Sentimental items, keepsakes, treasures… whatever you call them, these are the items of the heart that remind you of your fondest memories.
So if your keepsakes are scattered about the house, getting crumpled and squashed, or lost in the piles, here is your push to gather them up and take care of them.

Some tips for keeping your treasures, organizing and storing them.

Step one – round them up. Collect your photos, awards, trophies, cards, love notes, etc.

Step two – decide what you will think is important in 20 years, or you would want to show your children someday. If you’re saving your children’s things, what would they want to see when they are 35 and what would they think is interesting enough to show their own children. Be discerning. Your children will not benefit if you think everything is of equal importance.

Step 3 – pick a good container such as a big plastic bin, an archival box, or a scrap book to be your treasure box.

Step 4 – put stuff in the container and label it

Step 5 – store it somewhere safe.

Some of my favorite containers:

1. The big plastic bin with lid. These are good for just about everything. Use one for 3-d objects like trophies and stuffed animals. Use another one for papers. Just 2 boxes per person and you’ve set a reasonable limit.

2. School memory albums – they store report cards, photos, and give your child a spot to write down cute stuff in kid-writing. Precious.

3. Archival photo boxes and photo albums. These are for the ones that are printed of course. If you can categorize them or put into some kind of order, it will be easier to find them again. If you can just get them in the same spot that is a great first step.

4. Online photo /scrapbook albums / printed – create photo albums online using a mix of photos and scanned artwork, ticket stubs, wedding invitations, baby announcements and whatever brings back the memories. It’s fast and easy once you upload photos. Some will even be made for you automagically. Check shutterfly.com, snapfish.com, iphoto for mac users, even your local drug store provides this service online.

What are your favorite containers for storing keepsakes?   Leave a comment!