If there’s anything we’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that time is precious and those we love are priceless.

Moments (and those we share them with) are meant to be cherished and remembered. 

Yes, it’s important to make memories with those we love — but aside from taking pictures to capture the moment, are there any cool ideas for things we can do with them?

Etsy is filled with a bunch of fun, customizable products, but they can get pretty pricey, and they don’t allow you the joy of participating in the creation process.

Well, guess what!? You actually don’t have to be super crafty to create something your friends and family will look back on and cherish for many years to come.

Here are a few home-based keepsakes for you to start now that won’t break the bank! 

Sweet notes jar

This is something you can start even if you’re living with friends! We need to remember to take the time to cherish and support those we have around us, and a kind word can mean so much more than you realize.

Place a jar with a slit in the lid in a central area of your home. Keep a few notecards or colorful post-it notes and a pen or two at its side so that everyone can write sweet notes to and about each other over the years.

Maybe the note is in gratitude for helping complete a difficult task. Or maybe one of you was just having a really rough day until your roommate did a small act of kindness for you, or even just made you laugh. 

There shouldn’t be a designated time you add to the jar, although try to keep it going at least once a month or so, so you don’t forget about it! It’s just a safe space to share your love and gratitude for one another.

When the jar is full — or on an event, like when your roommate is moving out — gather together and read through the notes.

You may be surprised what others have said about you, and how even the littlest acts of kindness can leave a lasting impact.

These small moments of expressing gratitude could create a life-long habit of thankfulness for the little blessings along the way.

Photo wall timeline

This project is simple, quick, and inexpensive (as long as you have a phone or camera!). It involves recreating the same photo every year in the same spot and same pose (or close to it — don’t stress about it). Then, pick one long wall in your house or apartment, like your hallway or living room, to display your chronological photo lineup, adding a new version each year.

Start now with your roommates! 

You can get creative with your outfit choices — maybe you make it themed where one year you all dress up as pirates! Or maybe you all wear your current favorite outfits to showcase your personal style, and you can watch that style evolve throughout the years.

Paint a mural

This is a project where no artistic talent is required! Of course, if you live in an apartment, you’re going to want to ask for permission from management first!

Pick a blank wall in your home.  You can allow your family the creative freedom to paint whatever their hearts desire — free expression rules! Or you can all paint your own portraits, where everyone draws themselves to the best of their ability!  Or sketch out a pretty flower garden filled with colorful blossoms, butterflies, and bees, where everyone gets to paint in the colors and embellishments.

The sky is the limit with this project!

If you’re looking for a more polished look, you can buy some stencils to help sketch out words or pictures. Choose whichever way you’re most comfortable with! 

If you don’t want to decorate a wall inside your home, you can always choose to paint a side of your shed or garage. However, we strongly recommend choosing the section that’s most covered by a roof or awning and spraying it with a protective coating to keep your creation safe from the elements.

Make sure to sign and date your new creation (even your pets deserve a paw print on the wall), and remember to just have fun with it!

In the wise words of Bob Ross, there are no mistakes, only “happy little accidents,” and “it’s the imperfections that make something beautiful — that’s what makes it different and unique from everything else.” 

Handprints in time

This is a keepsake you can start now, no matter what stage of life you’re in!

Memorialize your handprints in concrete steppingstones, which you can use to outline your patio or create a path through your backyard showing a physical “memory path” of your family throughout the years. You can start with just yourself, or you and your partner every year or two, adding any new additions to your family as they come along — children or fur-babies, or whatever family means to you!

Trust me, it sounds a lot harder than it actually is!

The main things you’ll need are just quick dry concrete mix, water, a mold of some sort, and something to mix it in and with! You’ll want to mix the two ingredients in something deep or with a lot of surface area, like a wheelbarrow or a five-gallon bucket, before scooping it into a container to shape the stone. If you want to make smaller, individual stones, you can use a tinfoil pie pan, or, if you’re looking for something that will fit the whole family at once, a cardboard pizza box.

You want to make sure you either spray your container with non-stick cooking spray or line it with a smoothed garbage bag to help you slide the stones out easily once they’re dry. You can also put a cut-out of chicken wire in the middle of your tin or box to help the stone keep its shape!

As soon as the concrete is poured, have everyone put their hand (or foot, if you’re doing footprints) in the fresh concrete — and don’t forget to sign your names and date it!

You can add any other embellishments you’d like — pebbles, marbles, shells, or even little plastic toys! Then, allow the concrete to dry for at least 48 hours before you remove it from the container to add to your new memory path.  You can update it yearly — or whenever, according to your chosen timeline. 

Start a growth chart

This keepsake is the epitome of an “oldie but goodie” and is a proven keepsake winner — the growth chart your parents used to make.

Pick a corner of a wall or a door frame in a central part of your home — like the kitchen or living room — that you can use to chronicle your children’s growth throughout the years. Every six months or year, have your child stand straight against the wall and mark their height with a little tick mark and note their name and the date. You’ll want the marks to form as close to a straight line as you can, which is why the edge of a wall or a door frame works best, so your kids can see how much they’ve grown. Kids love to see a visual representation of the progress they’ve made! Just be sure to check their shoes in case they’re wearing three pairs of socks to give themselves an extra advantage!

This is a common keepsake you see in movies all the time, but why not add your own creative spin to it?

Allow your child to choose their favorite color to mark their height. Let them sign their name, age, the date, and add a small doodle of one of their favorite things, whether that be flowers, a robot, or their favorite animal. This way, you won’t only see their heights change throughout the years, but you also get to see how their personalities grow!

While this keepsake is mainly to document your children’s growth, that doesn’t mean you and your partner can’t be included too! This is a family event, after all. Add your own height marks and doodles for a well-rounded timeline of your family’s growth. You may be surprised at how your height changes over the years, too!

Life yearbook

With a camera always available in our back pockets, we are constantly taking more photos than we know what to do with. Here’s a great way to consolidate the hundreds of pictures we take each year and create a beautiful way to remember your milestones and memories all in one place.

Sites like Blurb and Mixbook offer a charming and customizable way to create your own life yearbook. The prices can vary, depending on how complex or “fancy looking” you want the book to be, but creating your very own professional-quality book of memories can be priceless. These sites can work with various photo sources (like computer, social media, phone) and are easy to use to make completely customizable photo books — and you can usually find discounts online to make it more affordable. 

You can get super creative with it, and everyone can contribute their own photos or even make their own pages to encapsulate their favorite events of the year.

You can also use these yearbooks to showcase your talents by featuring the best creative works of the year, whether that be art, short stories, crafts, or a beautiful garden — a picture of it is all you need to include it!

Once each yearbook is complete, designate a prime spot on the bookshelf or along the fireplace to show them off!

Of course, these mementos (keepsakes!) can be started at any stage of life — but the sooner you start, the better!