*love*ly things-jessica turner&5 fast memory keeping ideas she loves

hey guys and happy wednesday!

i have four guest authors stopping by this month to do posts on things or people they love. i left the theme open to them and told them to interpret it however they wished!

my first guest is jessica turner of the mom creative.

i've known jessica for years (through the crafting and blogging community) and always enjoy what she has to say. i thought you might too!

have a great day and enjoy! xo

♡♡♡♡♡♡

 

 

My name is Jessica Turner, and I write the blog The Mom Creative. I am a a busy mom who works full-time, loves my hubby, wrangles two kiddos (a 3-year-old named Elias and a 7-month-old named Adeline), AND tries to fit in some memory keeping in my (little) spare time. Today I am going to share five FAST memory keeping ideas that I love.

1. Project Life: This is my fourth year doing Project Life and I can honestly say it is the best thing I do with my pictures.

The kit makes it easy to print your photos, journal some thoughts and be on your way. I love that it is still paper scrapbooking and a tactile process, but also the freedom it gives me to not feel guilty because I am doing SOMETHING with my photos.

The kit also allows me to fit scrapbooking in my busy life. This year I am going a step fiurther with my Project Life album and adding more "bits of life" like receipts, artwork and mail.

To download my free list of 100 bits of life you can add to Project Life, click here. Each week I invite Project Lifers from around the world to link up on my Project Life Tuesday carnival. It is so fun to see so many different approaches to this project.

 

2. Journals for your kids: I created these simple photo journals on Paper Coterie. Every once in awhile I will write a memory, thought, milestone, etc. to my son, Elias, and daughter, Adeline.

I also love that these journals contain my handwriting, which I know will be something that will make these books even more special to my kids someday.

I should point out that I am NOT a journaler and sometimes go several weeks in between writing in these. I am okay with that because I know it is about what I DO do, not what I don't.

Each time I write in the journals I think, why don't I do this more? It doesn't take much time and I know what a special keepsake the journals will be to my kids someday.  

 

3. Journal MY story: I received the book, Reflections of a Mother's Heart and love the simple way it encourages me to write down my own story.

The book is divided in to 12 months, with 12 questions a month. You certainly do not have to start it in January though! Every page has a question on it.

Sometimes I do it before bed, sometimes while sitting in the bathroom while Elias is in the bathtub. It doesn't take long to answer a question (probably about five minutes), but I know that the book when I have finished it will be a beautiful keepsake of stories I otherwise wouldn't have recorded.

As memory keepers, I think that when it comes to our own childhood and early adulthood we often don't record much of our own memories. Instead, we start in the place where we are. My story is important and this simple tool is helping me to record pieces of it.

 

4. Videos: I know it might not seem like memory keeping, but making videos definitely is a form of documenting your story! My phone has a video camera on it and I will often just pull it out and record a short video of my son or daughter.

It isn't fancy, but I know these clips will be treasured when they are older. Check out this list of video ideas you can make with your kids. (Stephanie is AWESOME at this!)

 

5. Photo Books– Since having kids, I have found it easier and less time-consuming to create photo books for large batches of photos than to make mini scrapbooks or lots of scrapbook pages from one single event.

Typically I use the 8×8 format. It is a very manageable project-size and not too time consuming to complete a book. (I can often get a book designed in one sitting).

Some photo book ideas include: vacations, birthdays, holidays and photo shoots. My favorite photo book companies are Picaboo, Shutterfly and Paper Coterie.

Thanks again to Steph for letting me post today. I hope these ideas help spark some new and quick way for you to memory keep in your own life.

For more memory keeping ideas, check out the series I did in October called 31 Days of Memory Keeping. Also, I hope you will take a minute to check out my blog and/or like it on Facebook. In addition to memory keeping, I write a lot about motherhood, frugal living and faith. I hope to get to know many of you!