One fun idea for a genealogy project is making a time capsule. For some reason, I have not heard of a lot of people doing this but it seems like a great way to have some fun while preserving your family history for future generations. Making a time capsule does not need to be very time-consuming or expensive either.
To get started on your genealogy time capsule project, print out a nice copy of your pedigree chart. Next, get some current family photos and write the names of the people in the photos on the back of them. Then, have some fun writing a letter to the people that will eventually discover your time capsule. You might want to include in your letter a detailed description of an average day in your life. It might not seem like fascinating material to you, but to someone a hundred or two hundred years in the future it will be very interesting.
If there are any interesting newspaper clippings about your family such as birth announcements, obituaries, anniversaries, engagements, or news stories then feel free to add those to your time capsule too. Then, choose some small items to put in there for the finders to enjoy such as coins, keys, a non-working cell phone, and maybe even a cd or two of your favorite music. If you do any type of craft, place some things that you have made in your time capsule for someone to discover in the future.
I am sure you are wondering by now where the “capsule” part of the genealogy time capsule project comes in. You will need to contain the items that you have selected in a way that they will be preserved for many years until the time capsule is discovered. A good way to begin is to place the items in zippered plastic bags so that they will not get wet. Then, decide whether you would like to bury the time capsule outside or hide it somewhere indoors. If it is going to stay inside, you could put your plastic bags in a plastic storage bin, metal box, or even a large plastic bucket with a lid. My husband works in a restaurant so if I ever make a time capsule, chances are it will be encased in a yellow 5-gallon bucket that smells like pickles. We have a lot of those buckets around here. If you would like to bury your time capsule, the same containers will work but you will also want to seal the lid shut with duct tape.
The really fun part of making a time capsule is to hide it somewhere in your home or bury it in your yard. It is also fun to imagine what the people that discover and open the time capsule will think about its contents. What will you put in your genealogy time capsule?