Before long, most new parents find themselves adrift in a jumble of precious trinkets: tiny shoes, well-loved toys, embroidered gowns, the lock of hair from baby's first trim. With some creativity, you can use these things to create a poetic record of the first years of life. Save things from the beginning, and be expansive in your choices; an everyday item such as your baby's first milk bottle will spur as intense a memory as a christening gown.

Time Capsule
For a simple time capsule, place a few items -- we chose a teddy bear, a disposable diaper, and a pair of baby shoes -- in an archival box lined with acid-free paper. Include photographs, videotapes, and a cassette recording of your child's earliest words and feats of logic. A laminated front page from a local newspaper will situate the objects in time.

Book of Firsts
Use a ribbon-tied photo album to keep track of major events: baby's first smile, first teeth, first steps. The frontispiece should introduce the star of the story, newly arrived from his watery world.

Mother's Journal
Dress up a blank book with a simple fabric cover, then fill the pages with your thoughts, dreams, and worries during your pregnancy and beyond. Begin by keeping a list of prospective baby names -- sure to fuel a memorable exchange someday.

Tools and Materials
Kraft paper
Ruler
Scissors
Linen or similar fabric
White craft glue and brush
Medium-weight art paper

Mother's Journal How-To
1. Use kraft paper to make a template: Measure the book cover. Subtract 1/4 inch from the width and add 2 1/2 inches to the height; cut paper to these dimensions. Place the template on top of the book, leaving a gap of 1 1/2 inches between the spine and the left edge of the paper. Adjust so the overlapped edges on the top, bottom and right side each measure 1 1/4 inches. Trim the upper and lower right corners of the paper on the diagonal, 1/8 inch from the book's corners. Using the template, cut two pieces of linen to size.

2. Use white craft glue and a glue brush to affix the linen to the book's front cover, folding overlapping edges to the backs of the covers. (The meitered edges should create neat corners.) Turn the book over, and repeat on back cover.

3. Measure the inside covers of the book, subtract about 1/2 inch all around, and cut two pieces of medium-weight art paper to these dimensions. Glue the paper in place.

Book of Good Wishes
A newborn seems to bring out the writer in everyone. Organize congratulation cards and other correspondence about baby into a single volume.

Tools and Materials
Museum board
Decorative paper
Scissors
Glue
Bone folder (optional)

Book of Good Wishes How-To
1. Cover two pieces of museum board with decorative paper: Cut paper to the dimensions of the boards, adding 1/2 inch on all sides for an overlap. Center each board on the back of one of the pieces of paper; glue down.

2. Trim the paper's corners on the diagonal 1/8 inch from the points of the board. Fold over one side at a time. Crease edges using a bone folder or your fingers; glue down. Fold over remaining sides.

3. To line the inside covers, cut two pieces of decorative paper to the dimensions of the covers minus 1/4 inch on all sides. Glue the paper lining in place. Assemble letters and cards between the faces, and have the book spiral-bound at a copy-shop.

Memory Binder
Transform a vinyl loose-leaf binder into a beautiful memory book using nothing but your imagination and a few basic supplies.

Tools and Materials
Binder
Felt
Scissors
Ruler
Pins
Glue
Rickrack
Scalloping scissors
Decorative paper

Memory Binder How-To
1. Lay the open binder on the felt, and wrap the felt around both covers, marking the points where it abuts the metal binder measure on each side. Allowing 3/8 inch extra on the top and the bottom, cut the felt to size. Put the binder aside. Fold the right and left sides of the felt back in to meet the marks, and pin to keep in place. Cut two pieces of rickrack to the exact length of the open binder cover. Letting half its scalloped edge peek out, glue the rickrack to the inside edge of the cover's top and bottom (the rickrack's glued edge will be sandwiched between two felt layers except at the binder's spine).

2. For an interior pocket, use scallop shears to cut a piece of felt about half the height of the cover and 3/4 inch narrower than its width. Stitch the pocket to the cover's left inside face, making sure not to stitch through the front, outer cover.

3. Machine-sew continuous seams 1/8 inch in from the top and the bottom edges of the cover. Embroider baby's initial and birthdate on the front cover. Fold binder covers back, and slip them into the jacket.

4. Using the binder's dividers as templates, cut new dividers from decorative paper. Fill your binder with mementos, such as crayon rubbings of spoons and combs on tissue paper; add zipper sleeves to hold memorabilia and small treasures.

Framed Memento: Hand over Hand
For a tender document of you child's growth, splay your sleeping infant's hand (he will be most cooperative in dreamland) across a sheet of watercolor paper, and make an outline with a well-sharpened colored pencil. Repeat with the same hand on the same piece of paper every few months, using a slightly different color each time (we used gray, dark blue, and light blue). After the first year, carefully write your child's name beneath the image, and have the paper mounted on a silk mat in a silver-leaf frame. Hang it from a wide satin ribbon on a vintage picture-nail (for a similar effect, use epoxy glue to attach a beautiful button to a wide, flat nailhead).

Framed Memento: Shadow Boxes
A crocheted bootie, silver spoon, and lock of hair share honors in these complementary shadow-box frames. Measure the objects' depth before buying frames. Cover the mats with leftover nursery wallpaper, and use archival tape or white craft glue to mount the treasures. Here, the spoon is held in place by metallic thread tightly wound through two small holes in the mat board. Write baby's name in calligraphy on a strip of paper notched like a ribbon, and glue it underneath.

Arranging Photographs
Display some of the countless photographs of your little charmer using one of these two easy techniques.

Spiral
To create a quiet corner of variously sized black-and-white pictures, have photos mounted in frames of the same color or design. Two or three pictures identical in size can be matted together. Hang the frames in a loose spiral pattern with your favorite picture at the center.

Grid
When displaying color and black-and-white pictures together, a sense of uniformity is key. We recommend taking all your pictures with the same camera; the one used here has a square format. Another option is to crop or enlarge images to the same shape and size. Arrange the mixed images in a procession of identical frames. This simple and consistent treatment will allow you to update your gallery with ease.