How to Make a Family Keepsake Box

1. Find a box that you feel a special connection with.

The box can be made of cardboard, wood, plastic or just about any kind of material that will stand the test of time, including many days in a grandmother attic! The box should be large enough to accommodate lots of different sized artifacts.
For some people, an old-fashioned hatbox works nicely; for others, a large shoe or cigar box will do. Or for the more adventurous creator, visit an antique store or a garage sale; you never know what you might find when you least expect it!
Feel free to decorate your box with paints, ribbons, fabric, buttons and beads. Be creative with your keepsake box—it will hold special artifacts from your past.

2. Write a letter to the recipient(s).

Pull out your favorite pens and most inviting stationery (letterhead works well). Address the letter to the recipient.

Describe what artifacts you are putting in the box. Why did you choose these items? What is the meaning behind them?
How would you like your family member or close friend to remember you? Share an experience you had with them in which you learned a great deal about your relationship with them and what they mean to you.
What words of wisdom would you like them to adopt or think about? Share some experiences that have given you a deeper understanding of yourself and the world.
Consider adding entries from your Journal, or dedicate an entire Journal book to the keepsake box.

3. Add something you made with your own hands.

For example, a card, a bracelet, a scarf or piece of clothing, a drawing, a painting, blueprints for a house, part of a car you restored, or some pottery that you painted as a child—anything that came from your own imagination into the physical world. Some of the silliest things are the most memorable.

4. Include some of your personal items.

A lock of hair, a hairbrush, a key chain, a pen, jewelry, a favorite book or a poem: if these objects could talk, what would they say about you?

5. Include a personal item of the recipient's past.

A stuffed animal from their childhood, baby teeth, old favorite shoes, an elementary school report card, a drawing: what special items would be memorable for the person who will be receiving the keepsake box?

6. Remembering family holidays.

What kinds of family traditions do you celebrate every year? Record them by including holiday artifacts in your keepsake box. The weirder the better! Include your Thanksgiving recipes, how to make "mom's special sauce," Christmas stockings, Hanukkah candles and birthday hats.

7. Photographs, videotapes, and photo albums.

Thank goodness for cameras! Collect precious photographs that you hold most dear, along with videotapes of monumental occasions (graduations, weddings, first communions), or simple family moments like a Sunday backyard barbecue. If you can fit an entire album in the box, feel free to include it.

8. Remembering your roots.

What did your loved ones leave you when they passed away? Perhaps you have your grandmother's wedding ring, photographs of your father's first trip to Europe or an old coin from the early 1900's. Look to those who came before you to continue the legacy for those who are still to come.

If you have a copy of your genealogy or family tree, include it as well.

9. Music: humming to your own tune.

What kind of music moves you? Leave behind your favorite CD, a song that makes you laugh, a ballad with beautiful lyrics that makes you cry, or the first record you bought from the "5 and Dime" when you were 13 years old. If you're a musician, include sheet music for a song your child can learn to play, or perhaps a song that you wrote yourself.

10. Potpourri and perfumes that "make scents."

Scents can bring back memories and sometimes be more potent than words. Include your signature perfume, favorite soap or some samples of potpourri that you tuck inside your chest of drawers. Be careful to preserve these scents by placing them inside plastic bags.

10 1/2. A laundry list of advice.

List your "top 10" favorite sayings that have helped you throughout life. They can be cliches, "Murphy's Laws," or funny phrases that John Wayne once said in a cowboy movie. Have fun with it! You never know when someone you love might need to hear them. Your wisdom will live on!