Treasure box idea...

I am seeing all sorts of smart things that my parents did when I was little.  Being a mom now I am looking for all sorts of ways to get rid of stuff and keep a simpler life and home.  

One of those things that my mom was so smart about was this Treasure box.   We had a xerox box that she had decorated and put contact paper on to make it look pretty.   We each had one that we could keep our treasures in.   This helped us to not keep so much junk.  When I was little everything was a treasure.  haha.   With my kids in school now I have a ton of papers that come home with them.   I needed to find a way to only keep the really good stuff.  I have taken pictures of their stuff and then I put it in their scrapbook.   Some things just don't do justice in a picture. 

I found my box and went through it.  I had stuff I didn't know I had kept.  Like my personal progess book that you do in our church when you are 12-18.   

I also had all of my medallions that I had earned.  

I had my quarter collection that we did as a family.  We each got these books and found the quarters from each state.  It was a fun family project to do and help each other find the right quarters we needed.  

I was on the swim team in high school and we would have a swimmer of the meet.  I got two of them and I remember feeling so proud of those when I got them.  I had worked hard for them.  It will be fun to show my kids these things when they are older and are participating in their own activities.  

I have a bunch of things that my Grandma Beck had crocheted or tatted for me.   These are even more special now that she has passed on.  I never learned how to do these but she did teach me how to crochet.  

I have a gold cup that I got for piano.  I played for 6 years I believe and I finally earned my gold cup.  Looking back as an adult I wish I had stuck with playing the piano so I could play better now but I can't.  I didn't like practicing as a kid though. I loved being outside instead.  

I have a bunch of other breakable stuff that I keep in there. My box isn't as full as it once was.  But I am glad I saved the things I did.  I have just started to put some of my daughters school work in a box that I made for her.  Then when she gets older she can decide what to keep.  She can keep whatever as long as it all fits in her box.  Right now her special stuff goes in a drawer in the bathroom.   We need to change that.  

I love this idea because it gives them the opportunity to choose for themselves and to decide what is important to them, and then they have all of their "special" stuff all in one place.