Dolly Parton preparing time capsule for 100th birthday

Country superstar Dolly Parton is putting together a special time capsule to be opened on her 100th birthday.

The Jolene singer will turn 70 in January (16), but she is already looking to the future and has been collecting childhood keepsakes and other cherished memorabilia to seal away in a treasure chest, which she plans to unlock in 30 years time - if she's still alive.

Parton has also penned a special track for the time capsule, which will remain unheard for the next three decades.

"What we're gonna put in this is little pieces from my childhood, from the porch where I used to sit and sing with a tin can for a microphone, and a song I wrote this year, called My Place in History, and I'm gonna open it when I'm 100...," she tells U.S. breakfast show Today.

Parton grew up in a one-room cabin in Sevier County, Tennessee with her parents and 11 siblings and money was always tight.

Although her childhood was rough at points due to extreme poverty, the singer deeply cherishes the experience.

"I think my childhood made me everything I am today," she told Entertainment Tonight in November (15). "I would trade nothing for being brought up in the Great Smoky Mountains. I've never been ashamed of my people, no matter how poor or dirty we might have been. I've always loved being from where I am, and having the folks that I've had.

"It's that spiritual base; it's that family; love of family; it's just that simple life, feeling like part of nature."

Parton has a lot to celebrate this holiday season - her TV biopic, Coat of Many Colors, is set to air on America's Hallmark Channel on Thursday night (10Dec15). Child actress Alyvia Alyn Lind will portray Parton as a kid, while country singer Jennifer Nettles and actor Ricky Schroder play her parents.