Hellobee

For most things in my life, I like to keep it simple. Growing up, I always had little boxes and chests with keepsake items. Photographs, artwork, little things that belonged to my parents … it was always so fun to go through them, and it felt like I was always finding something new. In high school I attempted to scrapbook and do other crafty things of the sort, but it just wasn’t my style. I think there’s something special about opening up a chest and seeing it piled-high with keepsake treasures. My mom had an oversized jewelry box that she used to keep on her vanity, and growing up I used to love going in there, opening the little drawers and finding her old high school photos, pins, and other trinkets. When I was pregnant, I knew I would definitely need to find a special place to keep all of Little Deer’s baby things, and I wanted it to be simple. I needed a keepsake chest.

A few days after Little Deer was born, we went over to Mr. Deer’s parents’ house for Christmas. Mr. Deer’s family draws names for gift giving, and my mother-in-law had drawn my name. Amongst other presents, she gave me a sweet little keepsake chest to keep all of Little Deer’s treasures in. It was perfect, and what great timing! It’s a little trunk with pictures from around the world on it with a simple latch on the front. Right from when we brought it home, I began placing Little Deer’s keepsakes in it. I’ve kept it sitting on her bookcase, so whenever I think of something I want to place in it, I simply pull it out and pop it in. It doesn’t get more simple than that! Even though she’s only 10 months, already I’ve had so much fun opening it up and reminiscing over her sweet little newborn items.

Here’s what’s in Little Deer’s keepsake chest so far:

• Pregnancy test – I debated about putting this with my keepsakes, but it was a special part of how I told Mr. Deer we were expecting, so I opted to keep it in her chest.
• Sidewalk chalk announcement photo – I printed off the photograph we gave our family to tell them we were pregnant.
• Pink ribbons – I kept the ribbons from the balloons that we used to tell everyone that Little Deer was going to be a girl. I simply snipped them off the balloons and tied them in a bow.
• Paint samples – The two samples we mixed together to create the paint color for LD’s room.
• Ceramic plate – I painted this while pregnant for her to keep on her dresser one day to hold jewelry and little things
• Baby shower invitation
• Game cards from baby shower – We played some very fun games at the baby shower, and my mother-in-law made some cute cards for guessing Mr. Deer’s response to baby trivia.
• Hospital hat and blanket – A sweet little blue and pink striped hat and the standard bunny blanket.
• First outfit – A few weeks after finding out I was pregnant, Mr. Deer was down in San Diego for some training. He stopped in the Gap and picked out a yellow terry-cloth onesie and a cute hat with hippos on it. This was Little Deer’s first outfit, and the one she wore home from the hospital.
• Hospital bands – I took my hospital band, and Little Deer’s, and laminated them for safekeeping.
• First Christmas items – Just about everybody gave us a a “First Christmas” ornament for Little Deer. I think we may have about six! But they’re all so sweet, so they’re all in the chest. We also have a santa hat, bib, and stocking.
• Silver set – LD’s great grandmother gave us a little set with a silver spoon, fork, and a box for a lock of hair.
• Schedules from the newborn period – I kept a few of the notes we wrote from her first weeks at home.
• DVD’s from Mr. Deer – While deployed Mr. Deer made DVD’s and sent them to us. He talked to us about what he was up to and read stories to LD.
• Birth announcement
• Congratulation cards from friends and family
• Footprint and handprint – When she was six weeks old we captured her footprints to send to Mr. Deer since he was deployed. We had leftover putty, so I took a mold of her hand and foot too.
• Outfit from newborn photo shoot – This is just the little fuzzy bottoms that I got for her newborn photos.
• First couple of headbands and bows
• Baby book – I usually keep this out so that I can actually remember to write in it, but it belongs in her chest.

Recently I’ve taken out a few of these items and displayed them on LD’s bulletin board in her nursery. They’ll eventually be kept in her chest, but it’s fun to have them out on display. Though the title of the post is Creating a Keepsake Chest, you won’t find any instructions or the like. That’s the beauty of it. Grab a box, a chest from your childhood, or make a trip to a local antique store, and start storing away your little one’s special keepsakes. It’s just that simple.

Already our small chest is getting quite full. I think I will dedicate it as her baby box for her first year, then start the hunt for a larger trunk for the coming years. I can’t wait until she’s old enough to ask me if we can pull it out and go through it together. That will be a wonderful day.

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What do you use for your little one’s keepsakes?