Memories in a Jar

I'm definitely a very sentimental person and so when I first heard the idea of a 'memory jar' a few years back, I jumped to make one. That was back in 2013 and I really enjoyed it! Basically the idea is to have a nice jar or container of some sort and, as you go through the year, to write down good things that happen to you. This can be anything from a fun day out, to a quote of something funny or lovely that someone said to you... in essence, anything that will be a positive memory to look back on.

This is my 2013 jar. I decorated it, rather messily, with nail varnish! I simply used small scraps of paper to write the memories down on.

I would totally recommend you having a go yourself at keeping a memory jar this year because it gives you a reason to look for the positives in every day. If I haven't written anything in it for a while I find myself looking back over the past few days and trying to think of anything particularly good that has happened - there's always something! Then, at the end of the year when you open it up and read back through all the happy memories from your year you feel fabulous! It's so easy to say 'I've had such a bad year this year!' if there's been a few bad things that have happened to you. However, by looking back through your jar you see that it hasn't all been bad, that there are always things in life to make you smile - even if they are very small things, and that it's worth persevering through the coming year just for those little special moments.

I haven't made a jar for the past couple of years, I'm not really sure why! I probably just forgot to be honest haha. This year I really wanted to make one again so here's how I did it. You can of course decorate your jar in whatever way you want to, but maybe mine will give you a little bit of inspiration. If you do make one, send me a picture - I'd love to see your creations!

I used a very simple, ordinary jam jar which I had lying around the house.

I used washi tape to decorate my lid. I used short sections with crossed over each other until the lid was covered. I tucked each bit under the edges of the lid - it doesn't matter if that bit's messy because no one will see it!

I also used a strip of the same washi tape around the bottom of the jar.

I got way too excited about my Christmas present from my brother this year... a glue gun! I couldn't wait to use it to stick bits onto my jar - you can of course use any kind of craft glue or superglue.

I stuck pink beads and shiny flower thingymajigs round the outside of my jar.

To finish off my jar I glued a bead to the centre of the lid and wrote the year on top in pink sharpie pen.

Once your jar is finished you're going to need some paper and some memories!

Instead of using scraps of plain paper to write my memories on as I did last time, I'm using these coloured sticky notes. This is one of the first memories to go in my jar... definitely the most exciting moment of my year so far!

Just in case you missed it! (anyone who knows me well can tell you that I LOVE this man and so this was quite literally one of the best things ever to happen in the history of ever.)

Because the end of these notelets are sticky, I can fold them up into these cute little parcels. They will look bright and fun in my jar!

Thank you so much for reading this post! Like I said, let me know if you give this a try - it really is a lovely way to focus on the positives in life.

Love,
Katie xxx