Many of us have piles of photos and memorabilia given to us that go back a few generations. These are very special photos and other items that should be persevered in a way that it is easy to access the desired photo or memorabilia and can serve as wonderful record of your family history.
Thinking about the boxes you have filled with photos, birth and weeding certificates, report cards, postcards, drawings, etc., can be overwhelming. I would like to suggest some steps you can take to make organizing and putting items into scrapbooks a manageable task.
Remember to set realistic goals because this is not a project that it going to be completed in one evening. Separate the project into smaller tasks and then set reasonable goals for when each task should be completed.
Begin by setting aside one room or area in your house where you will be able to spread out and sort everything. If you have small children or pets, I suggest a room that you can lock when you are not in there so that they don’t go in and undo some of your work.
Depending upon how many years of photos you are trying to sort, you may want to first start by sorting photos into decades. If you don’t have many things to sort, you could sort them by five-year increments. Also, sort through all of your memorabilia at the same time so that you can make a note of items that you want to include together on a page. For example, match up a baby photo of your grandma with her birth certificate.
Create two piles for each decade: one for photos and one for memorabilia and spread it out on the floor. Once you have everything sorted, place items into a filing system. I recommend a portable file box that you can purchase at an office supply store.
Now that you have your things organized, you are ready to start creating albums. Check out my next blog on this topic.