HOW TO MAKE A TIME CAPSULE

This post kind of sounds like an episode from The Middle with the Heck family.

The time capsule was a great idea, but I was short on time to pull it together.

My vision was for future homeowners to unearth our little treasures and enjoy the random contents in the space between the newly installed cabinets and the soon-to-be-installed countertops.

this …

DETAILS OF A TIME CAPSULE

There are no rules for a time capsule. I just loved the idea of a future owner discovering a little peek into our family and our brownstone in the suburbs home.

Maybe future homeowners or contractors will find our very last-minute buried treasure under our kitchen counters. There are no rules ofr creating a treasure of memories for future homeowners.

I hope the owners find it and not the demo crew tasked with tearing out our cabinets.
So I guess the success of our hidden treasure comes down to who finds it.

I love that the items we included provide a history and feel of our family.

This is more fun than reading the history of the owners in the title work documents.

On the morning our countertops were scheduled to be installed I had 15 minutes to make a time capsule.

I was going to stash the time capsule in the space between the soon-to-be new countertops.

TIME CAPSULE DURING REMODEL

I had visions of burying our family time capsule in the woods behind our house. Except, it was mid-November and the ground would be frozen. I also had visions of my children happily digging that hole for my family time capsule.

So here is how I created and buried a family time capsule on the morning of our counter install.

Below is the space where I stashed our time capsule. The existing counters were removed during our kitchen demo. But there was a small space between the cabinet and frame where I planned to make the drop.

I should clarify; there was no actual time capsule or box. Instead, it was a family collection of random objects; tucked into the space between the cabinet box and the extended counter for the breakfast bar.

I should have stored the items in a box.

With hopes that decades from now, a future homeowner might unearth our family time capsule during a remodel.

I wish I had put more thought into this. In the middle of our kitchen makeover, I thought we would never get to the counter stage.

And, then seven weeks later it was a Friday morning and the counter and crew was en route.

CONTENTS

Over the years, I never had the heart to toss my kids’ collections of pottery. So it seemed appropriate for a future family’s expedition to find pottery pieces, with my children’s initials scrawled on the bottom.

Of course, the bigger question might be why was there an Italian wine bottle. But, the wine bottle was from our daughter’s semester abroad trip to Florence. A nod to our modest travel adventures.

Basically, I stashed objects that I loved but I did not have a place to display in the decor. It is a mom’s burden to bare when choosing the best neon green, oatmeal like texture kiln dried pottery.

I talked about other ideas here about what to do with family heirlooms.

In addition to the pottery and the wine bottle, the family capsule corner included the most recent issue of 5280 Magazine (a Denver magazine).

I also tossed in a coffee mug with our dogs’ “mugs” on the mug.

Again, I did not have the heart to toss the mug so I buried it below the kitchen counter’s surface.

And, I included a Christmas card from years gone by with our kids at a Denver Bronco game in full-on orange and blue jerseys and foam fingers.

The Christmas card was a funny take on the 12 months of 2007. It captured our family’s personality perfectly.

And, I included a handwritten note about the kitchen renovation and the family time capsule. My husband and kids loved the idea.

IDEAS

And, only after the counters were installed did I think I should have stored the time capsule contents in a box. And I thought about these ideas for the box.

• Local magazine
• Family photo
• Original house photos
• Family recipes
• Things you love but can part with for prosperity (all of the kids’ pottery pieces)
• Christmas Ornament
• A dollar bill

IIf I think too long about this I may find a way to pry the counter off and do a time capsule makeover! That is my squirrel brain on hyper-speed.

It was such a fun idea and a nice way to end an eight-week kitchen renovation. And, who knows if a pipe bursts or we gut the main level, we might just stumble upon the time capsule first!

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