A MEMORY JAR: The Best Father’s Day Gift (Low cost, High Meaning!)

How to put together a Memory Jar for the best gift for the men in your life!

I think we can all agree: Men are the hardest to choose gifts for! (right?) How many birthdays and Father’s Days have I labored over what to gift the men in my life, only to land on something that felt completely shallow. (the socks/necktie joke is not so funny anymore.) Ugh. As someone who has “GIFTS” high up on my list of love languages, this feels so sad and wrong. It’s not that I don’t care, it’s just that men are HARD to buy for!

Last spring, my family once again faced the Dad-gift dilemma for my Dad’s 84th birthday. This one felt extra important as my Dad had recently begun a battle with cancer, and we just wanted to bless him a little extra. A new shirt or necktie would not do.

I entered the family group text: “Does ANYONE have a creative idea for Grandpa’s birthday?”

Everyone:

Me: “Please. This is hard.”

(Finally. Josiah (the firstborn, bless him): “I have an idea…”

Next he shared the idea that turned into (in my Dad’s words,) “the best gift ever!”

YAY YAY YAY! It’s super simple and I believe will bless the socks off any dad/grandpa/man in your life. Probably especially as they get older or are going through a difficult season.

The gift is what I simply call a “Memory jar”!

HOW TO MAKE A SIMPLE MEMORY JAR:

To make a Memory Jar you simply need a jar with a wide opening. (I started with a large mason jar but realized it was hard to reach in for the memory strips. (If you don’t have one on hand, a trip to Walmart or TJ Max will deliver!) The only other thing you need is some paper and a printer. (though you could hand-write if you prefer or don’t have access to a printer.)

For our project I emailed the entire extended family with this message:

“Hey guys. I’m putting together a Memory Jar gift for Dad. Could you please each send me 1 or more favorite memories with Dad/Grandpa. These can be super simple, and from anytime you like: they can be from 30 years ago or last month. Just email me what comes to mind!”

Knowing my family, I had a feeling I’d get a good variety of thoughtful tear-jerkers, as well as some hilarious memories. And I was right.

And asking for the memories to be sent via email made it super simple! (I honestly think giving them a short/tight deadline helped too!)

As emails came in I simply printed them out, and cut them into small strips of paper (mine were not as cute as the image above, and trust me, Dad didn’t care. It was what was on the paper that mattered!)

Some people sent 4-5 memories, some just sent one. Each memory strip had the person’s name on it (I had to add that later, which wasn’t a big deal but you might ask your contributors to format it as “one memory, with your name on the end.”)

The process of printing and cutting and putting into the jar took me maybe 20-30 minutes, top.

I used a medium-size glass jar with a wide opening, and we placed a ribbon around the top.

On Dad’s birthday, after dinner and cake, we all gathered to give him a couple gifts: A new shirt, a pair of flip-flops…then this. And trust me, we could have skipped the shirt and flip-flops.

He opened the jar and already looked emotional at the idea. He stated, “I’ll just read ONE.” He didn’t get through the first memory before the tears began.

And he didn’t stop at one.

He read four or five out loud and we all laughed and cried. Memories are SO powerful!

Then we said goodnight and went home.

When I woke up there was a text from mom and dad saying they stayed up and read every single memory from the jar. And they would continue to reach in and re-read them again.

The Memory Jar gift was a HUGE success. And though it was truly easy and quick to do, it did not come across rushed or shallow. It was gold.

I hope this inspires some special gift giving for the men in your life. I think it would be great for Father’s Day as well as a birthday, Christmas, etc. (And obviously, women would love it too!)

I also love that you can add memories to the jar over time as well. You can drop in one or two, or a whole batch of fresh memories on special occasions or just for fun down the road!

Let me know how it goes and any variations you take on the project!