Inspiration comes from unexpected places. I was flipping through a recent home catalog when a spread of old-fashioned glass jars caught my eye. They were styled as vintage bell jars filled with shells, sand, and even clear ocean water labeled with exotic names like “Mikonos” and “Fiji.” The look was so simple and charming that I started examining what I already had tucked away in boxes. To my surprise, there were small mementos from nearly every trip John and I have taken together—ticket stubs, seashells, sand, a matchbook, and tiny souvenirs that had been sitting in drawers for years. Instead of letting those keepsakes gather dust, I decided to display them where we would see them every day.
I stopped by an arts-and-crafts store and picked up a set of simple canning jars—very affordable—and set about filling each one with a small collection that represented a particular trip. Instead of professional labels, I used clear tape and a fine-point Sharpie to write the place and year. Our jars now have hand-written tags that read places like San Diego, Rehoboth, Madeira Beach, Alaska, and the Outer Banks. The informal, homemade labels actually make the display feel more personal; they’re imperfect in the best possible way and remind me of the hands-on care that went into collecting each item.
I placed the jars on a narrow shelf in our sunroom near the back door, a spot we walk past multiple times a day. Seeing them regularly has turned these little mementos into daily reminders of the places and moments we’ve shared. There’s a comforting, almost nostalgic rhythm to it—each jar acts like a small time capsule you can glance at to trigger memories. One jar holds a handful of beach sand and tiny shells from a weekend getaway; another contains a folded ticket stub and a matchbox from a city outing. I even made a jar dedicated to our old life in Manhattan, filled with the last MetroCard we used, a hot-dog shop loyalty card we loved, and the business cards from the advertising agency where John and I first met. Those items alone bring back an entire chapter of our lives in an instant.
One of my favorite jars documents our Alaskan honeymoon. It contains a small river rock we saved from a hot-stone massage, a tiny ceramic bear picked up at a local craft fair, and a folded receipt from a cozy lodge. That jar is more than a souvenir; it’s a tactile story about a special trip. Other jars hold hotel keys, a pressed flower from a roadside stop, and the odd foreign coin that reminds us of a certain afternoon wandering through a market. Even everyday items—small receipts, ticket stubs, or a dried bit of seaweed—can carry a surprising amount of meaning when you decide to preserve them intentionally.
The project is intentionally simple and affordable. You don’t need ornate labels or expensive frames to make a meaningful display—just a clean jar, a few little mementos, and a bit of thought about how you want to arrange them. The result is a collection that’s easy to update and fun to add to after every new trip. It’s also a nice conversation starter when friends stop by; people enjoy seeing the little stories each jar holds.
I love that this easy craft has encouraged me to revisit memories more often. Instead of leaving keepsakes in a box in a closet, they’re now part of our everyday environment. The jars make the past feel present and remind us to plan more adventures—because if our shelves are going to become a personal snow globe collection, we may as well keep traveling. And if exotic destinations need to wait, ordinary objects collected close to home are every bit as evocative. In the end, these labeled jars are a small, beautiful way to celebrate the places that shaped us and the journeys that lie ahead.