Capturing Memories of the Year

Capturing Memories of the Year

With the shorter days of the season, and the busy time of getting ready for the upcoming holidays there isn’t a lot of time for me to be riding. My riding time is now restricted to the rare days on the weekends when it is warm. Yes, I am a fair weathered rider. If it is snowing, cold and windy, I won’t be riding. I will go out and play with my horses though, but riding just isn’t going to happen.

But I try to look at the positive. Even though I can’t ride, that does mean I have more time to get some projects done, and even make some jumps for next year. I try to make the most of the time that I have and use it to the best of my ability.

I have had this idea in my head for some time now. This is a project I have wanted to do, but never made the time to do it. But with how much I have been working with both of my horses over the past year, I wanted something to remember all of the work, and success of the year. But I didn’t want to just make a memory book. I wanted something to hang on the wall, so when I walk into the room where this will hang, I can remember how much I did in the past year. Capturing memories of the year, and putting them on display is what I wanted to create.

Another reason for getting this idea out of my head, and making it real, I also want to use is as a goal for the upcoming year.

Capturing Memories and Hanging Them on a Wall

I participated in a lot of online horse shows this year. That means I have a ton of photos on my computer. But instead of just having them cluttering up my hard drive, I decided to create a collage of some great moments that were captured through the lens of a camera.

I scanned through the hundreds of photos to find my favorites. Then I went to my favorite online photo lab, and ordered small prints.

Printing Photos

My favorite photo lab by far is Nations Photo Lab. There are others that are less expensive, like Snapfish and Shutterfly, but I have had the best results with Nations photo lab, so I continue to use them. The quality of the prints is the best, and they only cost $.28 each. That’s a good deal in my opinion.

I ordered a bunch of photos online, and waited for them to arrive. But while I was waiting, I had time to get the rest of the components of my project. I went to Walmart and found a collage photo frame. It’s a poster size frame with a huge cutout so you can add photos.

The Other Pieces of the Project

The one I chose is pretty simple, and cost $19.99. There are others that I found after buying the one I did. I think next year I will buy this photo collage frame.

Then I wanted to have a year plaque, to designate the year. This is something I haven’t done yet, but maybe as the years progress, this is something that I want to do.

And then to complete the project, I chose 2 ribbons (or rosettes, depending on where you live in the world) that I will be attaching to the frame, along with the year plaque.

And then I waited for my photos to arrive. The good thing about Nations Photo lab is they ship fast, so I didn’t have to wait long for the package.

Once they came, I got to work determining which photos I would use. And then I cut them out (gasp!) and positioned them in each section of the frame.

Once I get started with a project, I can’t stop until it’s done. Once my photos arrived, I was able to get them into the frame, and finish everything up in an evening after work.

After the photos were in the frame, I used my trusty glue gun to attach the ribbons (rosettes) and the year sign.

Then all that was left was to find the perfect place to hang up my work of art!

Reflecting on the Year 2017

I am not only happy with how this turned out, I am also really happy to be able to look at this collection of photos to remember the year I had with my horses.

And I made use of the down time that I had. So even though I am not out riding my horses, I am able to see what I did do over the past year. And this motivates me to do even better next year. I am already dreaming of the long summer days, and winter hasn’t even officially arrived.

But by keeping these memories at the forefront of my mind, it helps me to set my goals for the upcoming year. #goals

This would be a fantastic and thoughtful gift for your favorite equestrian, horse lover or anyone really. And since the holidays are almost upon us, it’s a great time to create some artwork for your home, or someone else’s.