How to Organize All Your Kids’ Memories & Work into a Memory Box
March 24, 2020 No Comments
Category: Home Life, Motherhood, Organization, ParentingTags: Childhood, Keepsakes, Memories, Memory Box, Parenting, School work
You all know I’m a big organizer but what you may not know is that I’m also incredibly sentimental. My most cherished possessions are the letters Bill has written me, photo albums from my childhood and special cards that my parents and friends have given me over the years. I love to be able to “look back” from time and time to be reminded of these small but powerful gifts I’ve been blessed with.
So it comes as no surprise that I wanted to create a memory box for my kids that would hopefully become one of their greatest treasures down the line. It took me a few years of “trial and error”, per say, to figure out how I would actually construct this box of memories but I have finally figured out a system that works and collaborated with an Etsy designer to make customized, fun labels.
Memory Box
I created one box for Chloe and Jack that aims to house the most important items from every year of their life – beginning with my pregnancy through 8th grade. Each year (when applicable), I have a sub-holder for “School Work” and “Memories“. Obviously you are not going to keep everything from school that they bring home or every card they get in the mail so be selective about what you think really deserves to be included!
Below are a few Pre-school items I’ve kept in Chloe’s “School Work” folder.
For school work, I include work that Chloe is particularly proud of – art, letters, cards, sewing, etc. For her “Memories”, I include special cards from grandparents, her letter to a Santa, birthday party invitation (things of that nature).
I keep her Memory Box and Keepsake box (this includes non-paper like items that are special to her), in her closet so I can easy add to it.
These ones from Amazon are the perfect – they are an extra-large size, are meant to hold hanging files, and have a top that folds in half so you can have easy access to what’s in side. Unfortunately, these aren’t sold individually (I bought this package of 5) but used 2 for each kid and 1 for myself, so it was easy to justify 😉 They’ve all gotten good use!
2. File folders
You’ll need a ton of these folders so this package of 25 is perfect. They come in a variety of colors and are good quality.
3. White Folders for the “School Work” and “Memory” Sub-Folders
I used these white folders to organize the two categories of each year. They come in a box of 36 so you’ll have more than you’ll need!
3. See-through sub-folders
I organized all of the smaller / loose items in the “school work” “memory” folder in these clear sub-folders so everything would be contained.
4. Customized Labels
I went through the shop KPL Plans on Etsy to order these unique and colorful labels, but you certainly don’t have to do this. You can use any label maker (my favorite label maker is here). KPL Plans actually has a “Memory box” label package (shown above) but I wanted a few more labels / edits so I requested a custom order. I added other labels for “pregnancy”, “infant” and “toddler”, and swapped “yearly book” for “memories” since I thought that encompassed everything I’d want to keep. You can also pick your color palette!
A breakdown of all of the labels I ordered / you can make is below if you’d like to mirror:
- Pregnancy
- Infant
- Toddler
- Pre-school
- Pre-kinder
- Kindergarten
- 1st grade – 8th grade
- School Work – 12 of them
- Memories – 13 of them
- Important docs
- School pics
- My Awards
- Sports Awards
- Sacraments
