Deleted
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Oct 7, 2024 16:25:38 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2014 21:56:23 GMT
I've been on a major purge/decluttering lately. I few years ago I inherited all my moms pictures and paperwork and have spent the last 4 years going through pictures, doing multiple scrapbooks for family members, and giving away photos. I'm close to done with that, just have to sort some of my childhood ones.
I've moved on to paperwork. I'm usually pretty good at just tossing stuff, BUT some of this stuff does have sentimental value, and I'm struggling on what to scan/keep/toss and how to organize.
Ideally, I'd love to just scan the important stuff in and do print book of everything together from my childhood, and one for family ancestry stuff (non-photo stuff, but I have a lot of geneology paperwork)
I really don't want to hold onto the originals, and my only sibling won't want the stuff (I've already given her the stuff that pertains to her alone)
I do think it's fun to look through some of my old report cards, artwork, etc once in a while, but I don't really want to spend months doing this project, and I really have a plan to be completely clutter free by the end of the year, to give myself a deadline.
Has anyone every gone through this stuff? did you just keep a few examples of each, and what did you do with the originals. How did you organize the digital files? Did anyone do a memory book type thing?
any suggestions appreciated!
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Post by betsy on Aug 4, 2014 22:16:31 GMT
REcluttering? Bwahahahaha! Funny typo!
Ditch it. Enjoy the funny handprint art you don't even remember making in kindergarten, and ditch it. Scan or photograph about one in 5 things. But what good is it? It brought joy to your Mom, and some to you, and now it's useful life is at an end.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 7, 2024 16:25:38 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2014 22:43:36 GMT
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Post by donna on Aug 4, 2014 23:46:42 GMT
I am very interested in the advice you get here. I have a hard time with this kind of thing.
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MDscrapaholic
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,592
Location: Down by the bay....
Jun 25, 2014 20:49:07 GMT
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Post by MDscrapaholic on Aug 4, 2014 23:51:06 GMT
I have the same problem. Watching this thread.
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lesley
Drama Llama
My best friend Turriff, desperately missed.
Posts: 7,296 
Location: Scotland, Scotland, Scotland
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Post by lesley on Aug 5, 2014 0:22:14 GMT
Throw it all away. Look at it one more time if you want to, but really, what is the point of keeping it? It just means that sometime in the future someone else will look at all the stuff you kept, and wonder what they should do with it. Bin it now, and save them the dilemma!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 7, 2024 16:25:38 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2014 11:52:05 GMT
No one has done any kind of digital memory book?
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Post by Merge on Aug 5, 2014 11:56:22 GMT
Speaking as someone who had to get 35 years' worth of exactly that kind of accumulated clutter out of her parents' house, I say ditch it and don't look back.
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Post by lovetodigi on Aug 5, 2014 12:53:03 GMT
I would get albums and put them in them arranged by years. They will be put away, neat, organized and easy to take out and view. Even if it is not important to the person that they originally belonged to, they may be important to children, grandchildren, etc. They are history.
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Post by katieanna on Aug 5, 2014 13:00:23 GMT
I would get albums and put them in them arranged by years. They will be put away, neat, organized and easy to take out and view. Even if it is not important to the person that they originally belonged to, they may be important to children, grandchildren, etc. They are history. |
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Post by pierkiss on Aug 5, 2014 13:16:55 GMT
I would scan it and then make a digi book on shutterfly. Easy, and then the stuff you want to keep will be neat and organized in a small book. No more stack of clutter.  |
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Post by pierkiss on Aug 5, 2014 13:18:44 GMT
Oh, if the item is too large, bumpy, whatever to scan well, take a picture of it and pop that pic into your digi book. |
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 7, 2024 16:25:38 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 5, 2014 13:25:09 GMT
I cannot imagine my children being interested in my report cards or school art work. I am in the toss it or take some pictures of it.
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Post by lovetodigi on Aug 5, 2014 13:27:50 GMT
I would get albums and put them in them arranged by years. They will be put away, neat, organized and easy to take out and view. Even if it is not important to the person that they originally belonged to, they may be important to children, grandchildren, etc. They are history. I have ran across report cards/notes, etc. that belonged to my son who died suddenly at the age of 31. They may not have meant that much to me years ago, but they have taken on a whole new meaning. All of those records are a piece of him, a part of his life. Something that I can look at, something I can touch, something that gives his daughter a glance into his life as a child. They were junk, now they are treasure. If you don't want to keep the actual items, scan them and put them in an album. If you keep the report cards, etc., you can just drop them into pockets in albums. The hardest part would be buying the albums and the sleeves. I will never regret having those things and I am one that can't stand stuff being cluttered or piled up. I have a storage room and that is the only room in my house that has boxes of stuff, mostly Christmas/Fall decorating items. You can save stuff that is sentimental without being a hoarder. It is okay not to toss everything that is loose. There may come a day that you will regret having done so. |
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Post by misadventurous on Aug 5, 2014 13:28:50 GMT
No one has done any kind of digital memory book? I have. My kids bring home a LOT of artwork and other stuff. I photograph their favorites and incorporate them into a family yearbook using photoshop and shutterfly. Once photographed, in the bin it goes with no regrets (other than a few things which go into frames I have in the kitchen). for my own old stuff that my mom kept for me, I'm in the process of scanning/tossing with the intent to make a similar book for my childhood. That book will be like a memoir, and will include my old school pictures, artwork, some report card examples, little anecdotes, etc. |
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Post by anonrefugee on Aug 5, 2014 13:31:12 GMT
I'm struggling with the same issue. Some of the designs and graphics on the old papers are similar to vintage style papers I buy - and that activates my hoarding tendencies. I read a post here last week linking this tip, from Small Notebook blog. It's causing me to rethink and hopefully simplify. smallnotebook.org/2008/09/22/holding-on-to-sentimental-things/ |
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gottapeanow
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,817
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Post by gottapeanow on Aug 5, 2014 15:31:07 GMT
I am really struggling with this, too. [HASH]anonrefugee, thanks for the link. The tips are very, very helpful.
Lisa
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Post by anonrefugee on Aug 5, 2014 17:50:43 GMT
I love paper, and scrapbooking. I've noticed my friends into neither of these don't collect as much stuff and aren't sentimental about the things they toss.
A friend takes a photo of her child holding any artwork comes home, and then tosses the art. She's got a couple of pieces framed in playroom, but that's all she kept. Her very simple (CM style) scrapbook for school is up to date and organized. Someday I wish I'd met her sooner, at least for the art/photo tip!
At least I've got the Refugees- it's good to be among my own knd!
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humblegal
Shy Member
Posts: 20
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Post by humblegal on Aug 5, 2014 17:59:09 GMT
I would get albums and put them in them arranged by years. They will be put away, neat, organized and easy to take out and view. Even if it is not important to the person that they originally belonged to, they may be important to children, grandchildren, etc. They are history. My thoughts as well. I am in the same position, cleaning out the parents home after 60 years of marriage. I am going to scan everything and then put in albums for saving. |
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Post by Flowergirl on Aug 5, 2014 18:25:14 GMT
Timely question as yesterday, I began scanning all my mom's family photos and some interesting family memorabilia (Ellis Island paperwork from my grandparents, dad's military papers etc). My goal is to upload everything to a Picasa and send the link to family members to keep/download/print what they want. As I scan, I'm sorting the physical photos by family to give to them when the project is done. I agree with the poster above that said that these sentimental things may seem like clutter now, but down the road may not. My siblings and I are really enjoying the things I've turned up while doing this project. So are my teenage kids. Seeing the postcards written in Italian to my grandparents from family that remained in Italy is fascinating to us. One of my aunts, before her Alzheimer's was too far along, did a lot of geneolgy for my mom's side of the family. I hope to work with her daughter to incorpate the relevant materials into this online album.. It's a time consuming project, but now that I've started it, I'm on a roll! By the way, I'm an everything in its place, purging kind of person. But I think preserving these types of memories is important for our family, so I'm willing to have my formal dining room look like Shutterfly exploded in there for a while.  |
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