Storing Keepsakes

Take a photo of the artwork or momento and then slide the photos into a small album. Quick, easy and a space saver.

I scan in my daughter's creations and take pictures of the stuff that is too big to scan. I do scrapbook the majority of them. But I also create books for her on shutterfly.com and snapfish.com. You can create digital scrapbooks with pictures of her as well as the pictures/scans of her creations. I create the books and just leave them sit on my sites waiting to be ordered. Several times a year the sites email me coupon codes for free books. The coupon codes are usually only good for up to 48 hours. This way my stuff is ready to go and I just click to order. No pressure to rush and get it done and I get my books for free. I do pay the $5 shipping and handling charge but for $5 my children will have everlasting memories of their creations and I'm not stuck with a ton of clutter. I can then box up and save the stuff in storage and my children can look through her books whenever they want.

I am packrat, too.

But what I don't get is: in the time it takes you to lay that color copy down somewhere....you could just as easily put it into a scrapbook/photo book "in process". That's the easiest way to gather keepsakes for those next few pages. You don't need a scrapbooking station.....you simply need the book you're working on - stored right next to your computer!

By using this method, you can gather those bits/pieces, tuck them into the plastic sleeve until you have enough to do a few pages or so.....& then spend one hour (at your convenience) & scrapbook - or simply mount them! By using the actual scrapbook/photo album as your storage system, you eliminate the need for other storage containers! Good Luck!

If you are good at scanning instead of copying, I have an idea for you.

I take all the "art" work and other keepsakes that my kids do throughout the year and I scan them to the computer. Then at the end of the year I upload them to Shutterfly and create a scrapbook for them. Its their year in Art.

I have devoted a drawer in my file cabinet to children's drawings and special papers. Everything is organized by child's name and in chronological order. This way nothing gets damaged or lost. Things that have been posted on the bulletin board are arranged in the files once a new letter or drawing is put up.

Personally, I don't save EVERYTHING - too overwhelming. But, you could get a rubbermaid bin (plastic) choose a size - and make one box/year - just throw things in as they come!

I know how you feel, and I'm the same way. Though my son isn't old enough yet to have created these memories, I do have boxes of pictures and empty photo albums that I keep looking at and saying 'someday...' Maybe someday you truly will find the time and the motivation to put together a scrapbook. But in the meantime, you should have a dedicated place to keep things where they won't get bent, ripped, wet, dirty, etc. Maybe get one of those large under the bed boxes, and keep all the flat stuff in there (papers, artwork). If there are some that are really special, frame them and hang them on your wall. My friend does this and it is so cute! You won't be able to keep everything, can you imagine 18 years worth of papers and art?!?! So once in awhile, just go through and weed out the stuff you can do without. One other thing I just thought of would be to keep individual folders in the box for each year, so that you can keep it organized enough for when you do decide to scrapbook (if you do :))

We take pictures of all the art my kids want to keep, and let them keep it in a special folder. At the end of the year we will go onto an online photobook program and print out a yearly book of their artwork. They love it and I don't have loads of glittery, gluey construction paper everywhere.

I think you need to get a suitcase or sturdy storage box to keep these things in until you are better able to deal with them. The collection box, if you will. A scrapbook is probably the best way to keep and display them. Do not be intimidated by "Scrapbooking"!! Your collection box will keep the things safe while you procrastinate about when to do something with them. Go to Goodwill and look there for things to use. I have found several brand new scrapbooking albums and even sets of refill pages there, for great prices! Pick up the other items you may need, every once in awhile - so you arent spending a bunch of money on supplies all at once. Keep all this together. I am not sure how old your daughter is now, but there will come an age - hopefully soon - where she will be able to assist you in creating these memory pages. That will not only get the job done, but make more memories for her to hold on to... and make the finished product more special to her, because you both worked on it. I am like you in alot of ways in this sense... so here is where I am at... I have worked on single pages and then put them back in the box. I dont have time to set up shop and spend an entire weekend doing nothing but creating scrapbook pages! Who does?? So one page at a time, I create, when and where I can. Each page is it's own story anyways, so this works well. And some of my pages have only decor and are waiting for the photos and other things to personalize them. But slowly and surely, I will keep making progress on my scrapbook. I have a folder that I can take with me, sort of a mini shop, with some paper pages, stickers, etc that I can work on when I know I may be waiting awhile. It is small enough to fit in my bag and not be a burden like a big box would be. And you only need enough to work on a page or two. I have found that i really like the double sided tape dispenser that is sort of like a little pen almost, you roll it on and then stick on your item. It works swell. Or the little corner holder stick-em's are good for photos. Buy a few favorite colored Sharpies and make a travel kit. Get some of these things and get started... you will find what works for you and soon it will become addictive to keep creating and your daughter will be so impressed that you are making a book to show off her creations! Good job and keep at it!

C.- I started saving special milestone-type things like your daughter's card in a file folder in my office desk, but before long there were large construction papers getting folded and torn and Mother's Day bead bracelets falling down into the bottom of the drawer. So I went to WalMart when they had their document boxes on sale and picked up one for each of my girls. They are black and 10x10x4, so they hold everything I've wanted to save.

I have become much more picky, however, as I look through the files. With 4 kids, only the most special and memorable things are getting saved! I started writing the date and perhaps the reason/situation on the back of the items, and that helps a lot.