Oh Where, Oh Where Do My Photos Go?

© 2005, Pam & Tom Hughes

 

Ahhhh all those family photos that you have scattered around everywhere in your home! Are you really able to enjoy them and look at them when you want? Are you daunted by the overwhelming job you think you have before you?

Well, here are some simple tips to help get them under control. It may not happen overnight, but if you chunk away at it a little bit at a time, you’ll soon be in great shape ready for the next onslaught of photo-mania!

· Gather your pictures all together in one spot.

· Grab some photo boxes for sorting and storing.

· Set your timer for 30 minutes.

· Start going through the pictures sorting into decades (or years) first. (Later you can break them down further.)

· Throw out all those fuzzy, unsightly, ugly pictures that you can’t really see anyway. (Honestly, you’re not “throwing out your child” when you throw out a picture of him!)

· Mark approximate dates and/or events on the back with an archival pen.

· Keep duplicates together for now if you’re not sending them off to someone…Later when you’re ready to do something more with them, you can put one in the album and the other(s) you can divvy up to family and friends.

· When the timer goes off, close things up and “bookmark” your spot. Then schedule a time to come back and work on this project again.

 

As time allows and inspiration hits you, create scrapbooks or work on simple albums by themes such as vacations, holidays, celebrations, etc. You may even decide to scan the very best into your computer and make a video montage. You’ve now got the beginnings of a keepsake center.

 

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

- Anais Nin