Tags
back yard renovation, back yard with kids, DIY family time capsule, family time capsule, history lesson with kids, kids time capsule, life with kids, make your own time capsule, old house living, time capsule
We found so many things buried in our back yard when we were renovating. The broken pottery, bone buttons, metal and marbles were all hints from the past. We also found wild violets and strawberries and bulbs planted by previous tenants. These things inspired us to make our own time capsule to bury under the grass and soil. We decided to make two identical capsules: one to be opened when Ada is 18 and one to be left under the ground until we are gone and another family digs it up. Here is what we included in our time capsules:
*A vintage juice glass from the collection we use daily.
*3 marbles that we dug up from the dirt.
*A silver spoon the girls used as babies.
*A family portrait that Ada drew in 2012 which was transferred on to ceramic (see that post here).
*Package from borage seeds we planted in the garden.
*Business card with our email and contact info. (But who knows if email and phones will be around in the future?)
*An expired driver’s license.
*Ticket from Jane’s Carousel in Dumbo. (The girls spend a lot of time here).
*A drawing of our house by Ada.
*A note from Ada about our family now.
*A note from me, about what I hope for our children in the future.
*A letter to us and people in the future – detailing who we are, our plans for the house and garden, and a little bit about the neighborhood. We wrote this on archival paper with pencil, in hopes that it will be legible when it is dug up. The letter also explains the contents of the capsule.
*We used these Anchor-Hocking jars to pack the contents, and placed a few layers of plastic between the screw top and glass. Our hope is that the aluminum tops will not rust and will keep out some of the moisture from the ground.
*Chris cut pieces of wood to fit around the glass jars, so that a shovel will not break the jar when they are dug up.
We look forward to digging up our time capsule and remembering how we were in 2013. Hopefully the jar we leave behind will give the next occupants of our house a little taste of the history that came before.
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