Have you seen the French movie Amélie? It is by far one of my most favourite movies ever, my go to for cheer ups, absolute feel good and for the love of Audrey Tatou. ❤

If you have indeed seen it you’d remember the memory box Amelie finds buried behind a loose tile in her bathroom, hidden by a boy 40 years ago. And in that box she finds faded photos from an era gone by, and a toy car among other things. This sets her thinking, imagining and going about fixing the world around her. It’s “all the feels” really. This is the precious scene from the movie Amelie I speak of.

So when I saw this movie and this particular scene i so wanted to make a memory box for myself but sadly I had nothing from my childhood. It made me a bit sad and then I started saving movie ticket stubs, shells from the beach etc. But never got around to making a memory box anyway.

For #babyT however I decided I would make a box full of #keepsakes. Stuff that I could touch, feel and lose myself in memories of, when I opened the box anytime. I also plan to hand this over to babyT when he is grownupT and I hope he enjoys the experience too.

So what’s in my #keepsake box? 

First and foremost – my positive reading pregnancy test kit. I’ve popped it into a tiny plastic Ziploc pouch and this was the first thing I added to the #keepsake box. I do hope the two pink lines stand the test of time. I should actually look up if there’s a way to do that. ☺

BabyT’s hospital to home outfits, his first swaddle made by his #granny  (my mom) and the first cloth diaper babyT ever wore have also made it to this #keepsake box.

Then came flowers, now dried from the name reveal board we made for babyT’s naming ceremony. The roses have dried perfectly and I am sure will last a long time. I also saved (flattened out) foil balloons and one of the ‘Its a boy!’ danglers from this day.

Count down to one year, I added a lock of babyT’s hair from his hair cutting ceremony. We didn’t go ahead with a complete tonsuring, but only snipped a few locks in keeping with tradition. 

Toys! A lot of baby toys will also be going into this box. What surprises me really that despite giving him the most expensive and some imported toys and dolls, babyT has most toy memories and fondness for the ones which were the least expensive and simple ones. A plastic rattle, a yellow giraffe dangler/ key chain. Look at this meme we made with his so ordinary rattle. He still gets excited when he chances upon it in his toy box.
Down the line I am sure i will add books, first photographs, tickets, paintings, greeting cards, and maybe precious shells, rocks and stones.

And the stories they will tell – of the people who surrounded us, loved us and cared for us. The comfort of knowing that we made a special memory and the joy of living that very memory every time we held that keepsake in our hands thus plucking a chord in our hearts. Most of all I hope it teaches babyT and me (for now) to find joy in the little things and to remember and cherish them. 

Have you made a #keepsake box? What special memory has gone into it?