New mummy gift idea | letters to my baby | joy the store

Have you ever wanted to create a time capsule? 

I remember when I was a kid, every so often Blue Peter would do an episode where they would either make a time capsule or dig up one that had been buried in the Blue Peter garden. 

I would be fascinated by the snapshot of another time, what they chose to include, and the memories it brought up.

I've always kept my own ‘memory box’ at home, which is stuffed full of silly notes, old pictures, tickets and programmes and little mementoes of past years. 

So when I had my baby boy, one of the first things I wanted to do was start a similar project for him. 

The most treasured items in my memory box are letters. 

Even though things were already becoming more done by text and email, I was quite an avid letter writer as a teenager. The written word has a romance, an elegance and a timelessness that can't be replicated. 

The tactile feel of the paper, the impression of the pen strokes, and the physical trace of the author. The care and personality in each one conveys so much about the person who wrote it.

That's why I absolutely love this 'Letters to my Baby' book from JOY. The title page says ‘Write now. Read later. Treasure forever.’ And I couldn't agree more.

What could be a more special gift to your baby than a book of letters, written over time, carefully preserved and capturing all the funny little stories and tender moments of their early years?

The book is bound on beautiful paper, and features areas to personalise with a picture of your child. Each of the letters has a prompt, or starting point. 

Stuff like: ‘My wishes for you’, ‘All the things I hope you'll try someday’ and ‘Before you were born.’ 

Each letter can be individually sealed in its own colourful envelope, and at the back there's an array of beautiful coloured stickers to use.

It's not the first word or the first step- those will always be remembered anyway. It's the beautiful little details and small memories- the everyday minutiae of a little life- that get forgotten.

With this book you can gift all of those memories back to your child. Wouldn't it be an amazing gift to give when they turn 18, graduate, move out of the family home or even have kids of their own?

Any new parent or mum to be would absolutely love this, and it makes a wonderful gift if you know anyone who is expecting next year.

Check out this and other beautiful gifts and homeware at JOY , especially if you haven't sorted Christmas presents yet!