Candid Club

When I was younger, I kept everything.

Tiny notes folded into hearts. Scraps of wrapping paper from birthdays. Sticker flakes too pretty to use. I’d press flowers into books and stash concert stubs into old tins, convinced that every little moment deserved to be saved. I didn’t have a system, or even a reason. I just knew it felt important to hold onto things, like I was collecting proof that I was here, that I felt something.

But somewhere along the way, I stopped.

I got older. Life got faster. And those small rituals, the tucking away, the scribbling, the gentle archiving of girlhood, faded. I started throwing things out. Not because they didn’t matter anymore, but because I forgot to make space for them. I forgot how good it felt to remember.

So this craft is a return.

A soft, small way to come back to that version of ourselves.

The ones who found meaning in candy wrappers and handwriting. The ones who didn’t need a big reason to save something, they just did.

Memory Matchbox Diaries are tiny keepsake boxes, made from old matchboxes and filled with personal treasures, like mini letters, stickers, drawings, or fragments of something once important.

What you’ll need:

• Empty matchboxes (any size will do)
• Old magazines, book pages, wrapping paper, or washi tape
• Glue or a glue stick
• Scissors
• Bits and pieces from your life: a concert stub, a Polaroid, a tiny bracelet, a candy wrapper, a love note
• Optional: string, mini charms, safety pins, glitter, sticker flakes, ribbon

How to make it:

1. Cover the matchbox

Cut out small pieces of paper or tape to cover the outside of the matchbox. Layer different textures, something floral, something shiny, something torn. Don’t overthink it. Go with your instinct.

2. Create a “cover title.”

Use a tiny strip of paper to name your box. It could be a date, a lyric, an inside joke, or a secret only you understand. Something like:
Summer 2012
The One That Got Away
Don’t Open Until You’re Brave

3. Fill it

This is the magic part. Fold up a note so small it needs unfolding. Add a sticker from your high school planner. A strand of friendship bracelet thread. A photo booth strip. A pressed flower. Anything small enough to fit and big enough to feel.

4. Seal it with a thread

You can wrap your box in string like a mini parcel or use a rubber band to hold it shut. Tape a charm or trinket on top if you want. Like sealing it with intention.

5. Hide it or gift it

You can keep these in a jar on your shelf, bury one in a box under your bed, or give one to someone you love. There’s no right way to use them. The ritual is the point.

Why we love this craft:

Girlhood lives in the smallest things. A scribbled note. A dried daisy. The way someone wrote your name. These boxes aren’t meant to be seen by the world. They’re for you. For the girl who once needed to be heard, even if only by herself.

Try it this weekend. Make just one. And see what you remember.

Tag us if you do—@candidclubph.
Let’s make a whole shelf of stories, one matchbox at a time.