As I scrapbook, I'm one of those people that likes to incorporate all of the tickets, programs, history of the event/place, greeting cards, Holiday cards, birth announcements, ETC ETC ETC that go with the pictures. This causes several problems: (1) Keeping up with everything (2) Making sure everything that's been "kept up with" makes it to the scrapbook room (3) Said items remain in some sort of data order (especially since I'm about 4 years behind on my scrapbooks) (4) Containing all of these random items in a neat, organized fashion.
After the wedding, I took a step back and looked at my various piles (they always end up in the floor under my scrapbook table!!!) and thought I need a better solution. Who am I kidding? I just need a solution!
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| The coloring book and crayons make me smile... a reminder that Abbie was in there playing :-) |
So, I did what any other person would do in this situation... turned to my friend Amazon. I was after hanging file folders.. and not just ANY hanging file folders.. Pink ones! Voila. Thank you Amazon... that was easy. Check!
Then, it was off to Staples where I found the perfect clear containers for my new pink hanging file folders. Check!
Then.... these beautiful items set in the hallway... OUTSIDE the scrapbook room... for a few .... weeks. That's the joy of being a working woman!
Then.. a magical thing happened. I had time to put the stacks and stacks and stacks of paper clutter into an organized manner INTO their new homes! I ended up using one for leftover "special" paper I ordered for the wedding paper items and am now collecting items in that bin to make my wedding scrapbook; one is being used to organize the "year before the wedding" (i.e. parties, wedding dress/decor shopping, cards, engagement pics, misc things all related to planning the wedding and being engaged); the other I'm using to sort all the memorabilia I want to incorporate into the corresponding scrapbooks. Perfect solution for me. Only problem is that my bin is already full. Sigh. Need. More.Time.
I was going to do one folder/month but I quickly learned that wasn't the most efficient way to utilize the folders/space. Some months I don't have anything and others (April for example) is always busting at the seams (my birthday, Easter, trip or two). I tried to keep the months on the tabs consistent from year to year but always adjusted where it made sense to accommodate the amount of items needing to go in the folder. I also have some separate large folders I didn't put in here simply because there wasn't room and they are "complete" trips. Similar to the large brown folder in the back of this picture. Maybe as I empty out some folders I'll have enough room to add those trip folders into this bin so everything is one place (the original goal). For now, this system is working and that was my goal! Second goal.. get it in a scrapbook!!!!
What are your paper/memorabilia storing tips?
