Thursday, October 30, 2014

Memory Jar Lamps…Shhh They're Christmas Gifts For My Daughters!

I have been wanting to make these memory jar lamps for both my daughters for a long time now. Courtney is living in her own apartment and Kelsie is working in Disney World, so the house is free to make things and put together gifts without anyone seeing them. I just have to keep them away from this blog and my facebook page. Lol

Do you remember this post I did a long time ago about hardware storage drawers? Click HERE if you want to visit that post. We bought these drawers for each of the girls when they were little to keep all their memorabilia and collectibles in.

memory jar lamps

Tooth Fairy money and the notes they wrote to her when they lost a tooth…


Collectibles from Disney trips and the ever popular rock and gem stone collection.


The memories in those drawers and the things I have saved for them too over the years are now in here!!!

A Memory Jar Lamp!!!

memory jar lamps

I bought both girls a fillable lamp at Target for $25.00 each. No lampshade though and boy are lampshades pricey.

memory jar lamps

Come on in a take a walk down memory lane with me…

I also have another idea if you don't want to use a lamp.


The lamps are pretty tall. That's a 12 inch ruler. They are glass and crystal clear, even though they look a little dirty in this picture.

memory jar lamps

Just make sure your lamp is "fillable". Some lamps have a clear glass base, but no way to access it to fill it.

memory jar lamps

All you have to do is unscrew the light bulb socket and pull the cord up a little to allow the socket to rest off to the side.

memory jar lamps

Now to load it with all of Kelsie's things. Both of the girls are savers like their mother, so it was so cute to go through all their memories. I did call them both and told them I was doing something with all of it.

memory jar lamps

Rocks and precious stones from several trips to a "dig your own gem mine"

Kelsie's Disney pin collection necklace.

memory jar lamps

Mickey and Minnie, an amethyst rock, a key chain she drew in school and that little Santa charm shaped like a moon.  I gave her that to hold tight when she was scared at sleepovers.

memory jar lamps

Free ride coins from our weekly trips to the Watch Hill Carousel in our town. Her Winnie the Pooh bracelet and the hair wraps we paid big bucks for in Disney, Lol

memory jar lamps

Her extensive pin collection.

memory jar lamps

Remember these little wooden boxes with the wiggly bug inside?

memory jar lamps

Their first iPods.

memory jar lamps

I'm glad I had the back engraved, so now I know it was from 2005.

memory jar lamps

We bought each of them this little necklace in Quincy Market in Boston. You pick the animal that you'd like and the man wrote your name on a piece of rice with one hair from a paint brush.

memory jar lamps

Here's Kelsie's …it's on a piece of RICE!!!

memory jar lamps

Kelsie's name isn't spelled the conventional way with an "ey" at the end, so any time I had something made special we always saved it.

memory jar lamps

This baseball was from 2 Red Sox baseball players that came to visit Kelsie at The Hasbro Children's Hospital when she had her spinal fusion done in 2004. It was an 11 hour surgery and she was in the hospital for a long time, so their visit was extra special for her.

Can't forget to mention the Santa Troll doll there with the crazy hair!!

The long green box has a fan in it from China. My brother and sister-in-law adopted 2 wonder children from China and brought back special gifts for the girls.

memory jar lamps

Can't forget all their tooth fairy notes and all the money they saved from her that they never spent!!

memory jar lamp

All of it fits in there with room for more.

memory jar lamps

It didn't come with the lamp fixture or shade like I mentioned before.

memory jar lamps

This shade came from Michael's craft store in their home decor section. A lamp with this shade on it was 70% off. Fits perfectly on this lamp.

memory jar lamps

They are both going to LOVE this!!

memory jar lamps

If you don't have a Target in your area to buy the actual lamp, I originally bought these oversized Mason jars at Walmart for $13.00 to make my own.

memory jar lamps

They are about 11 inches high and are very wide, so they hold a lot.

memory jar lamps
 
Here are all of Courtney's things that I filled in her lamp.

memory jar lamps

Whether in a lamp or just to keep in a jar like this, it's still a great gift.

memory jar lamps

I was going to drill a hole in the top of the cover and add a lamp kit. You can buy lamp kits in most hardware store for $10-13.00. The jar is $13 and the lamp kit is $13, so it's about the same price as the Target lamp.



You could fill the lamps or the jar with just about anything, so the possibilities are endless. Such a wonderful gift for anyone!

Thanks for stopping by and strolling down my memory lane with me.

~Karen~


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18 comments:

  1. I think this is such a sweet idea!!! Love it!!! Have a happy weekend!!!
    Love
    AMarie
    xxx

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  2. Cute idea....wish they had something like this when my kids were young.

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  3. Cute! The mini trolls and that lady bug box brought back memories of my own daughter's youth (she's 40). She probably would have liked one of these lamps. I'm going to pass this post to her. I think my youngest (17) grandson would like a lamp. He is the collector of my two grandsons and would appreciate the thought.

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  4. I made a small lamp from an old Ball mason jar and added my mom's sewing supplies - wooden spools of thread (19 cents), old fabric tape measure, cards with snaps and baby buttons, folded cards with sewing pins of many sizes, etc. This lamp sits on her treadle sewing machine and I love looking at it daily.

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  5. what a great idea, I have a lot of Disney stuff that would be better served in a lamp - - maybe for myself.

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  6. I can't believe you kept all those special treasures!
    Good for you!
    (I have no patience, darn)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Karen that's a great idea and a wonderful gift your daughters will always treasure and perhaps continue the tradition when they have their own children too.

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  8. What a wonderful idea. My Mom used to make us our "odd" Christmas gifts, as she called them. One year it was a photo album of us. Pictures from the years past, and to that point (senior year of high school). One year it was the family tree - her side, another year it was Dad's side. One was a framed half dollar = "my big penny" from my Grandpa. It was these "odd" gifts that were the most memorable. Yours will be useful and memorable, too.
    Thanks for sharing your "odd" genius idea.
    Hugs

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  9. My daughters had a lot of the same treasures! LOL

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  10. What a great gift idea! Thanks so much for sharing it.

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  11. I did something like this with a beautiful sea shell collection we acquired while living in FL. I made bed side lamps with them. When my daughter got married, I gave the lamps to her. I knew what they meant to her and was glad she would continue to use them and enjoy them!

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  12. This is so genius. My three are still little, so I'm heading over to the original post to check out those drawers.....

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  13. Oh that is such a fabulous idea and although my kids are still young and still collecting, I'm going to save this for the future.

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  14. My daughter jokingly said she needed a lamp for her new desk for Christmas. She is 16 and leaving for college in a year and a half! This idea made me cry, but I will start it for her and let her help fill it as we clean out her treasures as she leaves the nest!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment...I just love hearing from you!

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