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A Time Capsule is a great way to look back and remember the past year and have fun recording favorite moments and special memories!
As the New Year approaches, we plan our celebrations, think about making resolutions and look forward to the year ahead!
We also reflect on everything that we experienced in the previous year. Amidst the challenges and ups and downs, we take the time to appreciate the happy moments, time spent with friends and family and the good times!
Our printable New Year's Questionnaire and DIY Family Time Capsule are a wonderful way to celebrate the New Year and start a tradition that will be fun for this year and every New Year to come!
Well, like many families, we have some traditions that have been around for many years and are now a permanent fixture in our annual routines and celebrations.
There are others, however, that we tried very hard to make annual traditions but they just didn't take hold!
They were pretty good ideas, of course (and some super delicious!) but for whatever reason, we found ourselves exploring new options!
When I was a kid, my family would make amazing waffles on New Year's Eve topped with strawberries, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, chocolate syrup and whatever else we could pile on!
We'd stuff ourselves silly with these delicious waffle creations, play games, watch TV and try our hardest to stay up until midnight to watch the ball get dropped in Times Square!
Well, years later I figured we'd do a variation on the waffles! I didn't have a waffle iron, but came up with, what I thought, was a good replacement!
I remember coming up with the idea of making pizzelle cookies on New Year's Eve and thought it was the coolest addition to the night's festivities!
Pizzelles are like thin waffles with a crisp-cookie texture - so I'd have my nostalgic connection and I had this great pizzelle maker I found on eBay! Voila! New tradition!
If you enjoy these delightful, crispy and thin Italian cookies, they are very easy to make and are so, so delicious! The pizzelle maker makes quick work of the batter and creates the most delicious base for ice cream and strawberries, perfect for dipping in chocolate fondue, or just to enjoy with a beverage of choice!
Here's one pizelle iron that has served the pizelle-loving community well and makes perfect pizelles!
But, after a couple of years of pizzelles and toppings, it kind of fizzled out. In search of a festive replacement, I moved on to fondue. Recipes were gathered, ingredients purchased - let the melting begin!
Now the fondue and accompanying snacks were delish for sure, but quite frankly, after Christmas, my energy level drops quite a bit. Fondue is not even a big commitment, but enough of one that I really was okay not continuing.
Easy munchies, followed by a movie and trying to stay up until midnight is pretty much all I can handle at this point! And, no, I don't feel guilty about it!
My husband and daughter typically prefer a quieter New Year's Eve also, so the three of us are okay staying in and welcoming the New Year more enthusiastically in the morning!
We enjoyed this movie too! There's nothing better than a timeless classic like Roman Holiday to ring in the New Year!
Well, about the same time that the fondue stopped, we started writing down some of our goals and resolutions for the upcoming New Year. Nothing new here, right?
Well, this kind of morphed into our extended version that we have firmly embraced and look forward to each year!
Either while enjoying some New Year's Eve snacks or after our first breakfast of the year, fave moments, memories and more are remembered and written down.
Sometimes we write out our answers for the time capsule at the same time and sometimes we pick a topic and take turns passing the paper and writing our responses while reminiscing aloud.
Either way, it has become one of our favorite ways to remember the past year and welcome the New Year!
After writing down some of the fun things we've done, fave foods we've enjoyed, places we've gone and more, we search for small things or tokens that showcase our year. See below for our Time Capsule Inspiration Ideas!
When we're finished, we fold it up and put it to the side and take out the Time Capsule Box! We actually have a couple of boxes at this point, because we keep choosing small ones!
Here are the boxes we use to hold our Time Capsules! A gingerbread man tin and a sparkly gift box were just the right size!
I want to emphasize the small part because it's easier to store all of this if you keep it small!
We have a tin holiday cookie box that holds some of our years' lists and time capsule treasures. We had to add another box to the Time Capsule collection as the years went on because the little tin became quite full!
We open our Time Capsules and have fun reading what we wrote down in the past years and exploring the little knick-knacks and bits of this and that we included as well.
It is a lot of fun to read and reminisce about our fun vacations, or when we got our puppy or where ordered pizza from, just to name a few!
Seeing the little tokens, tickets and holiday cards from previous years are just the best!
We keep them both in a top cabinet in the kitchen! Don't ask me why we don't put them away with the holiday decorations- but it works for us!
You can never take too many photos and they are easy to print out and add to the time capsules!
We have a lot of fun doing this! It requires no money, minimal supplies and really is so much fun to do!
At first, we were at a loss of what to include, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy coming up with inspiration!
Time Capsule Inspiration!
Not sure what to put in your own Time Capsule? Here are some ideas and items we've included over the years.
As long as it fits in your time capsule, it really can be anything meaningful to you and your family!
Movie or show tickets
Playbills
Seashells/pretty stones or sea glass from those trips to lakes/oceans, etc..
Polaroid photos
A penny or other coins from this year
Small toy or knick-knacks -charms, keychains barettes, etc.
Postcards
Receipt from a favorite restaurant or coffee shop
Your holiday card or a family photo
Pet tag (when our dog was a puppy and grew out of her collar, we put that in too!)
Small notes or sketches
Birthday card
Here are the Time Capsule Free Printables!
New Year, New Printables! We gave our Time Capsule Printables a refreshed look for the new year, and added a Free Printable Time Capsule Cover as well! Add this festive cover to the place that stores your treasures, whether it's a simple box, decorative tin or small suitcase!
Click here to download or print our Time Capsule Questionnaire printable!
Here is our updated Time Capsule Questionnaire Free Printable to help remember the fun, favorites and memories from this past year!
Click here to download or print our Time Capsule Questionnaire printable!
In search of our original Free Time Capsule Printables?
We've got them right here!
This Family Memories Free Printable is the perfect way to keep all those fun times and special memories in a nice spot to see year after year!
Click here to download or print our free Family Memories Time Capsule printable
If you enjoyed using our original version of the Time Capsule Questionnaire Printable, click below to find it!
Great for adding some side drawings or a snapshot or two, this color-in Printable is great to get creative with!
Click here to download or print our free Family Memories Time Capsule printable
Be sure to Pin this post so you can return to it in the future! It's such a fun tradition to start with your family or friends!
We've had so much fun doing our own DIY Time Capsule and Questionnaire over the years!
It's a great way to remember all the good times from the past year and put it all down in one place to revisit when the next New Year rolls around!
Wishing you lots of cheer in the New Year!!
April & Cenzia
P.S. We've realized after finishing this that you should never write a blog post on an empty stomach! We're now wanting, waffles, pizzelles and fondue!! New tradition, perhaps?!
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