Collecting memorabilia is fun. It commemorates special occasions as well as reminding you of certain aspects of an event or a travel destination.
But what should you include? What should be saved? Unfortunately there is no right or wrong answer to those questions. It is a matter of what you want to save, or rather, have room to save. It depends on what memories you want of an event or occasion. Here are some creative ideas to get you started and help you decide what you might like to collect.
Vacations: Pick up maps, brochures, postcards and menus as you travel. Even if you’re just visiting a local establishment in your own city, collect from these places too. When you find a particularly good piece of memorabilia – take two. You can color copy and reduce in size, larger maps for an overview of the places you’ve traveled. And using postcards on your layouts is a wonderful way to get that perfect photo of the scenery or building without all the tourists and distractions evident in your own photos. You can also create pocket pages to store the rest of the fun pieces of memorabilia you’ve picked up – brochures, newsletters, fliers, etc.
Holidays: Keep your receipts from grocery trips for large meals you make for your family at Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas. Place cards that you use on your table are fun to incorporate into your layouts. Just put them near a photo of that person. You should save a copy of your family newsletter and Christmas card and photo each year. You can also keep Christmas stamps and cards you received, as well as fliers or brochures advertising light displays or Christmas scenes you’ve visited. Be sure and also keep that program from the Christmas Pageant you attend too.
Weddings: Include a copy of wedding vows, the lyrics from the songs or poems that were done during the service. Keep receipts and bills showing how much everything cost. Keep any written words from your attendants or special people in your life. Cards, letters, well-wishes and of course invitations, and programs from the event should be saved. Another fun idea is to save the first grocery receipt from your first shopping trip as a married couple or your first mortgage or rent payment.
Special Events: Programs and ticket stubs are fun to save. Once you have a collection of movie tickets or ball game tickets, use them on a page and fan them out together. Choose only your favorites or use them all. You can color copy and reduce or enlarge the programs or tickets to use as a background or a journal box.
The New Baby: The baby bracelet, crib id card, birth certificate and any other fun things you get from the hospital. Keep the hospital bill. Ultrasound pictures can be copied onto acid free paper and added to your album. Be sure and preserve your infant’s tiny hand prints and feet, by using an acid free stamp pad and stamping onto a piece of cardstock. You can cut them out and use them on a layout. Save cards and letters from people that are important in your child’s life.
There are so many other things you can save. Always look around you, wherever you go. Collect what is important to you.
Nicole Humphrey writes articles for the Scrapbooking Blog and for the Frugal Blog. She also guest blogs on a variety of topics. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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