What refrigerator memories do you have? What photos do you have on your refrigerator door? We seem to put our most meaningful and proud pictures on our refrigerator door. Ah the smell of fresh baked apple pie lingers in the house. “Mommy who is this?” Aniah points to a picture on the refrigerator. “That is your great grandmother who created this apple pie recipe and many others.”

What is on Your Refrigerator?

You can learn a lot about someone just by looking at their refrigerator, like how many kids someone has or what kinds of pets do they have. What does their daily schedule look like? I know our fridge has many different items on it like photos, favorite quotes, fun magnets, kids artwork, proud homework with a gold star on it, grocery list, to do list, etc. I am sure you can relate.

Your refrigerator is like a time capsule, inside and out. Think about it, what preserved photos do you have on your fridge? Your calendar tracks what you have done this past week, month, year. Save your calendar in an actual DIY Time Capsule, to open years later and reminisce about what you accomplished this year.

For some fun craft ideas:

• Turn your old cd’s into magnets for your refrigerator. Go back in time every time you look at your old cd. I am sure you will start singing your favorite old songs too.
• Reminisce by making macaroni art with your child to put on your refrigerator.
• Make your own photo magnets by buying magnets sticker sheets from your local Walmart or office supply store.
• Don’t just throw away that card you just received from a friend or family member, turn it into a magnet.

Your Refrigerator is a Timeline of your Life

On the inside of your Time Capsule, I mean Refrigerator; you may have leftovers from your grandmother’s favorite apple pie recipe. You may have the top layer of your leftover wedding cake you are saving to eat on your special anniversary. You may even need to clean out your refrigerator due to your moldy and aged leftovers in the back right corner of your fridge. Yuck.

Is it time to clean out your refrigerator? I do not like the thought of cleaning it out, but the other day I realized it is time. With all this snow this past Winter, you get closed in and eventually cabin fever. Winter is a time to get many things done, that I usually put off or do not have time to do during the Spring or Summer. I can always find more fun or interesting things to do when the weather is nice.

There are so many things about a refrigerator that can bring back memories, like the different flavor syrups that we used when we made our first snow cones together last Summer. What about the three quarters full bottle of balsamic vinegar from when you tried to make you first fancy recipe for your husband? That concoction did not turn out as good as the picture you saw on Pinterest. What about that homemade grape jelly stuck to the shelf, that you and the kids spent hours picking and mashing grapes together ,from the vineyard. Ah, memories.

Clean out Your Life – Create a New Time Capsule

You know our lives can be like our refrigerator. Every now and then we need to do some cleaning, removing old habits, or bitter thoughts of our past. A time capsule and cleaning out your refrigerator is a great way to reminisce, however remember it is all in the past. You can start today and create a clean, new life for yourself by reading motivational books, increasing your self-esteem, surrounding yourself with new and better friends, go on a diet and start exercising, etc. It would be interesting to start a new “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule to save different memories from this new clean journey in your life, then open the time capsule years later and see how far you have come.

Refrigerator styles have even changed a lot over the past years. I am so grateful to live today. If I was asked as a kid what do you think refrigerators will look like 20 or 30 years from now, I never would have guessed they would have TVs in them or computers, would you have guessed that? Our technology is so advanced now.

So what is in on the outside of your refrigerator? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie

The post Refrigerator Memories – DIY Craft Ideas 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.

What do you remember from your first grade year in school? A school time capsule helps slow time down, so we do not forget the milestone moments in our lives. This blog is continuing the discussion about who can use a time capsule. Who wouldn’t want a time capsule from their first school year, or any from any grade in school for this matter?

Teach students that they are in the driver seat of their lives or destiny. Time capsules can be used by teachers, to help drive this point home. You can teach interviewing skills, writing skills, and organizational skills. A time capsule is like combining the Art and English courses into one.

Think Outside the Box to Teach

As many of you teachers and parents are getting ready to start buying those back to school supplies, think about how you could use a time capsule in you lesson plans this year. You may even find yourself reminiscing about your own school years growing up, as you do this project. I know I am already thinking about the teachers who have impacted my life career decisions, as I am even typing this blog. There is so much to do, and yet the weeks fly by for the kids, parents, and teachers throughout the school year. Slow down this time, by preserving some of their special artwork, writings, or even audio speeches or videos in a time capsule.

How Can a Teacher Use a Time Capsule?

I will warn you, when you start the time capsule activity for one class, you will more than likely stir up excitement of the younger classes who will now look forward to this activity when they come to your class next year.

For First grade, you could include things like:

• All About Me questionnaire, which can include their basic bio stats
• Take a photo of their first day of school, then the last day of school to see changes
• Include a string to measure their height this first year of school, to compare to how tall he or she is when they graduate high-school.
• You can decorate your own tin, container, or box or purchase an artistic Baby Time Capsule from http://www.timecapsule.com/product/babystimecapsule/
• Ask your students to draw about what they want to be when they grow up.
• Help your kids get to know each other, by having them each share what they included in their time capsule. For a FREE Digital Download of a time capsule survey check out http://amysfinerthings.com/2011-time-capsule-printable-my-new-years-gift-to-you

For Older grades, you could include things like:

• The time capsule activity is great to have students practice their writing skills with an essay written after interviewing a family member or someone in their generational lines.
• With the social media world now, you could have students make a You Tube video or digital time capsule about their predictions or where they see themselves in 5 to 10 years. You could then evaluate the video as a speech. This may actually be a speech they would enjoy doing.
• Have students write about what they want to be when they grow up, and how they plan to make the world a better place.
• For more ideas and a sample evaluation sheet for this project, check out http://www.timesaversforteachers.com/freeforms/timecapsulesample.pdf
• You could also have each teacher from the student’s past, be writing letters to the students about how they did in their class, or where that teacher sees the student in the future. What a legacy letter or “Message to the Future” to pass on to the students in their time capsule, to open when they graduate high-school. Talk about a touching moment.

What would you put in your school year time capsule? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

www.timecapsule.com

The post How to Make a School Time Capsule appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Photo Credit: David Manuel

You had a blast at the Fourth of July parties, watching fireworks, recording fun videos, uploading fun fireworks pictures to social media, but now what do you do with all these memories?

If you were lucky enough to get great photos of the fireworks, how do you turn these memories into a keepsake now? There are many different ideas out there about turning holiday events and memories into craft ideas. How about a new unique idea, that you may not have heard of before.

Don’t just let the photos sit on your phone or in email somewhere for you to eventually forget about them. Wow, that night of fun sure did go by fast, and so can the memories, jokes, laughs, and stories.

Save your Photos in a Time Capsule

What are some of your family traditions you want to keep alive, that you do together every Independence Day? While out watching the fireworks, I saw grills, bonfires, guitars playing, smores being made (yum), kites flown, kids running around, families laughing and playing games, picnic blankets, etc. After you get done sharing these memories all over Facebook, You Tube, Google, or Twitter, then what do you do? You make a July Fourth time capsule to open one year later at your next family get-together, or whenever you choose, to reminisce. Besides, for some people opening a time capsule next year, will give new meaning to “Christmas in July.”

Put your photos on colorful scrapbook pages, or other colorful paper, but whatever you do, save them in a time capsule so you are reminded to look at them again, instead of forgetting about them years later. You could also create a time line of your fun filled weekend to save in a time capsule of each photo in order. Also have family and friends write up a short letter about what their favorite activity or story heard during the fourth of July.

Other Things to Save from your Fourth of July in a Time Capsule

You want to save as much as you can to put yourself back in the experience you had this special day.

• Make sure to save all your ticket stubs or wrist bands worn at special events you attended on July fourth, as memorabilia that will have special meaning years later.

• Save your wrappers from your favorite American snacks you always eat on your July Fourth holiday.

• Write down you favorite songs you listened to during this time of year, which were popular.

• Save the copy of the all of the signatures of the fire men, who came out to put the fire in the woods out, which your child started with a bottle rocket. I promise, you will laugh at it years later when you open your time capsule.

• You can also save your memorial commemorative T-shirt from this year’s July fourth celebration.

• Save your kid’s toys won at fair games, the homemade ice cream or good old American burger recipe your relative made, hand held flag, and your patriotic confetti used for your party tables.

• Last, but not least if only you could save that left over firework smoke smell in a bottle. Just kidding, it would never save, let alone how would you capture it?

What would you save in your July Fourth Time Capsule? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

www.timecapsule.com

The post What to Do with Your July Fourth Fireworks Pictures? appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

Who Can Use a Time Capsule? – Parents

Although it is a morbid thought, the truth is we are all going to die someday. That is the bad news. The good news is, we all have a chance to leave a legacy to our friends, family, and children. We can leave a legacy in a tangible way with a time capsule.

Do not wait until you are the parent who has to send your child off to college, only to notice the adult size shoes and clothes you pull out of the suitcase, as you help him or her unpack for their new life adventure. Leave memories in a lasting way, with the use of a time capsule. A time capsule is more than just social media, saving photos on Facebook, or posting your Throw Back Thursday pictures. A time capsule is about collecting the memorabilia that will not keep online, or in a scrapbook, or in an old box where mice and moths can destroy your precious memories. Let’s discuss time capsule ideas for parents.

A Celebration of Life

Don’t wait until the end, when most people have a “celebration of life” at a funeral. Start today and save those tangible memorabilia, souvenirs, and keepsakes in a decorative Baby Time Capsule from http://www.timecapsule.com. Keep special items, in a time capsule, about everyday life and what matters most – your children and family memories together. When parents make a time capsule with their children, it helps them feel a sense of connectedness on a deeper level.

You are not just your child’s “mom” or “dad.” Use a time capsule to explain to your grown child, about who all you really are, as your child opens their time capsule at their high-school graduation or as you leave their dorm room at college, and he or she starts a new life.

You are a “mom” or “dad” who has:

• saved their childhood pictures drawn
• saved their proud moments of finally nailing the sound on their band instrument, in an audio recording
• been the one who has saved their sweet 16 napkin from her Birthday party
• been the one who still has the key to his or her first car
• been the one who has their best years of Report Cards saved
• saved their journal or diary, to remind him or her what life was like as a young teenager
• saved their favorite childhood toy
• saved their most embarrassing or funny videos
• continued to make their favorite recipes holiday after holiday
• saved their sentimental baby blanket
• saved every day timer planner (each year of their life) of the many scheduled events, you have taken them to. (How do you have all this energy?)

The countless list goes on, as I am sure you are now thinking of the many ways you have been there for your children. Remind them of how much you love them with a decorative Baby Time Capsule to give them at their graduation, or whenever you choose to have them open it. What a day that will be as he or she is able to relive life the year they were born, or the first few years of their lives. Help your child truly understand how you contributed to their world. From the tiny baby feel of size 3, to the adult feet of size 13, there are many memories with tangible objects involved that we all do not want to let go or lose. Capture and preserve them in a lasting gift of the Baby Time Capsule. It is when you have to leave your child at college that your child’s life really flashed before your eyes. Get a time capsule to slow down this time and remember it. That time capsule now is not just a price, it is worth so much more. Priceless, as you freeze that moment in time, in a time capsule. Reminisce over the items in the time capsule, as you feel those emotions of empty nest syndrome come upon you. The time capsule helps you connect, no matter how far apart you are. Pass on the legacy from your family, of what matters most, treasured memories.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

www.timecapsule.com

The post Time Capsule Ideas for Parents appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.

21 Creative Ways to Use a Time Capsule to Connect with Teenagers

You know, I remember asking my mom and dad when I was a teenager, “If life is like this now, what is it going to be like when my children are teenagers?” It was a rhetorical question, one of the many that came from my random thoughts as a teenager. I have always been one of those kids who was told, “you are wise beyond your years.” My parents made it a goal to consistently make sure they were bonding with us in positive ways. When I worked as a counselor in my own private practice, I heard many different life stories from young kids and teenagers. It is vital, to find anything and everything you can to communicate to teenagers about their world, even if it is a time capsule.

This blog is a continuation about who can use a time capsule. These priceless and treasured gifts can also be used by teenagers. During a time of great confusion, a teenager is trying to discover his or her identity. The following is a list of 21 ways to use a teenage time capsule to connect with with adolescence on a deeper level.

1. Write a “Message to the Future” letter to yourself about where you see yourself after you graduate or get married.

2. Use the time capsule as an anonymous container in your youth group, for kids to put questions or comments on slips of paper to leave for staff to read once per week, or have teachers from your teenagers high-school, fill out a letter about predictions of where they see him or her in the future.

3. To put your nostalgic memorabilia in, from childhood, to open years later and reminisce about what life was like during that time in your life.

4. To save love letters from your first boyfriend, to review later when you meet “the one.” What a fun day that may be when you read those old letters from your “first” official boyfriend. A time capsule will help you remember this “first” or milestone moment in your life.

5. Adolescence is an adventure in of itself, of which includes many exciting events that need to be preserved in a profile book of yourself that you can include in your time capsule.

6. For a teenager, giving them the privacy they so desperately want, is connecting with them. Let them develop their independence, as they learn skills of how to make it in life on their own, by encouraging them to keep extra money in their time capsule like a savings bank with emergency money.

7. For a teenager, a time capsule is similar to diaries, journals, or saved emails to yourself. Time capsules can be a place to work out difficult life questions, as you write about your feelings and changing relationships.

8. Connect with your teenager by using the time capsule to teach them about what to hold on to and what to let go. Let them put those emotions on pieces of paper or in a letter, put their old favorite shirt or toy in a time capsule, to bury or put away for years, helping them forget about it and let go.

9. Leave your teenager a letter, in the time capsule, about what life was like when you were a teenager. Then have your teenager open the time capsule with the letter in it and other significant items you saved from his or her life so far.

10. In the time capsule, leave a list of positive words that describe your teenager. Make it look nice on special paper, that maybe he or she will want to frame and hang on the wall.

11. Show you listen to your teenager, and put something significant in the time capsule and then give it to them to open as if a present. For example, put a favorite book, movie, or music, etc in the time capsule.

12. When you feel your daughter is of age to wear make-up, put a set of different colors of eye shadow, lipstick, nail polish, etc in a time capsule and have a special party as she enters adulthood. You could even invite her friends over for a make-up party.

13. Write a love letter to your teenager, and say how proud of them you are. Leave it in their time capsule, telling them when they can open it, for their special surprise.

14. Let your teenager use the time capsule as a place to write out the full story of what happened (during a problem in their life or if he or she made a bad life decision). This helps your teenager get the whole story out, before you react or jump to conclusions.

15. Create a favorite, new, recipe together and save it in their time capsule for years so they have it for when they get married.

16. Keep a souvenir from your fun vacation together, in their time capsule.

17. Take great photos of moments with your teenager, or their friends, and preserve them in a time capsule for years. Then, at their graduation, open the time capsule and reminisce about the “good old days.”

18. Keep a gift or memorabilia from a shared hobby or passion, you have spent time doing with your teenager, in the time capsule. None of us really truly understand what a special time in our lives meant, until it is gone or your teenager has left for college far away.

19. Put the keys to their first car, in the time capsule, then let them open the time capsule when they receive their driver’s license.

20. Make a college survival gift basket kit, with the time capsule holding many significant items from their childhood, you feel he or she would want to preserve and take to college.

21. Make a bucket list to keep in your time capsule, to see what all you have accomplished by the time you open the time capsule.

I hope this list of ideas is just a start for you to connect better with your teenager. A time capsule is a gift that keeps on giving and giving. Pass on your life lessons, and preserve your teenager’s milestone moments in a time capsule. Help your adolescent tell his or her own children what life was like when he or she was a teenager, with the use of a decorative time capsule from http://www.timecapsule.com. For other ideas of what to put in a teenage time capsule, check out http://www.education.com/activity/article/Make_High_School_Time_Capsule/

What is one thing you would put in your teenager’s time capsule? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

www.timecapsule.com

The post 21 Creative Ways to Use a Teenage Time Capsule to Build Relationships and Bond appeared first on Time Capsule | Personalized Gifts.