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During our renovations, we (happily!) discovered the original blueprints from our house in the walls. It was SUCH a fun surprise that we knew we wanted to include something similar for the future owners of our house to find someday.
Enter the family time capsule – we created a fun capture of our lives as they are today in 2018 and sealed it in the walls of our house. But even if you aren’t renovating, I have some family time capsule ideas you’ll definitely want to try! Perfect idea for a fun family New Year’s Eve, too :).


the mason jar we used for storage is linked here
What to Include in Your Family Time Capsule
- photos of your family
- a letter to the finders of the capsule, whether you plan for it to be YOU or someone else
- a list of your favorite local spots
- a list of prices of things like gas, milk, college, etc
- a local + a national newspaper
- a magazine or two
- a piece of technology that will soon be dated – like a remote control, cell phone or garage door opener.
- family time capsule questionnaire – ie, ask everyone in the family what they think the future will be like in 5, 10, 50 years

Time capsules can be so cool for so many special events – think:
Family Reunion Time Capsule
If you have a family reunion, create a time capsule with pictures of your family, family tree history, a profile of each family member, etc
New Year’s Eve Time Capsule
Especially cool with 2020 coming up! You could make a time capsule with memories of the past decade, photos, top 10 lists, etc. Then open it in 10 years to see how things have changed!
We also wrote letters to ourselves on NYE 2010 about what we thought our lives would be like 10 years in the future and to be opened on NYE 2020 – they’re sealed in an envelope and stored in a safe and I’m SO excited to open them next NYE!
New Baby’s Birthday Time Capsule
How cool would it be to get a collection of things from your date of birth on your 18th birthday in the future?
Home Remodel Time Capsule
If you’re doing a home renovation, be sure to include before pictures, inspiration photos, neighborhood faves, and a little about what your goals were for the renovation.


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