item in the time capsule. Decades from now, your descendants can learn all about what life was like when you were born or alive. A time capsule is the best tangible history book around.

12. For an adopted child or someone in foster care, a time capsule can be like their beginning “life story,” so he or she feels some attachment to their biological family and has a sense of belonging.

13. A time capsule can be like a memorial, to help with grief and bereavement of a past loved one.

14. A time capsule helps preserve your favorite memories, in a safe place.

15. It can be a creative way to share wisdom, from adults or grandparents to children or grandchildren.

16. It helps you prioritize and organized which favorite baby items to keep or give away.

17. It is a tangible scrapbook, for those things that do not fit in a scrapbook.

18. It protects your items better than a scrapbook (if you do not bury it).

19. A time capsule can be a great classroom activity to unify students for a single, positive purpose.

20. A time capsule can help restore marriages, by opening the Wedding Time Capsule, when you have an argument together in the future, to remind you why you got married.

If you want to read more information or research on the benefits of a time capsule or memory box, check out http://commons.emich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1363&context=honors St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital even understands the benefits of creating a time capsule or scrapbook. Check out why at http://www.memorychestmemorials.com/Blogs/Memory-Chest-Memorials/February-2013/Therapeutic-Scrapbooking-A-Technique-to-Promote-Po

I am sure there are many other benefits of creating a time capsule. What benefits can you think of? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

www.timecapsule.com

The post 20 Key Benefits of a Time Capsule appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Ask yourself, what’s most important to pass on to the next generation? Teach values to your children.

– Life lessons
– Teaching to help others
– Strong communication skills
– How to be emotionally strong
– Financial security
– Education
– Values
– Etc.

After being with my niece for a week, I realized she is in the independent stage, as she demands, “I can do it.” It is enlightening seeing a child without any fear. She is a real go-getter, a dare devil, and an observant learning sponge soaking up anything new around her. I realized while playing with my niece, how important it is to subtly drop hints to teach about values, and act as a consistent role model as she wanted to imitate many things I did last week. For example, when the dog got wet she shook, just like the dog. It was funny, but then I realized how much more important it is for my niece to imitate other important values, like family bonding.

My mom, niece (Skylar), and my brother.

Instill a Sense of Family History

Do not get so caught up in instilling values that you forget to enjoy the milestone moments, or memories. Share your family stories. These are what by nature, will share your values as a family too. A great way to do share your stories is by creating a time capsule together as a family. Save mementos and heirlooms in the time capsule. Save memories forever with a time capsule to pass on to future generations.

One Man’s Trash, is Another Man’s Treasure

I grew up learning the value of a dollar. My family shopped at stores like “Goodwill” in order to make ends meet. I am sure some of you can relate. Goodwill is a time capsule store in of itself. You never know what you will find there. To some, an old coffee cup may only be worth $1.00, but to others, it is may be sentimental and priceless, therefore it is treasured for years. My family had a dinner plate which said “You are Special Today.” It was great. My parents brought out the plate when we as kids accomplished something, received good grades, or helped someone else out. We valued this plate and how it made us feel. My parents valued what the plate taught us. It is a plate that will forever be treasured and passed on to our next generation of grand children, through a time capsule.

Passing on values to your children is so important. What do you value? Treasure these values in a time capsule, and make sure they get passed on to future generations. Pass on what makes your family unique. Embrace what life is teaching you now, and pass that on to your future children. Pass on your values you want to teach your own children, in a decorative Baby Time Capsule from http://www.timecapsule.com/product/babystimecapsule/.

What value or treasure would you like to put in a Baby Time Capsule to pass on to your future child? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

www.timecapsule.com

Credits: Main photo taken from http://www.pinterest.com/pin/259590365996455168/

The post Teach Values: What you Value, you Treasure appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

A “selfie” is the latest craze word you hear everywhere thanks to cell phones enabling a special camera to take a self picture and then post it to social media to share with friends and family, instantly. A selfie is exactly what you would want to put in a time capsule, especially to represent this time period in our lives, for future generations to know what life was like when we were alive. A selfie is the ultimate time capsule. A selfie is a way of expressing emotion, that you may not have words for, similar to other fun or important photos taken in our lives.

A selfie takes photography and Yourself to a whole new level.

We all need and want to be heard, noticed, and matter in life. We are all unique, precious, and gifted individuals. Who are you? What do you like? How do you spend your time? What are your favorite places to go, things to do, or clothes to wear? What is your favorite meal? Who are your best friends? Do you really watch how you are changing and growing as a person? What important lessons have you learned? When we do not share this information with our family, friends, children, grandchildren, we are neglecting or cheating our ancestors from knowing us.

Everyone has a part in shaping the world we live in, and the direction our children will go. Be selfish and take note of who you are. Take a selfie each year, as you grow in life. Tell a story about yourself each year. Write a “Message to the Future” letter to your children now, about where you see them years from now. Your children will thank you for investing yourself and time into this milestone moment letter they will read, years later in their life. For tips on how to take great selfie pictures, check out http://www.buzzle.com/articles/tips-on-taking-a-great-selfie.html

Life is a Journey

Most people want to see progress in their lives. This is why a time capsule is important. A selfie is just one item (or several items, depending on how many selfies you take), to show this personal progress. There is no need to be famous, or to become famous before taking a selfie. A selfie helps you feel famous. You are famous to someone in your life. Please remember this. You are valuable to someone. You may not feel like it some days, but your children will definitely thank you years later, and think you are famous.

So go ahead, take that selfie. Put it in a time capsule. Get ready to open it years later and have a few laughs with your children. You could even save your selfie as a new mother and father with your baby, then take an end selfie when your child graduates high-school. What differences will you see in your before and after photos of yourselves. Then, put your photos as parents of your child, in a Baby Time Capsule, along with other memorabilia you preserved, and give it to your grown child now on their Graduation day. What a special moment this will be when he or she opens their own Baby Time Capsule to see what life was like when he or she was born or what you were like as parents.

A selfie. It just may be one of the most important pictures you have ever taken, for yourself or for someone else.

A time capsule. It just may be one of the most important projects you have ever done, for yourself or for someone else.

What is your favorite selfie you have done? Comment below or post your selfie in the comments. We want to see your selfies.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

www.timecapsule.com

Credits: Main photo of baby in Selfie Onesie can be found at https://www.etsy.com/listing/174895593/hashtag-selfie-selfie-baby-onesie

The post A Selfie – What Represents this Time Period appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

You don’t know what you have until it is gone. Recently I attended a funeral of a friend’s mother. It is sad, that sometimes it takes the end of our lives, to help us put our lives in perspective now. How do you preserve those memories, that come flooding back to our minds, when we look at the faces or places, important in our lives? We have photos we can put in photo albums, giving us a sense of accomplishment. When your children grow up, you as a parent want to know that they are continuing to live out your family values. There are other tangible ways to accomplish this, besides a photo album. Create a digital scrapbook, or save your valuable emails back and forth with friends and family. You can also record audio stories to remember the actual excitement, fear, frustration, happiness, or other emotions during a special event or milestone moment. You can listen to the stories over and over whenever you want, even when your loved one has passed away.

However you choose to remember your memories, the important point is that you do not lose your stories or tangible objects that go with your special memories. Let’s learn more about how to preserve family stories and values. Save your mementos in a time capsule keepsake. These sentimental items will help with the details of your stories and will create a richer moment of celebration, years later when you open your time capsule to tell your grandchildren or special someone what that time in your life was like.

So, as you family gathers around for the next holiday or get-together, make sure you spend time recording those family stories being told. Gather one object, which has important meaning, from each family member, to put in a time capsule keepsake. Treasure your family values forever, for your future generations. Don’t forget to include a family tree in your time capsule.

Do not wait till later to gather your family history stories. It may be too late, as we all get older and forget things or these valuable stories. Get children involved, and show them how much you value family, and have them include their own drawings in a time capsule. What will their own interpretation of their drawing be, years later in their lives when the time capsule is opened? Do not devalue family values. Capture them in a time capsule keepsake today. To learn more about this topic read http://www.aplaceformom.com/blog/preserve-your-familys-living-legacy-12-12-12/ or to make your own family heritage project, check out http://www.teachingwithtlc.com/2007/10/family-heritage-project.html

What is one value you have learned from your family, that you would like to pass on to your children? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

www.timecapsule.com

The post How to Preserve Family Stories and Values appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.