good things

I've been keeping a good things jar since 2012 (which SOMEHOW was 5 whole years ago already!) and it's one of my favorite traditions. If you're not familiar with the concept, you just find a jar (or bowl or cookie jar, whatever) and throughout the year, whenever something good happens, you scribble it down and put it in the jar. On New Year's Eve you open it up and read through all of the good things that happened that year!

My 2016 jar was busting at the seams (the lid wouldn't even stay on, it was so full!) Of course I include the big things, like Paris and Rome and seeing The Killers in concert, but my favorite ones to read on NYE are the smaller day-to-day things that you might forget by the end of the year. My mom made me soup when I wasn't feeling well. I got ice cream with my dad in the summer. I helped my brother fix up the backyard before a cookout. I spent a night binge-watching tv with one of my friends. I also include inside jokes which, by the end of the year, usually make NO sense. I wrote down that me and my mom went "galavanting to find feminine needs" I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THAT MEANS NOW. I also write down funny stories, like the things that cause side-splitting bursts of laughter (which inevitably seem less funny than the laugh attack at years end, lol!)

I also throw in mementos like ticket stubs, wristbands from concerts, metro cards, and a seashell from each visit to the beach (I write down the date with sharpie on the back of the shell before I add it to the jar!) In January I collect up all the good things and put them in an album along with corresponding photos from the previous year. It might seem hard to remember to write things down at first, but it really becomes second nature as time goes on. I'm so glad I stuck with it, because once I wrap up my 2016 album I'm going to have five whole years worth of scrapbooks filled with good things and happy memories :)

2013 revisited

Like I mentioned last month, I keep a good things jar each year. Whenever something good happens, I jot it down on a piece of paper and put it in a jar. On New Year's Eve, I open the jar and read about all the delightful things that happened in my life that year. Its one of my favorite traditions!

Of course once the year is over you're left with a big pile of slips of paper -- what do you do with them? I like to put mine in a scrapbook along with photos that correspond with my 'good things.'



This year I decided to use Project Life supplies to make the task a little easier, and I loved it! I got a tiny scrapbook and used 6" x 8" page protectors. I bought two different packs -- one is broken up into one 4" x 6" photo and two 3" x 4" photos, and the others are a collage of four 3" x 4" photos. This way all I had to do was order 4" x 6" prints at my local photo processing center and I was good to go!



Horizontal 4" x 6" pictures can be cut in half and then placed in two separate 3" x 4" pockets -- I love how they look when they're placed next to each other, like the photo in the top left (my mom thought I meticulously cropped the pictures in photoshop and I almost wanted to let her believe that I put that much work into it, lol!)

Big events from last year -- like adopting Arrietty, my road trip, and the Office wrap party -- got full page spreads (The Office actually got two, one devoted entirely to Steve Carell lol) and then smaller events just got one pocket each.



After I was finished I still had a little bundle of slips left over that didn't have accompanying photos (like etsy sales milestones) so I taped my extra papers to some purple scrapbooking paper and put them at the end of my book.

I actually love how this album came out so much that I'm going to re-do my 2012 album to match (my mom suggested I combine them into a 2012-2013 volume since I have more than enough room in this binder) I've heard a lot of bloggers recommend Project Life for people who are short on time and I was skeptical but honestly this took me like one hour, tops. So I'm convinced :) And now I have a pretty collection of all the wonderful things that happened to me in 2013!

ps. Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you, I took the top photo in my old bedroom! Me and the cats have been staying over at home this week while we're getting pummeled with horrible winter storms.

good things

2013 was the second year in a row that I kept a "good things" jar. (You can see my 2012 post here.) The idea is really simple -- just keep a jar somewhere in your house and whenever something nice happens, write it down with the date and slip it inside. On New Year's Eve, open your jar and you're reminded of all the pleasant things that happened to you that year!

Some of my big highlights from 2013 included adopting Arrietty (actually that was THE highlight of the year. She's amazing!) meeting Steve Carell, going to Disney World twice, meeting Sarah and Polly, getting my apartment and seeing Niagara Falls. I also wrote down a lot of little happy moments like baking cookies with my family last month, decorating my grandmom's christmas tree, when my dad & I surprised my mom with a gag gift of a year's supply of paper towels for her birthday, the first time that both of my cats snuggled up with me and we all fell asleep together, the first time I successfully made a soufflé (and it was delicious!) The little things are the ones I enjoy reading the most because they're usually the ones that slipped my mind. It's pretty hard to forget that you met your favorite actor or that you adopted the sweetest little cat on the planet, you know?

I already started my 2014 jar! If you haven't tried this before I definitely recommend it. I don't know if it really comes across here, but I struggle with being a naturally glass-half-empty sort of person and things like this definitely help me to look on the positive side. At the end of 2012 and 2013 I had jars overflowing with beautiful moments and happy memories. It's really the best way to start a new year with a good attitude and sunny outlook on life :)

ps. I reopened all of my shops yesterday if there's anyone out there who wanted to know that information.

2012 revisited

Last year I kept a "good things" jar. Every time something neat happened, I wrote it down on a little slip of paper and put it in a jar in my bedroom. On New Year's Eve, I emptied the jar and relived all of the good memories I'd had throughout the year. It was a really fun project (and one that I'm currently doing again for 2013) but when it was over I didn't know what to do with the my memory notes. At first I bundled them up with a paper clip and put them in a zip-lock bag in a drawer, just until I could come up with something better. And then it hit me - duh! - a scrapbook! :)



I gathered up all of my notes, purchased a pretty 8" x 8" pink scrapbook and ordered photos to go with some of the occasions I'd written down, like my day trip to NYC with Amber last June, my trip to Disney, adopting Hubble, etc.

My mom and I used to do real scrapbooking -- like the kind where you have tons of gadgets and paper-cutting tools and patterned papers and stickers and embellishments and the pages look like they could be in magazines -- but I wanted this to be more like a journal, kind of messy and fun! I just used washi tape and some cheesy stickers from Michaels, and then doodled a bit on the pages. The result is a sort-of-sloppy but definitely fun little peek into my year, and, I think, the perfect way to preserve all those happy memories!

good things

At the end of 2011 I saw an idea on pinterest to write down good things that happen throughout the year and keep them in a jar. On New Years Eve, open the jar and read all of the lovely things that happened to you during the year. I decided to try it out last January, and I actually stuck with it through December!

I wrote down big things (adopting Hubble, passing 6,000 sales on etsy, my first airplane trip), little things (playing board games with my brother, holding Chloe for the first time) and nice things that people said to me. It was so nice to relive all those wonderful moments, and I really couldn't have picked a better year to try this out. Overall 2012 was clouded with family heartbreak and professional disappointments for me. I honestly wouldn't have looked back on 2012 with even the least bit of fondness if I hadn't kept track of all of the nice little things along the way and reminded myself of them on New Years Eve. I am definitely doing it again this year!

If you're thinking of trying this for 2013, I do have one suggestion. If something awesome already happened, write it down. But if something awesome is potentially going to happen - no matter how exciting that something seems -- don't write it down right away. There were quite a few things in 2012 that I got SUPER thrilled about (particularly Flapper Doodle opportunities) and they ended up being huge let-downs. If I had written them down and forgotten to take the paper out, I would have been reminded of my failures on New Years Eve. That wouldn't have been fun. So if someone emails you about an exciting collaboration or project, or if you get an interview for the job of your dreams, just hold off for a little bit before writing it down.