Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
How I Actually Preserved My Baby's First Haircut Without Losing It
36
items That tiny curl from her first haircut sat in a crumpled tissue in my junk drawer for two months before I panicked and went on a mission to do this right. If you're the parent who keeps saying ‘I’ll put that in the baby book later' while precious keep...
Sections
12
First Haircut Keepsake Envelopes
Baby Memory Books Worth Filling Out
Acid-Free Storage for Tiny Keepsakes
Labels and Dating Supplies
Curl-Friendly First Haircut Tools
Photo Props for First Haircut Day
First Haircut Keepsake Envelopes
The tissue-in-a-drawer method failed me spectacularly. Found these after I nearly threw away a napkin with her first curl folded inside it during a kitchen clean-out.
Grab this before the haircut appointment, not after — I made that mistake and spent a week with a tiny curl rattling around in a sandwich bag. Fits perfectly in a memory box or baby book page.
Baby First Curl Keepsake Box Set with Velvet Inside Alloy
Use this if you want something that sits on a shelf and actually looks intentional. My mother-in-law spotted it on the nursery bookcase and teared up, which tells you everything.
Custom My First Haircut Keepsake Frame
Snag the whole set because first tooth, hospital bracelet, all of it needs a home. I wish someone had told me to buy this during the nesting phase instead of scrambling six months in.
Kate & Milo Gender Neutral Baby Gift Set
Baby Memory Books Worth Filling Out
Bought three different baby books before finding ones I'd actually open past month two. The guilt of blank pages is real — these made it feel less like homework.
Switch to this if your current baby book has 47 blank pages staring at you. The prompts are specific enough to jog your sleep-deprived memory but short enough that you'll actually write something.
First 5 Years Baby Memory Book
Keep this on your nightstand, not a shelf — that's the only reason I actually filled mine out. Minimalist design so it doesn't feel like scrapbooking, which I am absolutely not wired for.
A Keepsake Baby Journal and Baby Memory Book
Try this one if you're the parent who takes 400 photos but writes down zero details. The layout basically holds your hand through each milestone without being patronizing about it.
Little Artist Baby Memory Book
Acid-Free Storage for Tiny Keepsakes
Learned the hard way that regular envelopes and plastic bags can yellow or damage delicate items over time. A quick fix now saves you from heartbreak at their graduation party.
Toss the hospital bracelet, first curl, and dried flower from the baby shower all in here. Acid-free lining means nothing yellows — unlike the regular shoebox I started with.
Hallmark 3-Pack Gift Box Bundle (White Square)
Use these to slip locks of hair, notes from grandparents, even tiny ultrasound photos into the baby book without tape ruining everything. Wish I'd known about acid-free sleeves before I glue-sticked my way through page one.
Pioneer Photo Albums Photo Album Refills
Wrap the curl in this before putting it in any container. Regular tissue has chemicals that break down keepsakes over time — found that out from a librarian friend who looked horrified at my napkin method.
100pcs Acid Free Archival Tissue Paper Unbuffered White
Labels and Dating Supplies
Six months from now you will not remember which curl was from the first trim and which was from the second. Ask me how I know.
Stick one on whatever container you use and write the date immediately. Future you will be so grateful — I found an unlabeled bag of hair in a drawer and genuinely could not identify which child it belonged to.
Avery, Printable Round Labels, 2.5" Glossy White, 90 Labels
Grab these because regular pen ink fades over years. Wrote my daughter's birth stats in Sharpie and it's already ghosting — these archival pens don't pull that nonsense.
Customer reviews for Sakura Pigma Micron Fineliner Pens
For the parent who wants the label to look like they have their life together. Cut a small strip, write the date and milestone, and it looks like you planned this from day one. Nobody needs to know the truth.
Cricut Joy Smart Label Writable Vinyl - Permanent, 5.5" x 13"
Curl-Friendly First Haircut Tools
Her first haircut was at home because she screamed at the salon. Having the right tiny scissors made the difference between a cute trim and a moment I'd rather forget.
Use the rounded-tip scissors for that first snip — they're small enough for baby-fine hair and you won't panic about poking anyone. Saved the curl right onto the keepsake envelope mid-trim.
Safety 1ˢᵗ Sleepy Baby Nail Clippers, Arctic
Try this if your toddler acts like scissors are a medieval torture device. The quiet trimmer and the styling cape with the clear visor kept my kid distracted long enough to get one decent curl saved.
Fridababy Baby Basics Kit with NoseFrida, Windi
Pair this with whatever cutting tool you pick — detangling before the cut means you get a clean curl to save instead of a tangled knot that looks like dryer lint in the keepsake box.
Wet Brush Kids Original Detangler, Hairbrush, Stars, 1 Ct
Photo Props for First Haircut Day
Took zero photos of my first kid's haircut and deeply regret it. By kid two, I set up the whole scene like a tiny photo shoot and it took five extra minutes.
Hold up the ‘First Haircut’ card, snap a photo, done. Took me thirty seconds and now it's framed in the hallway. The font is clean enough that it doesn't scream ‘I bought milestone cards.’
Pearhead, Baby Wooden Milestone Cards, 1-12
Throw a cute bib on them as a makeshift cape — it catches the hair clippings AND makes the photo look intentional. Multi-tasking at its finest when you have zero hands free.
Hudson Baby Unisex Cotton Bib & Sock Set
Snap a before photo with the hat on, then the after photo with the fresh cut showing. My mom framed both side by side and honestly it's the best gift idea I accidentally stumbled into.
Little Me Baby Boys Footie and Hat 0-3 Months Navy
Shadow Boxes and Display Frames
Some keepsakes deserve more than a drawer. Mounted her first curl next to the hospital photo and it stops people in the hallway every time.
Swap out that bare nursery wall spot for this — drop in the curl envelope, a photo from haircut day, maybe the hospital bracelet. Front-loading means you can add stuff without dismantling the whole thing.
Americanflat 11" x 14"Shadow Box Frame with Shatter
Get the white one if your nursery leans neutral. Deep enough to fit a small keepsake box inside with room for a photo mat. Hung mine with Command strips because I don't trust myself with a drill near baby's room.
Gallery Solutions Pinnacle 8" x 10" Shadow Box
Use this for a flatter display — press the curl between acid-free tissue, sandwich it behind glass with a tiny label. Looks like something from a boutique and cost me under ten dollars.
Mainstays 8x10 Floating Picture Frame, Black
Keepsake Boxes for Growing Collections
Started with one curl and now I have teeth, hospital bands, first shoes, and a truly alarming number of sentimental items that need a real home.
Ditch the random shoeboxes and consolidate everything here. Divided compartments mean the first curl doesn't end up tangled with the hospital bracelet — a problem I did not anticipate having.
Keepsakes for Baby in Baby Shower Gifts(167)
Grab this if you want something that looks nice enough to display on a shelf. Ceramic with a soft lining inside so nothing gets scratched. Gave one to my sister at her shower and she actually cried.
Lillian Rose Large Twinkle, Twinkle Baby Keepsake Box
Try the fabric-covered version if your house has curious toddlers who grab everything breakable. Soft exterior, still has compartments inside, and it survived being knocked off a dresser twice. Ask me how I tested that.
Stephan Baby Natural Pine Keepsake Box, Baby
Archival Envelopes and Sleeves
Regular envelopes break down and the glue yellows. Discovered this when I opened a keepsake envelope from my own childhood and the contents looked like they'd been through a war.
Slip a tiny curl inside one of these coin sleeves — they're acid-free, crystal clear, and fit perfectly taped into a baby book page. Repurposing coin collecting supplies for baby keepsakes is my most unhinged parenting hack.
Customer reviews for 1 X 2x2 Coin Snap Holder Penny
Use these for flat keepsakes like the card from the salon or a tiny note you wrote on haircut day. They fit standard baby book pages and keep everything from sticking together or smudging.
Ultra Pro Card Premium Card Sleeves Pack (100 Sleeves)
Toss the curl in one of these tiny glassine envelopes — they're see-through so you can admire it without opening, and archival quality means it'll look the same when she's eighteen. Stock up because you'll use them for teeth and other tiny treasures.
LUXPaper 3 1/2 x 3 1/2 Open End Envelopes
Scrapbooking Supplies for Baby Pages
Not a scrapbooker by nature but making one page for the first haircut felt doable. One page. That's it. No pressure to become a craft influencer.
Pair a soft-colored cardstock with the curl envelope and one photo — that's literally the whole page. Took twenty minutes and my partner acted like I'd created museum-quality art. The bar is underground.
Recollections, Cardstock Paper, 8.5"x11", 50 Sheets Pink
Ditch the glue stick immediately — it wrinkles everything and you'll hate yourself later. This tape runner is dry, clean, and doesn't bleed through paper. Learned this after ruining two pages with Elmer's like a kindergartner.
Scotch, Double Sided Tape Runner, .27 in x 26 ft, Red
Punch a small circle in cardstock, write the date inside, stick it next to the curl sleeve. Looks like you spent hours when it actually took forty-five seconds. Fake it till you make it applies to scrapbooking too.
EK Tools Medium Circle Hole Punch, 1.5-Inch Diameter
Baby's First Year Milestone Markers
While you're preserving the first haircut, might as well capture everything else before the blur of toddlerhood erases your memory entirely.
Throw one of these wooden discs next to your baby for a quick photo each month. Started at month four because nobody told me sooner — don't make my mistake, start at month one.
Sinekong Baby Monthly Milestone Markers Disc
Snag this during the third trimester while you still have the energy to do a project. Sat in my closet for three months before I did it, and then I was mad I waited because my belly had already dropped.
Pearhead Baby Belly Casting Kit for Expecting Mothers
Get the ink pad version, not the clay — clay cracked on me twice and the ink pad worked perfectly on the first try. Pair the handprint frame with the first haircut shadow box for a whole milestone wall situation.
Tiny Ideas DIY Baby Handprint or Footprint Keepsake
Sentimental Storage That Grows With Them
Realized I needed a system when I found a first tooth wrapped in a Post-it note inside my wallet. These keep everything together as the collection inevitably expands.
Use this as the master container for all the keepsake boxes, envelopes, and loose sentimental items. Stackable, clear so you can see everything, and the handle means you can grab it fast if you ever need to evacuate. Not dramatic — just practical.
Sterilite, Stack and Carry 2 Layer Handle Box, 4 Pack, Clear
Swap your current nursery closet chaos for a few of these bins — one for keepsakes, one for outgrown clothes you can't part with, one for artwork. Labeled bins saved my sanity when the sentimental hoarding really kicked in.
mDesign Tall Plastic Stackable Closet Storage Box
Keep this on the top shelf of the closet for long-term keepsake storage. Canvas breathes better than plastic for fabric items like the coming-home outfit, and it looks clean enough that you won't hide it when guests come over.
Honey Can Do SFT-02062 Small Window Storage Box