We love sharing little household traditions with you guys. There are just so many cheap and easy ways to commemorate special dates and display unique items in your home that can make it feel more personal and meaningful. For example, we whipped up these vacation jars a while back…
… and also explained that we love sending a postcard to ourselves to help remember all the details of every vacation that we spend together (they look great tossed in a large glass vase):
We also shared how we framed old keys to commemorate all the places we lived before moving into this “forever home” of ours (as seen to the left of the postcards in a vase above).
And how I snagged a vintage map on ebay, mounted it on cork, and framed it for a simple pinboard that helps us chart all the places we’ve traveled together (we’ve since added a bunch of pins thanks to our big Texas road trip):
And how we love to pose for some cheap-o photostrips on big days like anniversaries and other momentous occasions (like the day we found out I had a bun in the oven):
But enough looking back, let’s get back to 2010 shall we? Speaking of the brandspankingnew year, John and I actually have a strange little New Year’s Eve tradition: a nice romantic sushi dinner. It actually became a tradition after we were together a few years and realized that we had subconsciously gone out to a sushi dinner on Dec 31st ever since we began dating. So after accidentally enjoying a nice little Japanese feast together in 2005 and 2006, of course when the end of ’07, ’08, and ’09 rolled around we kept the tradition alive. And somewhere along the line John suggested that we save a pair of chopsticks from each restaurant (unused ones of course) and label them with the date, the occasion, and the place where we dined. It’s such a cheap (well, free actually) way to keep tabs on our year-ending whereabouts- and it’s fun when they’re displayed en masse atop a lacquered box, stashed in a cup on my desk, or even stuck in this Ikea vase:
We love that we can glance at them and remember evenings spent celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of another- and it’s great to see that we actually kept the tradition alive no matter where we were traveling at the time (from Georgia to Delaware and of course on the home front in Richmond, VA).
Oh and not to worry guys, this year it was only cooked fish and veggie sushi for me since the bean is “on board.” But it was still just as delicious and memorable. So that’s our odd little sushi inspired tradition. What about you? Do you have any “momentos” that you collect or even label to help you remember special events or milestones? Matchbooks? Bottle caps? Sea shells? Wine corks? Snow globes? Menus? Shot glasses? Tattoos? Do tell.
kelly says
thank you so much for posting those ideas, my husband and i travel a lot and love the idea of the map and the vacation jars!! i have collected sand from some of the beaches we have been to and want to make a display of those. good thing you mentioned the cooked sushi, people would have been all over you like white on rice! happy new year!
T says
We collect squished pennies and things that we can use to decorate our Christmas tree on vacations.
Jen says
While studying abroad in college, I began collecting shotglasses… at the time, I thought “they’re everywhere, they’re cheap & they can be stuffed in a tiny backpack”. Now a decade after the collection began, I’m wondering… what does a grownup in a grownup house do with a big box of shotglasses??
Condo Blues says
I’m an avid photographer. Many of my friends have reprints of my photos framed and hanging on their walls. Me? Well, it’s on my To Do List – for a couple of years now…
sayuri says
LOVE the vacation jar idea! i collect sand and have multiple bottles but we also send ourselves postcards so what a great way of combining the two in a single container! Thanks and happy new year!
Rebecca says
I love all the ideas in this post! So wonderful, I will have to start my own.
Julia Perry says
I had been carrying around a champagne cork from the day we got engaged for too long. I decided to make it into a Christmas ornament and start the tradition.
Here’s my post about it:
http://istealgoodideas.com/julia-original/commemorate-with-a-cork/
Keep the good ideas coming!
Stacey says
Got any ideas for what to do with about five years worth of miscellaneous ticket stubs?? :)
YoungHouseLove says
Get a giant square shadow box and make sort of a mosaic out of them. It’ll almost look tiled from afar, and when you get closer you’ll see that they’re ticket stubs. Could be fun. Otherwise you can always get a tall vase and toss them all in like vase filler (which makes adding future ones super easy) and it’ll be a nice little conversation piece. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Belinda says
I am not sure how or why this started but if ever my husband and I go out for lunch at a cafe my husband has to take (steal?) a sugar sachet. After quite a few years of doing this we have a glass bowl full of them!
Denise says
While walking along a beach one time, my beloved picked a stone from a rock pool and gave it to me. Since then if we go for a walk somewhere lovely he will often give me a rock. We’re currently living in the UK but will eventually return to NZ. I will literally be sending some rocks home to NZ. I can’t wait to eventually get all my UK rocks gathered together with my NZ rocks once we’re back.
Josh says
Japonica is no longer in business. Such a shame. It was the last small sushi restaurant in our Delaware area. We all are now left to go to all the huge restaurants the lack that small dining atmosphere. Not to mention the fact that you were 300 feet from the boardwalk at Japonica.
YoungHouseLove says
So sad!
xo,
s
Katie says
I love your glass jars idea I will definately be stealing that idea! My boyfriend and I buy a shot glass of each place we go, whether we go together or separate. I just have to figure out a nice way to display them….
Laura Taylor says
Sticks can become nice favors. I will also try customizing sticks.