Artful Panoply: Baby Shower Invitation & Time capsules

Baby Shower Time Capsules

Oh, did we ever have some fun with these at a recent baby shower for my niece!

I picked up a dozen tin prom time capsules at a garage sale and have been searching for the perfect thing to use them since.

Brainstorm! I sent them out along with the baby shower invitation. Instructions on the back of the invitation requested the attendee to decorate the tin, fill it with something for the baby, and indicate a date or age in the future when it should be opened.

Of course we all voted to open them and check out the contents at the baby shower because we knew the mother wouldn't be able to resist peeking and we were all curious what was in them. Wow. Did everyone get creative with the contents!

Here are some of the great ideas people came up with:

A USB hard drive filled with digitized family photos and a family tree fan pre filled out with 5 generations on the baby's mother's side.

For Baptism - a christening baby bonnet and bracelet

At 5 - an apron, chefs hat, and favorite cookie recipes for an afternoon with grandma.

At 2 - Frilly training pants and cute socks.

At 16 - two quarters taped to a very funny offer to pick her up if she calls from a house party at midnight and needs a ride home. All assuming there was even a public phone then.

At 6 - plastic beads and bobbles to make fantastic jewelry.

At 22 - a big oversized shinny faux diamond ring and advice to learn to cook to get a real ring. It included a favorite recipe.

At 18 - a necklace and earrings worn by her great-grandmother when she attended the baby's parent's wedding day.

At 4 - a tin filled "girl" lego figurines. Our family has an overabundance of boys so the baby's grandmother saved all the girl figures as the boys abandoned them.

At 21- two airplane size bottles of alcohol - do you think those will make it 21 years?