How to Make a Inexpensive DIY Memory Ornament

So, why am I writing this blog after Christmas? You need all year to experience different memories, to pick the one you will make an memory ornament for. I want to get you in the Christmas mindset early in the year, in January.

What was Life Like when Your Parents were Younger?

Wouldn’t it be so cool to open up a blog every day that your parent wrote? Can you imagine living your life along with your parent each day? For some of us that sounds great, if you are very close to your parents like myself. For others, like my husband, that  may not be so easy if you do not always get along. For this particular blog I will be thinking about a close family that gets along most of the time. My brother and his wife recently had a baby. It would be so insightful and interesting to have a blog to read each day as it followed the life of my mother or father and what their feelings were as they were raising my brothers and I when they were a young couple. I wonder what Christmas time was like for my parents when they had their first baby? I am sure Christmas shopping was different that year. Can you imagine the average time it took to get out a a car to go shopping (before their baby was born), versus after they had a baby (much longer to get out of the car, unstrap the baby from the car seat, get the stroller, etc.)?

Pictured above is our family memory ornament Christmas tree. We have snowflakes made out of old cd’s, pictures of a whale seen by my brother and his wife on their vacation together, and other homemade ornaments with stories and meaning.

Reminisce with a Memory Ornament Christmas Tree

Every Christmas, my family adds a new ornament to our tree. This is not just any ordinary ornament. It is an ornament from the heart. An ornament that expresses how we felt or what we experiences as a good or bad memory this past year. We call it our memory ornament. We realize it is a different kind of Christmas tree. For us, it is kind of a time capsule tree.

Today I am grateful for a family memory tree to help put up each year. It is like opening a family time capsule every Christmas, to reflect upon, as the next New Year begins. There are a flood of all kinds of stories, memories, and emotions on that sentimental tree. 

We only have one life. Make your life last with a time capsule. Pass on your own memory ornaments and stories about your family and past heritage in a time capsule.

How to Make a Memory Ornament

At The Original Time Capsule company, our goal is to create, inspire, educate, and help you decorate your home and life with meaningful, keepsake gifts. With this blog we want to offer you several videos to help you create your own memory ornament. Keep in mind a memory ornament is personal. It can be something that gives significance to your past year or a memory from growing up. As you can see from our own family memory ornament tree, there are several odd looking ornaments. For my family, it is not always about making the tree look good. Instead, it is important to us to make a tree with meaning. It is fun each year putting each ornament on, reminiscing about each memorable, funny, or inspiring story of growth.

What you will need:

• stencils
• glass or plastic clear decorations
• markers, paint, stickers, or scrapbooking crafts
• cardboard
• clay
• paper
• popsicle sticks
• glue gun
• rhinestones
• construction paper
• photo paper
• ribbon
• scissors
• glue
• printer
• camera
• anything you can think of extra to make your unique ornament

Personalized Christmas Ornament Steps:

1. Think of something that happened this year or in years past, that has impacted you the most.

2. Think about how you would make an ornament representing this memory. You can use a pre-created glass or plastic decoration you buy and fill with items yourself. You can also print out a photo of your memory and frame it in a decorative or other creative way. You can also capture your memory in a memory ornament made completely from scratch using the materials listed above or anything else you find in your home or at a store. The sky’s the limit, as far as your creativity. That is what truly makes your ornament personalized. Be creative.

3. Place stickers on ornament, put items inside of your ornament, decorate your ornament. Don’t forget to take a picture of it to write about the story behind the ornament. Save this photo and story in a photo album, so no one in the family will ever forget the full story behind your memory ornament.

Examples of Memory Ornaments

Check out the following videos to help you get started with your memory ornament. Save your own memory ornament in a Family Christmas Time Capsule to open each year when you set up the tree. What a fun way to reminisce and bond closer together, as you relive each story. Get an “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule to make your own Christmas time capsule today at www.timecapsule.com. Also check out this cool journal memory ornament you can make with a FREE Printable available to get you started at http://www.boho-weddings.com/2014/12/08/christmas-ornament/. Journal your life throughout the year, and save it in an ornament. What a great way to reflect about several memories over the year, all at once in one ornament. A perfect keepsake to preserve in your time capsule.

Picture Frame Memory Ornament

Clear Ball Memory Ornament Idea

Baby’s First Christmas Ornament

Don’t forget to save all these memory ornaments in your time capsule. So what was your greatest memory of this past year? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie