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.

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!!!

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Kelsie's Disney pin collection necklace.

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.

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

Her extensive pin collection.

Remember these little wooden boxes with the wiggly bug inside?

Their first iPods.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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

All of it fits in there with room for more.

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

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.

They are both going to LOVE this!!

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.

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

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

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

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~