Here are the scraps of ephemera I saved in February.
Top row
Packaging from G2 pen ink refills.
Packaging from a Hostess cupcake, a favorite childhood snack.
Scrap from a “puzzle history sheet” from the puzzle exchange I’m launching at my gym.
Second row
A coin and sticker I found on the floor.
Tag from a stuffed animal I gifted one of my kids for Valentine’s Day.
Packaging from a favorite Crystal Light flavor.
Third row
Price tag from A Room of One’s Own, which I bought in 2017 and (finally) read for the first time in February.
Packaging from my weekly Rice Krispie Treat.
Label for a new medication.
Bottom row
Packaging from another favorite childhood snack (the good news: I finally found a place that sells the individually boxed version; the less good news: they cost $3.69 a piece!!!).
Piece of cardboard from a puzzle I had made of a photo I took years ago.
Image sheet from a puzzle in my collection. I have no idea why it’s so small. I’ve never seen a puzzle come with an image sheet this small. It’s pretty useless.
The first ephemera grid of the year is in the books. Here are the scraps of ephemera I saved in January.
Top row
Packaging from the bread crumbs I use to make my daily lunch and dinner of crispy breaded chicken breast (it’s just store brand).
Portion of an old hard drive I had destroyed.
Packaging from a box of M&Ms that my son gifted me for Christmas, and that I finished in January.
Second row
Wrapper from an Andes “after dinner” mint. (When the kids were much younger, we each had an Andes after dinner every night. Early in the pandemic when we became split between households and then states, the nightly tradition died out. In January, I decided to buy a box and began having one each evening before bed.)
Packaging from an electrolyte sample.
Tag from a new gym t-shirt.
Third row
Tamper-proof seal from one of my supplements.
Portion of packaging from a natural toothbrush that I tried.
It’s been a long time (years!) since I’ve shared my Project Life pages online. I’m both nervous and excited to begin sharing them again. Today, a look at some of the spreads in my 2025 album.
For the last two years (2024 and 2025), I’ve not begun keeping an album until July. I’ve also not gone back to fill in the first half of the year for either year—and I don’t plan to. Is this ideal? No. Am I happy to have some of the year documented v. none of it? Yes.
Some of these spreads are unfinished; they still need journaling. The holdup: I’m still not sure whether I want to handwrite or type my journaling onto the cards that are missing journaling. So it goes sometimes (most times).
In 2024, I included in my Project Life album for the first time the media I consumed throughout the year, using 6″ x 8″ pages divided into 2″ x 2″ pockets and Avery self-adhesive insertable tabs. I enjoyed the practice and continued it in 2025.
In 2024, I included thumbnails for only the movies I streamed at home. In 2025, I included thumbnails for movies that I streamed at home (on the left) and movies that I watched in the theater (on the right), separated by pages holding my “movie ticket stubs” (I am endlessly annoyed about the disappearance of well-designed and quality-crafted ephemera).
I included only those TV shows and podcasts that I watched or listened to either in full (season or series) or consistently throughout the year. If I watched an episode or two of a TV show or listened to an episode or two of a podcast to get a feel for it and didn’t continue watching or listening beyond that episode or two, I didn’t include it.
I do realize that I watch a lot of TV. Much of my TV time is spent pedaling away on a stationary bike.
I LOVE a good soapy show (Call the Midwife, Grey’s), and a good DC show/political drama (Homeland, Scandal, Slow Horses). Homeland was partly a rewatch (I’d seen only the first four seasons). I’d never seen Grey’s or Scandal before and I loved both. Fisk is excellent autistic representation. Pernille, a Norwegian show on Netflix, was my favorite watch all year. Charming, heart-wrenching, funny. I wanted to live inside their life. 12/10.
Most enjoyed podcasts in 2025:
The perennial favorites:
Diss and Tell (RIP)
Even the Royals (RIP)
I Said No Gifts!
Scamfluencers
Smosh Reads Reddit
The others:
Articles of Interest
The Knife: Off Record
The Severance Podcast
The Telepathy Tapes
Trail Tales
True Crime Bullshit
The latest season of Articles of Interest—”Gear”—is so good. It explores how military apparel inspired America’s early outdoor industry, and how military apparel continues to inspire that industry, as well as streetwear and fashion in general. For example, did you know Lockheed Martin makes streetwear? Neither the fuck did I.
I started listening to The Knife: Off Record after hearing a teaser for an episode of the show that covers the murder of someone who was, once upon a time, in my social circle. It was the first time I’d listened to a true crime podcast from the perspective of someone who knew the victim and it completely rewired how I think about true crime podcasts and the true crime industry. The hosts did a great job with the story, and I’ve been listening ever since.
Corner of a Cinnabon box from our annual Cinnabon (and Build-A-Bear) trip
Second row
Corner of a recipe card I ripped up to recycle after messing up the recipe I was writing on it
Scrap of a popcorn bag from the popcorn machine in the waiting area of where I had my flat tire replaced (boo to having a flat tire, thank god it was under warranty and cost me $0.00 to replace)
Scrap of packaging from a box of Pizza Hut my son brought home
Third row
Leaf from the neighborhood
Part of the bag I brought home my holiday cards in from Oblation
Portion of packaging on a notebook I bought for a new project
Label from new sweatpants I (finally!) bought myself during Black Friday sales
Piece of an old refund/gift card that I cut up while going through a small stack of old gift cards to see which still have money on them and which don’t
Last week, I spent an afternoon printing out a batch of filler cards I made (“made”) from patterns I found on Pinterest.
To find the patterns, I searched Pinterest for different wallpapers—floral, botanical, geometric, etc. To make the cards, I opened the images in Photoshop Elements, adjusted size and position to my liking, printed them on (cheap) white card stock, and used my paper cutter to trim them to size.
I also made a few fifty-fifty cards using Studio Calico digitals and patterns I found on Pinterest. Sadly, the Studio Calico digitals I used are no longer available (I’m still so bummed that they left the memorykeeping industry).
I’m excited to add some visual interest and pops of color to my Project Life pages with these cards. Part of why I’ve been so inconsistent with Project Life for the last few years is, most of the time, my life doesn’t feel worth documenting/remembering. My days are highly routinized and not very bold or fun. I spend the vast majority of my time alone in the same few places doing the same exact things, and those spaces and things either aren’t very visually attractive, or else they don’t photograph well. For me, a big part of the appeal of Project Life is the design aspect. I like arranging pages that I like to look at. That’s hard to do when I’m not excited about the practice because I’m not excited about my life. Silly as it may seem, these fun and fresh filler cards add a bit of excitement back to this practice for me. Here’s hoping it sticks.
Here are the scraps of ephemera I saved in August.
Top row
Packaging from a book I ordered
Scraps of a security envelope pattern given to me by someone after they learned I collect security envelope patterns (such a sweet gesture)
Packaging from the Parmesan I sprinkled over the massive slice of pizza my son brought home for me one day
Second row
Caution tape leftover in the courtyard after they repainted the exterior of our apartment buildings (the paint job looks so bad y’all)
Packaging from the first-ever cabin air filter that I installed in my car by myself—I can’t believe I’ve overpaid for the oil change people to do it all these years
Paper from the pizza box that held the massive slice of pizza my son brought home for me one day
Third row
Label from the pool noodle I bought to bring to the river
Old exterior paint from my apartment complex
Oil change sticker
Bottom row
Matchbook cover that I found on the ground during a walk
Packaging from my son’s new Rogue barbell
Packaging from a new vegetable brush that I finally bought after many months of needing to replace the old one I threw out
