Simple Memory Ring with Free Printable Journals {Bigelow Tea Trip Memories}

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and Bigelow Tea.

All opinions are mine alone.

This Simple Memory Ring is easy to make and a great way to keep souvenirs and photos. Mine is filled with memories from my Bigelow Tea trip. I've included the free printable journals and photo pages below for you to use, as well.

#AmericasTea #CollectiveBias #BigelowVIP

I've mentioned before that I'm not much of a scrapbooker. The year we got married {12 years ago}, I went to a scrap party and purchased the biggest, fanciest scrapbooking kit ever {it came with its own wheelie bag and zip code, y'all...huge}. I had lofty hopes of scrapbooking our wedding and honeymoon trip with all the super cool supplies I bought {chuckle}. Not only did that purchase bring about our first big *discussion* about finances as newlyweds {gulp}, it cinched the fact that I should never be allowed at those kind of parties...with an unsupervised checkbook. Eleven years and six months later, I finally opened the kit {ummm, yeah} and wheeled that thing all the way to the thrift store to donate. And thus ended my life-long {errr, eleven and a half year} dream of being a scrapbooker.

Because of my lackadaisical approach to documenting big events and trips in our life {the shoebox method really wasn't cutting it anymore}, I came up with something a bit more on my own level {read: anyone can do this}. Check it out below>>>

I've been chatting a lot about the awesomesauce that was the New York City Bigelow trip lately. Y'all, it was too cool for school...what a BLAST! I wanted to come up with something simple that would work for me to document all of the fun memories...and still be able to keep them nice and neat. While I do know this doesn't take into account any major preservation methods for artifacts {words like acid-free paper keep flying through my head}, I'm really not planning on handing all of my lifelong vacay memories over to a museum one day {I'm sure they'd all be fighting over them y'all...I don't want to start anything amongst the biggies}. I do store this in a large, gallon sized zip top bag to keep water and dust out...when it isn't hanging on the hooks in my office.

Here's the basics: I used the journal and photo sheets that I designed {available for you to download below}, all of my fun memory items {museum maps, playbills, Bigelow items, tickets etc.}, along with a whole punch and a three-inch binder ring.

It slightly pained me to punch a whole in the cool foil pouch that Bigelow uses...but I did stock up with several boxes of this deliciousness to have on hand all the time. This was the tea I had the moment we arrived at Bigelow's headquarters in Fairfield, Connecticut {read all about that day here}. Funny story, we arrived in a really nice luxury van that had picked us up in NYC that morning. The drive {about an hour and a half} was a little bumpy and several of us felt a little *green* when we got there. This tea was a lifesaver and is one of my new faves: Bigelow's Lemon Ginger Herbal Tea plus Probiotics. Several of the Bigelow friends suggested this one to us right away...and boy, it totally hit the spot. So, of course, I had to add a bag to my ring. Sometimes with thicker items {like Playbills}, you may need to punch a couple of times to make it through all of the layers. After they're punched, you can star laying out the order to place them on the ring {details on how I did mine below in this post}.

Side note: I was so excited to find my new FAVORITE Bigelow Tea in my local Walmart. Bigelow Tea is All American: 100% American made by an American Family; an American Company for the American consumer. Available at an American Retailer: Walmart. For more fun Bigelow Tea blends {they even have seasonal ones, y'all}, be sure to follow the Bigelow Facebook page here and their Twitter feed here.

Besides all of my souvenir type of items, I also did small journals over each day. I kept it short and sweet so I knew I would follow through and complete it all. And yes, I made sure to document every meal I ate and what I had...once a foodie, always a foodie. I think half of the experience in traveling is the food, y'all!

This is all of the pieces put together...it looks kind of messy here, but I wanted you to see how it all fit on there really well. I divide everything with the journal-a-day cards and then put the corresponding artifacts and photos to that particular day behind its journal. And print as many journal and photo cards as you need...I used a lot of photos in mine. I just adhered them to the paper with glue dots.

This would also be a great way to preserve your favorite holiday memories as well.

I loved every aspect of my trip to visit the Bigelow Headquarters. It was so memorable...and now I'm so glad that I have all of my memories on a neat little ring forever. If you'd like to make your own Bigelow memories, be sure to check out Bigelow Tea’s Charleston Tea Plantation; it's America’s largest working tea garden. Guests are invited to their Charleston Tea Plantation for weddings, tours and even a variety of music festivals. It’s a tea-riffic way to experience historic Southern culture and a living piece of American history {and it's next on this girl's bucket list!}.