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.

How exactly are clothes like a time capsule? Read on to find out. What does you clothes closet look like? Do you still have old clothes from several years ago? I know I do. Recently I pulled out old necklaces and looked at old photos of my grandmother (my mom’s, mom). It is amazing to see the differences in clothing styles then compared to now. Do you ever go shopping and see a shirt and just know or say out loud, “I can so see (insert someone’s name you know) in that shirt?” Have you ever thought about how clothes are like a time capsule. They can tell you about the past era.

Who Influences your Clothing Style?

So when it came time for the fun shopping part of my wedding, I could not wait. Even though my mom and I are close, we are opposite when it comes to clothing likes. She is a plain, Jane kind of girl. I like to have clothes with designs, patterns, and bright colors. I found out from my mom, that apparently I got that from her mom (my grandmother), who wore bright colors all the time. Wouldn’t it be interesting to find out from your family history who you dress like? You can find out if you keep pictures, or sample pieces of clothing in your own Family Time Capsule.

Pass your family time capsule down as each new child has a baby themselves, keeping these clothing styles or other interesting facts and stories alive. You can get an “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule here and then put a large family photo on the outside of it, or any family photos on the outside of it and decorate it yourself. Then, fill your new Family Time Capsule with fun things you want to look at again years later as a family, reminiscing about what life was like for your family or your grandparents when they were young and cool.

Styles Come and Go

You can take one trip through a store like Goodwill and know that clothing styles come and go. If you were to put some clothing in a time capsule to let future generations know what’s in style now, what should you put in there? It is always fun to collect old newspaper ads to save over the years and put them in your time capsule too. Not only do they show the clothing style differences, but also the price differences for a shirt over the past years. From Uggs, crocs, to skinny jeans, the ideas are endless laughs waiting to happen in the future. Also if you put a photo or sample piece of a pair of parachute pants in a time capsule, you are asking to be embarrassed for the rest of your life when that time capsule would be opened. I am warning you. These time capsules are a big party of family fun when they are opened.

If you are trying to lose weight like myself, it can also be very fun to take pictures of your clothes over time to see how far you have come, when you open your time capsule years later. Did you gain your weight back, or are you smaller now? Clothes in general can tell you a lot about someone. That is why as teenagers when we are all trying to find our identity, we are working hard to find the ‘perfect’ outfit to make us look good.

Teachable Moments – The Shopping Trip

Keep in mind as parents, the new school clothing shopping trip can be great bonding time with your children. Take advantage of this memory making moment to find out what their style is and learn about them. Do not force your clothing interest ideas on them. If the clothes being picked out are risky and not appropriate, use the opportunity to talk about self esteem, or help them learn how to look cool and confident, instead of yelling at your child for wearing things that you would have never of worn in your generation. When you take the time to determine their style, it makes it easier to pick out clothes for Christmas gifts too.

So how can you turn shopping time into bonding time? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

The post How Clothes are Like a Time Capsule 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.

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

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We all get so busy with life, school, and work that we forget how quickly the world changes. We also take many things for granted and forget or neglect to not important times in our lives. World events, milestone moments, and memories are defining moments in our lives we need to always make sure we preserve for years into the future.

Many important and historical events define the times we live in. Where were you when 9/11 happened? Ask any baby-boomer where he or she was when John F. Kennedy was shot, and they will know immediately. What about where they were when they heard Michael Jackson died? These tragic and milestone moments in our lives are impressed on our consciousness, yet many times we forget about them too quickly.

Journal for your Homeschool History Lessons

It is important to journal observations about the times you live in. Learn from your history, so we do not repeat it. That is why for all you home school parents, it is important to teach about history. What is a fun way to do that? How do you help your child put themselves in a person’s shoes from the past? Help your child note how he or she sees or experiences events, and how they have touched their lives.

The fun part – Using a Time Capsule

What child does not eventually ask about where they came from? We all are usually interested in our own genealogy or family history. You could make a family scrapbook together, create your family tree, but what is something more tangible to save our history lessons in?

A time capsule helps you keep 3D type objects or memorabilia in it. You can save things, that you cannot necessarily keep in a scrapbook and close the pages. History is filled with tangible objects to collect, write stories about, or recreate updated versions of these objects. Have your children talk and even interview grandparents, aunts and uncles, or other significant people of the past, to find out what life was like when they grew up as a child. Capture these discussions on audio or have the kids learn to journal about what they learn. Then, save these treasured conversations in a time capsule, while teaching about the importance of history, and passing on a legacy. You could even create a timeline of your own family events showing history on a long paper or banner strung throughout your house for fun. Have the kids create other crafts, and act out a scene in history. Record this event on video and save this in a time capsule, for your child to watch years later when he or she opens the time capsule like at their high-school graduation. What an event in history that will be. For an example to get your kids started on a time capsule lesson about medieval times, check out http://www.homeschool-your-boys.com/unitstudies.html

What is your favorite, memorable moment in history? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

www.timecapsule.com

The post How to use a Time Capsule for Homeschool History Lessons appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Who can use a time capsule? – Grandparents

This blog is just the beginning to many in this series. Keep checking back to see who else, specifically, can use a time capsule. A time capsule can be for ages birth on up. It is something you do not want to limit by age, because each age has sentimental memories and items of value to preserve in a time capsule. What was one of your favorite memories in your childhood, compared to your most treasured moment in adulthood?

Every summer of my childhood, my brothers and I rode our bikes to our grandma and grandpa’s house, about 2.5 miles away from our home. We could always count on candy or cookies there. It was like a reward for our exercise to get there. Your ancestor’s stories are told at your grandparent’s house. Their home is like its own time capsule, especially if it is a home where they grew up themselves. That is my grandmother’s experience. She still lives in the home she grew up in, having fun, as a kid.

This is a picture of my cousins, two brothers, and I in front of my Grandma’s house. Good times there.

As we all get older, family stories take on an increasing importance. Our children turn to us t o tell them where they came from. What does your family value? How do you feel about each other? Photos can only go so far to tell your stories. A story with your facial expressions, tone of voice, while holding an actual objet from the story in that photograph, makes old times come alive again. Photographs are only the starting point for capturing great stories. Great story tellers and motivational speakers know this is true.

How to Interview your Grandparents using a Recorder.

Imagine if you lost your memory, would photos be enough to help you remember? Tangible objects or actual items can help you regain meaning of what life was like for you in the past. What tangible items would you put in your time capsule? Also make sure to include a descriptive audio recording or story about your family history. For 50 sample questions to ask your grandparents, check out the interview ideas at http://genealogy.about.com/cs/oralhistory/a/interview.htm or check out the FREE Printable worksheet of questions at http://www.thehouseofhendrix.com/2013/05/25/lessons-i-learned-when-you-turned-100/.

What one question would you ask your grandparent, about what life was like when he or she grew up? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

www.timecapsule.com

The post How to Interview Your Grandparents for a Time Capsule appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.