The Yearboard

I've discovered from my reader survey (thanks to all who have filled it out so far!) that some of you guys and gals like personal stories and practical tips. Today I'm going to share with you something that I've been doing for several years, and every year I'm glad that I kept it up.

It's a yearboard, a fantastic way to express yourself and treasure the memories that you make throughout the year. It's unplanned, unstructured, and totally you. All you have to do is keep an eye out for little things that signify the events of your year, then pin them to your yearboard. In 2011 I collected a newspaper from England, a Choc-o-lait stick, the order of service from a friend's wedding, a green and yellow ribbon stick from our Superbowl victory celebration, and much more. Some months you might not have anything to pin up, at other times you might have dozens of items. At the end of the year you've got a wacky collage that is full of beautiful reminders of the past months.

The photo at the top is what my friend's yearboard looked like in 2010. You can see that she's the artistic type who painstakingly arranges all kinds of beautiful little snippets of her life. The picture to the right shows what my board looks like right now: completely blank except for a few cute thumb tacks. It's ready for 2012!

I have the tendency to just throw the bits and pieces onto my board, but I'm going to try to be more creative  and deliberate about it this year. Will you do this with me? All you need is a cork board or similar palette on which to pin paper, stickers, photos, pamphlets, buttons, napkins, CDs--whatever suits your fancy. Maybe you'll choose to tape them to a mirror, or sticky-tack them to cover your wall. At the end of the year I'll post what my board looks like and I'd love to see yours as well!