One year of the pandemic. Hasn’t that just flown by? I wish someone could explain to me how it’s felt like no time at all and yet every day in lockdown has seemed to drag endlessly! As horrible as some of the days have been, I think it’s important that we remember these pandemic and lockdown memories so we can share them with our kids in the future. It’s been a hard winter, but we are now looking into brighter days and to the roadmap out of lockdown. Ready to create something that you can keep forever to remember these strange times? Here are some of my favourite ways to physically create something you can keep forever.
Ways to document the last twelve months
There are tons of ways to document the last twelve months. From creating photo books to share with friends and family, to pouring your heart out into a journal or blog. Here are my four favourite ways:
Photo book
A quick and easy way to remember all the trials and tribulations of lockdown is by creating a photo book. There are many online providers offering this service including Bonusprint. Photo books from Bonusprint are super easy to create yourself. You simply select all the photos you want to add into your book, personalise it however you want, upload them and they’ll turn into a gorgeously crafted photo book.
This is a really simple way of documenting the past year and you can make as many as you like to share with friends and family too – the ideal gift for birthdays and Christmas!
Scrapbooking
If you’re looking to add a bit more detail into your physical memory than just a photo book, then a fantastic way to remember everything we have done throughout the pandemic including homeschooling, daily walks around our local areas and drawing rainbows is to create a scrapbook. Scrapbooking is a really fun and creative activity that your little ones can get involved with too. After all what child doesn’t love sticking and gluing?
Head to your local craft store (when they have reopened!) or online to pick up scrapbooking essentials like cute sticky tape, stickers, patterned paper, scissors and glue. You can print lots of pictures to stick in your scrapbook and add little notes alongside to remember what you were doing in each photo.
Write a journal
A traditional way of recording all the homeschooling highs and lows and documenting life in a pandemic, is to write a journal. Journalling is a very cathartic way to get all your thoughts and feelings onto paper. So, if you are finding that the ongoing lockdowns have caused you stress and negative emotions, journalling may be a great way to process these feelings and improve your mental health.
Pick up a gorgeous book from somewhere like Ohh Dear or Paperchase, treat yourself to some nice pen and settle down in your loungewear with a candle burning to let it all out!
Blogging
Fancy recording your thoughts and feelings in a more techy way? Try blogging! Blogging has been an incredible hobby for me over the last five years, giving me an outlet to express myself and proving to be a fantastic way to earn a bit of additional income.
Blogging is a great way to document life during the pandemic. Not only can you write as much as you want, but you can add photos too! I found it really helpful to blog during those difficult days of trying to work from home alongside the kids.
What else can you do?
If you want to have a creative constant reminder of life during the lockdown, why not print your favourite photograph from the last twelve months and create a canvas wall print or poster print. Perhaps you captured an amazing shot during one of your local works, or maybe you took a great shot of your child learning to read or write during the homeschooling days. Whatever the memory, printing it on wall canvas can make an excellent addition to your home and leave you with a lasting memory of these important pandemic days.