Product Spotlight: Keepsakes & Memorabilia

doxiemoxie212

(I forgot to do one last week, so I'm doing two this week... oh well ) 

This is a place for FTMs to ask questions and S+TMs to share the wealth of knowledge they've accumulated on baby products. Each week we'll spotlight a new category of product to help streamline and make it easier to refer back. This week it's.... keepsakes and memorabilia! Think DIY photobooks, shadow boxes, footprint kits, etc.
 
Please use the prompts below to try to share as much relevant info as you can in a format that is easy for those reading to absorb/respond to. If you'd like to recommend/ask questions about more than one product, please copy/paste the prompts as needed.  

For S+TMs: 

• Favorite [keepsake & memorabilia]:
• Link/picture:
• Cost (either actual dollar amount, or just $, $$, $$$, etc.):
• What you like about it:
• What you don't like about it, if anything:
• Is there a [keepsake & memorabilia] you don't have but are considering? Why?:
• Is there a [keepsake & memorabilia] you've tried that you absolutely hate? Why?: 
• Additional thoughts on [keepsake & memorabilia]?:

For FTMs

• [keepsake & memorabilia] you're interested in:
• Link/picture:
• Cost (either actual dollar amount, or just $, $$, $$$, etc.):
• Any questions about it/them for S+TMs?:

To view past Product Spotlights or view the upcoming schedule, see here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gjNtxy2Kd2JceTYYR5wkwVcpTbU-khgazhjcZnfI1y4/edit?usp=sharing

(Also just a reminder that if anyone wants to revive old threads to ask questions as we get further along and it becomes more likely everyone is doing further research, please feel free!)

ramennoodlegif

I don't have any recommendations, but I would just like to note that my mom game was strong AF with DD's baby book. I filled out every single little thing until about 10 months, then nothing. I just got around to starting on DS1's when he was about 14 months old. Don't beat yourself up if you aren't able to, or just don't keep up with it. Baby's probably not going to care when they get older if you don't know exactly when their seventh baby tooth came in, or how old they were when they first smiled (maybe it was a smile, maybe just gas. How does one really know, anyway?) 
Also, monthly pictures with the stickers/signs are a cute idea, but also a PITA, particularly when baby starts eating them while you're trying to capture perfect lighting. Ask me if I ever took a monthly picture with #2. 

krash_

I am terrible with keepsakes. I hate clutter. I will throw things away. I don't have the patience for a baby book. Someone got me a bump book to document things with pregnancy and I looked at it once, filled out one page and haven't picked it up since. 

But I like some of the sentimental things that we have from mine and MH's childhood that we are going to use for baby. So I am thinking of just making or getting a memory box. Something I can keep in the closet or under the bed and just throw the important stuff in. Then when the kid is an adult I can just give them that and they can decide what to do with it lol. 

I don't plan on doing monthly baby pics. At least not for SM. I will post every once in awhile and I have a cute felt letter board to use with them. I had a friend who posted a weekly update on every Saturday when the kid was a week older and posted every month on the 18th when they were a month older. Luckily after they turned one she went down to just the monthly posts. I'm sorry but no one cares that much except for you and probably the grandparents so just share it with them.

I'm sure I will take a lot of pictures and I plan to upload them to some kind of site for the grandparents/other family to have access to. If anyone has recommendations for a site that is good for non-tech people to access that would be appreciated! My MIL doesn't have a smart phone so it would have to be easy for her to use from the computer and for me to use from my phone. 

doxiemoxie212

@krashke my SIL uses Amazon Prime somehow to share photos with the whole family? It's like a drop box. IDK but all the elderly relatives have figured it out. I don't have the link so I just ask DH to load it for me to show me the new photos every few days. I am lazy. But it seems to work really well. 

dinodna3

The only keepsake thing I’ve done was make a Christmas ornament with their hospital hats and wrist band. I’ve cried at both years I’ve pulled out the ornament because I forgot I did them.  

buffalove1211

Apps to document stuff I used with DD:
**Tinybeans - Upload 1 picture a day on a calendar-like grid.

**Qeepsake - I get a text message every Wednesday with an age specific question.  I text the answer back and it all logs to my account.

New app I plan to use for this baby:
**1 Second Everyday / 1SE - Upload a 1 second picture everyday.

...aint nobody got time or energy for a hand written baby book!

sunshineandwhiskey

I only do/did four things:
1. I got a BreastMilk necklace made once I was done nursing DD
2. I have a box of sentimental stuff - Hospital bracelets, coming home outfit, her first pair of shoes, etc.  Don't know what i'm doing yet with them, but its nice to have.  
3. I do monthly pics - I love seeing the progression
4. I have ChatBooks.  This has been the best thing ever.  All i have to do is "favorite" pictures in my phone, and the app automatically makes chronological photo albums and sends them to me.  Its 60 pics per album, and i pay the up-charge for hardcover.  I think its $9 for soft back, and $14 for hard back.  Worth it for us to have those memories and pictures.  

MissKittyDanger

Has anyone done those shadow boxes with a couple of "firsts" ?

I was considering doing it with onsie she actually comes home in, baby & mom hospital i.d {dad too if they issue it}, maybe first lock of hair, little bit of info on a paper to see {date, time, weight, etc} and depending on the photo, her first photo taken?

I also don't know where we'd put it, but I figured it's better than 'olden time' ideas of a trunk.

jsl82

@kfren I was the exact same way- baby book stopped at 9 months and the monthly pictures I have all but 11 months... I was so close.

@sunshineandwhiskey I was looking at the Chatbooks- and like the recommendation, but as a STM is there a way to separate the album so DS has a book that's just for him (since DD does) and maybe one that is our family?  Also what is a breastmilk necklace?

Things I did/ loved/hated:

1) Monthly pictures- as I mentioned above I have all but 11 months. 
*I saw on pintrest a collage with balloons for the different months and I used it.  Biggest problem was that I had to go out and buy balloons every month... which is a big reason there is no 11 month picture.
* MH got a board with height/ weight/love it/ favorite song/ ect to fill out each month.  I HATE this board.  In the months that she didn't have a check up I have no idea how much she weighted or how tall she was.  She didn't have a favorite song or book- she only now at 14 months is really showing signs of a personality.  I had a hard time getting the chalk to show up and the colors that did had a hard time removing each week.  I used chalk markers and they dripped if I didn't let it dry long enough.   It was too much of a project.
* For this one I want to do the monthly pics- but I'm just getting the stickers.  I'll try to take the pics with a stuffed animal so the little guy's growth is clearly shown.

2) Baby book- I have the book and I was so good at writing in it... until I just stopped... my mom did the same thing with my baby book... so I feel better that I am not the only mom who just forgot the book existed once baby starts moving around. 

3) Shadow box- I'll try to remember to take a picture and update this post with a picture of the shadow box.  I have the outfit I took her home in, my hospital bracelet, her hospital bracelets, her birth announcement, and i think another picture of her when she was born.  It is hanging in her room right now, but will probably move to my room when she's older.

marcus7676

I'm doing Qeepsake with DS and the baby - - if anyone is interested, this is my referral link.  There is a free version.  https://www.qeepsake.co/referral/?referral_code=ELIZABETH775&referrer=Elizabeth 

We use the app Moments to share photos.  It's a Facebook product but photos don't end up on FB.  I have monthly / yearly albums of DS that I share with a select group. Even my 93 grandmother knows how to use the app.

catlady1215

If you do a baby book, take it to the hospital with you and ask them to do the footprints for you. that's what we did.. I can't remember if we gave it to them in the recovery room or when. but they had no problems with it.

we did a shadow box/frame type thing with hospital bands, his first pic getting weighed, hospital hat etc. I'll do the same with this one.

and we do monthly pics. We used the pics for his 1st bday party.

ramennoodlegif

@catlady1215 +1 to having footprints done at the hospital. They gave me ink pads to do hands too, but they didn't turn out so great. 

catlady1215

@kfren they didn't do hands for us, but I wish they would have. we didn't even attempt them, but I can't imagine those would turn out great.

ramennoodlegif

@catlady1215 Nope. Both kids appear to have twelve-ish fingers.

krash_

If you don't have a book will they just do the footprints on a piece of paper or something? 

ramennoodlegif

@krashke I don't see why they wouldn't. 

catlady1215

@krashke I'm sure they would. they might even give you footprints routinely. our hospital gave us a card type thing with all his stats and his footprints also.

starla487

I think I stopped updating DD’s baby book at 3 months. Where is my Mom of the Year Trophy?

I do have one of those monthly frames that hold 12 photos. That’s displayed and probably the only keepsake I’ll do with this next one.

We use Notabli for a photo upload app for family members. You can print books from them like Chatbooks. 

kmurdock925

I started a journal with DD1- I try to write it in when there are significant events/holidays but it is dwindling.  I considered typing emails to her or typing letters, etc but I wanted her to have my handwriting.  I have found it much easier to get a planner with large writing space and just write little things that she says that make me laugh or stats from the doc office, etc.  I haven't decided if I will put both girls' notes in the same planner or have one for each, I'll likely do one for each??

Also- google photos.  It links to my photo gallery on my phone, can share albums with fam members, can access on my phone or any computer by logging onto google, and it links to shutterfly (and I'm sure other photo book aps) for easy uploading/projects.

marcus7676

My hospital didn't do footprints . . . so it may not be standard.

dinodna3

@marcus7676 @buffalove1211 Do either of you know if you have to do the paid version for multiple children? I don’t mind paying just wondering which option would be best for 3 kids. 

buffalove1211

@dinodna3 It looks like Qeeksake is letting me add a 2nd child with the free version.

catlady1215

Oh I thought of something else keepsake-ish i do. It's not something physical though. I write him letters. I'm really bad and only do a couple a year. But my goal was to create an email acct for him and mail them over. I created one... then forgot what it was. But i still have the emails written and saved to send. I just tell him what he's been up to etc etc etc. 

ffw0617

In my family were pretty big on Pandora bracelets. My mom already gave me one for Christmas for son. I received one for my engagement, and wore 3 blue charms at my wedding to represent my 3 sisters. They are to be given to them as their something blue for their weddings (since I'm the oldest and got married first). We kind of made it an unwritten rule that they must mean something and aren't just arbitrarily given.  I was pretty beasty at scrapbooking my undergrad experience. I was the year book editor-in-chief senior year in high school so the yearbook was basically my personal high school scrapbook. But we don't even have printed pictures from our wedding or engagement. So IDK what I'll do now.

llamamama14

Baby #1 I tried to do a scrapbook style baby book but I haven't finished it. Getting photos printed is the hang up for me.

Baby #2 I kept it simple and did a Google photo book with one picture for each month of DD's first year. They aren't posed shots, I just searched my Google Photos for a cute photo from each month.

I handwrote a letter highlighting some key memories of her first year and what she was like as a baby,  took a photo of the letter, and included it in the book. Done in a day.

For keepsakes I have a clear plastic bin for each kid in the basement.  I toss everything I want to save in there. (US pics, hat from the hospital, etc.) I'm going to do a bin for each age range (baby/pre-k, elementary, middle/high) and edit pretty viciously what goes in.  DS's preschool crafts and keepsakes are starting to go in but only ones I think are really cute. I throw most of his crafts out after a week or 2. I also replace items from the bin if a cuter craft or drawing comes along. I just want to have a few keepsakes. I'm mainly doing it for my kids so they have stuff when they're older and can do whatever they want with it.

For family photo albums I do 1 a year and I don't do captions, just photos from Google photos from that year. It's simple and quick and serves the purpose of having printed photos we can flip through. The kids (3 and 18 months) already love looking through them. 

llamamama14

@catlady2015 I made an email account for DS, too. I wrote one email draft when he was a few months old then I never sent it and forgot the password to his account. 

marcus7676

@dinodna3 the free version is just one question / week, so it might alternate kids each week. Right now (still in the trial period), I get one question one night for DS and one question for the baby the next night.  I think I'm going to spring for the $1.99 / month version though instead of the free version because I really like the convenience of it.  

+1 to the email account for DS.  Now, however, I don't know the password.  And I we haven't sent anything.

My dad used to send me "Friday Night Notes" every Friday from when I left for college and almost up to when he died.  He would write a letter in Word and email it to me.  So I have 12 years of these letters and they are some of my most treasured possessions.  I'll probably do something similar with DS and the LO, but that is a ways off!

sunshineandwhiskey

@jsl82 I am not sure about the separation of albums.  I think you would have to manually go in and make sure pictures are distributed according to the correct album, but it is definitely something I am going to find out.  And for the BM necklace, i had a gem stone made out of some of my old milk, and placed into a necklace to wear.  There is a company (a bunch actually) that will do this.  They preserve the milk (some how) and turn it into a stone.  I'll come back and post a pic once my phone stops being a douche canoe 

sunshineandwhiskey

@jsl82 Picture is huge, ugh, but this is what I had made since DD is a Cancer

jsl82

@sunshineandwhiskey now I wish I knew about the breastmilk necklace before I stopped nursing a little over a week ago! 

@marcus7676 my hospital didn't do footprints either- but I've seen friends and family in Pennsylvania with baby footprints on their hospital scrubs (c- sections) so I'm wondering if it was a NJ thing- where the birth certificate didn't require footprints so they didn't do them.

Here is the shadow box I did for DD.  I feel line in 2-4 years both of these will be hanging in my room instead of the kids rooms, so I am looking for a coming home outfit for him that goes with what she wore.  

**edited to include picture... not sure what I did the first time.

MissKittyDanger

@jsl82 That's the idea we're looking at also Did you do it, or have someone else do it?

MissKittyDanger

Any ladies with tatts planning on getting a tatt for their LO?

I have a star chain on my right side {between hip & ribs} I'm gonna add to, but my H and I want to get a matching idea for her. We agreed only time we'll get a matching tatt, because regardless she will be forever ours

Those with ink, I'm curious on what you have for LO {and in general? Could we make this a thread to show off ink if enough people have them?} or if you have a plan on what you wanna get

sunshineandwhiskey

@MissKittyDanger  I have this for DD and will get something similar for this LO. DH has a crab with her name in the center. 

MissKittyDanger

@sunshineandwhiskey Oh that's cute! Is that the literal star sign?

sunshineandwhiskey

@MissKittyDanger Yup!  For Cancer.  I'm obsessed with astrology haha.  And I definitely think we need a GTKY Tattoo addition.  I love ink, and i'm addicted haha 

MissKittyDanger

@sunshineandwhiskey Haha! I'm debating on doing a Gemini one because I already have my own {Virgo} I also love astrology {especially mine lmao!}
I joke with my H we enjoy being busy over the summer
May - mother's day
June - father's day/EDD
July - H's bday
August - anniversay
September - my bday
In line with astrology signs too B-)

YES! WE NEED A THREAD!

jsl82

@MissKittyDanger I did it- twice because I did it upside down the first time.  I'd blame lack of sleep- but I think it was just plan me not paying attention.  I would suggest getting the long t pins as they work better/ stay in place than regular thumb tacks.  Took me about 10 minutes each time.

MissKittyDanger

@jsl82 T pins ... are those these the ones that look like flat nails? {hard to explain}

jsl82

@MissKittyDanger these are T pins https://www.amazon.com/T-Pins-24-Box-Of-100/dp/B00006ICXV
I guess they look like flat nails, but the link is probably easiest to ensure we are talking about the same thing.

MissKittyDanger

@jsl82 Ah yes! Those are what I mean {I couldn't find a link that would work} I've never used them before, are they just like stronger tacks?

jsl82

@MissKittyDanger because of the flat shape you can insert them more along the back board (there isn't much patting in the shadow box), which mean they are more likely to stay in place.  If you use regular thumb tacks, only the tip of the tack will be in the board, which is fine if you are displaying pictures and hospital bands.  The clothes are thicker- and need more support... so the longer flatter t- pins are able to slide along the fabric securing it to the board the entire length of the pin.