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.

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.