There are lots of posts around the web for Memory Jars. Really nice ideas. If you don’t know, they’re jars to hold notes about significant thoughts or events that happenthrough out the year that are read again around years end. It’s a terrific, simple idea, chock full of memories and gratitude. Don’t you think?
Around here, we write those memories on strips of paper that are assembled into a paper chain as they’re read. If you collect enough during the course of the year you can make it part of your Thanksgiving Tradition to read a few and start creating the chain, then continue over the next few weeks to read more and chain more until all the memories have been remembered and re-appreciated, and the chain is complete.
By the time the holidays arrive you’ll have a chain you can use it as another heartwarming holiday decoration, adding to it as years go by. Hang your chains on your tree, or swag them across a doorway or window.
Notes and Know-How:
Use any kind of paper you like. Scraps from other projects works great. I happened to have a ton of trim waste from a print job I recently did for a client. Using these 7.5″ x 1″ strips worked great for the size chain I like but you can use smaller or larger strips to suit your needs.
If you are ambitious and write down one thing a day —365—on paper strips about the size of mine you could wind up with a chain that’s 55-60 feet long. That’s plenty of happy memories to completely garland your Christmas tree.
Be sure to keep some of these blank strips and a pen in the places where visitors to your home can add to your collection too – the obvious places are the kitchen, the guest room, but let’s not overlook places like the bathroom. You might find some inspired or comic entries from that jar.
A simple mason jar does fit the bill again; I leave the lid off for no-fuss access. But a small basket, or box would also work perfectly. I like fine point Sharpie markers for their permanence.
