Remembering all of the special moments in your children’s lives is essential! You might not think this is possible, but without keeping memories in a safe place, you may begin to forget all those special moments! There will come a time when you’d like to look back at some of their ‘firsts’ and having a way to do that is a great idea! These 9 crafty keepsake ideas will help you to do just that!
Take Paint Prints of Their Hands and Feet
Taking a paint print of your children’s hands and feet is a great way to remember how small they once were, and looks great when used as a decoration for their room. When they get a little older, you can then store this away to look back at together. Make sure you include their name, how old they were at the time, and any other details you think will look nice in the picture. It might take you a few tries to get a good one, but it’ll be worth it!
Help Them to Finger Paint
Why not help your child to finger paint a pretty picture that you can then have on your wall? This is good for kids who may be a little bit older and enjoy getting messy all on their own. Trees and flowers are good pictures to create when finger painting, but whatever their little hearts desires is fun, too!
Create a Photo Canvas
A photo canvas is a beautiful way to display images of your child and your family in the home. These look great when displayed over a mantlepiece, by the sofa, or even at the head of your bed. All you need to do is find a company that specialises in photo to canvas prints and they’ll do the rest. You could also print out some pictures on your own and back them on coloured card before framing them if you’d like to create a feature wall. Sometimes, even a photo you’ve taken on your iPhone can look professional in the right lighting with the right filter.
Make a Memory Box
A memory box, like this one from Realistic Mama, is a little box you can look back on when you’re feeling nostalgic. It’s a great idea for you so you can remember all of your baby’s firsts! And your kids will to want to learn all about themselves as a baby when they get older, and this way you can show them. Keep everything you think might be special, from favorite toys to books to special blankets and pictures.
Plant a Tree With Them
By planting a tree when your child is born, you can measure their growth against the tree. Although the tree will eventually get much bigger than your child, this is a nice activity to do for all of your children – they’ll love having a tree they can call their own! And you can take pictures by it each year. This is something I did growing up and do with my own children.
Create a Scrapbook
A scrapbook can look professional if you spend enough time on it – ignore the word ‘scrap’! Buy a quality book, and then find things to display. You can paste in old birthday cards, things they’ve brought home from nursery/school, report cards, and anything else you like. Record important information in them, like their first words and other things they’ll like to know as they grow up. A baby scrapbook can even be kept on the coffee table for the first few years of the baby’s life for guests to look at!
Write a Story About Them
If you fancy yourself as a bit of a writer, you could always write a story about your child for them to read when they grow up. It might make a good bedtime story for them too! It doesn’t need to be factual; you could always just make up a story and incorporate their name. You can buy books ready made like this, but it wouldn’t be as special if you didn’t write it yourself! If you’d like to remember funny or touching stories about your baby, you could write these on an app like Evernote to look back at with them.
Take a Picture With Their Favorite Stuffed Toy
This is a great way to see how quickly they’re growing. At the start of each month, take a picture of them with their favorite stuffed toy. Try to make it in the same sort of place/position to really give the photo viewer an idea of how much bigger they’ve gotten.
Use Cowbird
Cowbird is a fairly new storytelling platform that parents comfortable with computers might like to use. You can upload a picture fairly simply and then even associate it with an audio file to document milestones. It can be used as your child grows too, so you’ll always have something safe to keep their lives documented.
Now you have tons of ways you can commemorate your kids. Make sure you have fun with these ideas and add your own twists and ideas to personalise them!
