This post is a small collection of meaningful, personalized mementos we display around our home to celebrate special moments. Some pieces are DIY projects we made ourselves, others were items rescued from closets and drawers and put back into view. None of these ideas are expensive or complicated — they’re simple, heartfelt ways to keep the romance alive without breaking the bank.
One favorite is our wedding shadow box. We gathered fabric from our DIY table runners, our place cards, the invitation, a thank-you postcard, a favor envelope and a save-the-date photo strip, plus a lemon-and-lime napkin from the day. Everything fits neatly together and becomes a compact keepsake of the whole event—our wedding in a box.
To accessorize three floating shelves in our dining area, we framed three food-related wedding photos: a table setting, some fresh fruit we served, and a row of white wedding cupcakes. Seeing these images every day is much better than letting them collect dust in an album.
Photo booth strips from our wedding are another treasure. We keep all the originals in a white leather album, but we photocopied a few favorites, mounted them on white cardstock, and displayed them in two frames above the console table. It only took tape and a dollar’s worth of supplies to create a display our guests stop to admire.
Long before we married, we started a tradition of stepping into a photo booth to mark special moments. We write the occasion on the back of each strip and store them in a cup on our dining shelves. It’s an easy way to chronicle engagement, anniversaries, birthdays and other milestones.
We also collect chopsticks from our annual New Year’s Eve sushi tradition. Each year we grab sushi on December 31 and write the date and restaurant on a chopstick. The chopsticks go into a pretty vase, creating a simple timeline of meals that ushered in each new year together.
Two stacks of cards from our wedding are another sentimental display: returned RSVP cards with sweet notes and DIY conversation-heart-style message cards we asked guests to fill out instead of signing a guest book. Flipping through these stacks reminds us of friends’ advice and well-wishes — and sometimes reveals that my partner has been browsing them too.
After trips we send ourselves postcards and keep them in a glass vase on the mantel. Each card carries small notes about restaurants or activities and becomes a visual reminder of travels we enjoyed together.
We also have a purchased print with a sweet message and soft thistle color that complements our living room paint. It cost around $35 and feels graphic and meaningful — a little piece that brightens the entryway every time we walk in.
Another small but personal touch is a pair of ceramic initials we found locally. They’re simple, white, and somehow charming — little reminders of us that sit on a shelf and make the room feel more ours.
We framed a vintage map from 1907 on corkboard to track where we’ve traveled. Colored pins show our trips together, and more recently we added a different color for places we’ve visited with our daughter. The map is both decorative and a living travel log.
Framed keys are a favorite DIY: keys from each place we’ve lived are mounted in a shadow box with handwritten notes of the location and date. They’re tangible artifacts of our life together and surprisingly powerful reminders of different chapters.
Above our bed we placed three personalized prints that read “J”, a sign-language ampersand, and “S.” We created the designs, printed them at home, and used Ikea frames we already had. They’re a small, sweet reminder of each other — and they even hint at which side of the bed we sleep on.
For our bathroom we made DIY vintage-style signs that reference places meaningful to us, like Grand Central where we met and Astoria where we lived. Creating these together made them more special than anything store-bought.
We also designed a customized calendar for the year, assigning a favorite or funny quote to each month. Some quotes are silly, others are romantic, and the whole calendar is a yearlong reminder of little moments that matter to us.
We framed a few New York City Walk cards that were gifted to us to recall walks through Central Park and Washington Square during our courtship. Simple Ikea frames keep these memories on the wall instead of tucked away in a drawer.
Finally, our vacation jars are inexpensive canning jars filled with small souvenirs: a hot stone from a honeymoon massage, shells, sand, even old transit cards. We label each jar with the location and date on clear tape. They’re tiny time capsules that spark conversation and nostalgia.
These are a few of the simple ways we inject personalization and romance into our home without spending much. What do you display to celebrate special moments? Framed photos, magnet collections, travel keepsakes — we’d love to hear what meaningful items you keep around your house.
Psst—For more DIY art and decor ideas, check the How To page under the header and browse the “Artsy Ideas” category.
Pssssst—As cute as we try to be, our pets might out-cute us both. They’re pretty adorable companions around the house.