Memories Trunk
School is back in session! Sometimes you may be planning a mini party on the inside when this time of the year rolls around; in other moments, you may enjoy reminiscing on the fun family times from the summer or even think about the previous year and how your child has grown. A memories trunk is a fun craft to keep your child’s memories organized on the inside and the outside. It is also budget-friendly if you are willing to take the time! I decorated my trunk as a wedding gift that I gave to my now-husband with our engagement photos. Right now it is being used for storage, but eventually, when we have more space, I would love for it to be filled with memories of our love adventure! I am also now inspired to find one for each of our children in the future!
What you need:
Vintage Trunk
Paint and paintbrushes (Optional)
Stencils (Optional)
Photos
Mod podge
Embellishments (Optional)
How to:
1. Buy a trunk! It definitely took patience and determination to find a trunk in good shape for a reasonable price. But, I eventually found a great trunk at a thrift store for $60!
2. You may want to paint your trunk. My trunk started as a forest green color. I decided to paint the base of it as a more neutral color that would match better in our home. The top I painted purple to be more unique.
3. Embellish! Use stencils to put your child’s name. Find creative ways to spell our your child’s name – I used old typewriter keys, that I found at a swap meet, to spell out a phrase and date on my trunk.
Put photos on the top of your trunk from your child’s first day of school each year to see how they change! Be creative with your photos – here are some great examples from ivillage.com…(Click on each photo to take you the its original link)
I Want to Be…See how your child’s dreams and ambitious develop as they grow up
Picture Perfect – Child holds their first day of school photo from the year before
Frame It – Create a cute frame for each year
First and Last Day of School
Chalk It Up
Stats Card
And one of my favorites, The Steps
4. After you embellish the top (you can also use the inside of the top of the trunk), apply a few coats of mod podge!
5. Fill with your child’s schoolwork, photo prints, scrapbooks, photo books, and other memorabilia.
6. Continue this throughout your child’s time in high school. You may want to go through the trunk after each “graduation” (5th grade, 8th grade, high school) to decide what is really worth continuing to keep. Or if your really want to keep everything, take these times to organize the memorabilia from each year. You can either keep the trunk as a keepsake as your child goes to college or use it to give them their high school graduation gift allowing them to use it to make and keep new memories in college!
View of the top
View of the inside
How have you kept and organized your child’s schoolwork and memories as they grow up or your own memories as you have grown up?
