Cards and Letters and Photos, Oh My!

If you are a sentimental dinosaur like me, you probably like to save special letters and photos of loved ones. For years I've had a plastic bag of cards and letters stashed in a storage box.

This year I'm determined to sort the pile. I already keep Christmas cards in a special bag with holiday photos so I can display with my Christmas decorations. Following the simple steps below can help you take your special memories and make them accessible.

Step 1: Decide how much time you have.

I am willing to spend an afternoon sorting the cards and letters. Since I am reading the cards in order to decide what to keep, I find myself weepingly sentimental. This means that I need to take breaks. Since I can easily put the cards back in storage if I feel overwhelmed, time and Kleenex are my two best friends.

Step 2: Decide why you want to keep the cards/letters.

I like keeping cards and letters because they are fun to read. This means that I want access to them easily. A cardboard hatbox from Ross will suit my needs. I can create dividers between the cards and letters. I may even keep a photo of the letter writer with the letter itself.

Photos:

For the past year, I've been sorting my photos. These are actual pictures from negatives, not digital.
I removed the pictures from the photo albums and instead will organize them into photo boxes.
Categories are Friends, Family, Special Events, and Me, My Self and I. (My brother Steev said you can't have too many photos of yourself.)

From here I can create DVD's of photos to give as gifts. I'm looking forward to sending my nieces and nephews photos of their fathers when they were kids!

Organize while Decorating!

Since I went to the Lighted Boat Parade in Morro Bay, I was able to rally for Christmas decorating. I had intended on being a decorating Scrooge since I spent the past two months reorganizing. Though I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Christmas, I do not always love, love, love rearranging my entire apartment.

As I pulled out the box of decorations from my storage loft, I decided to take the time to reorganize. Usually, I do this after Christmas. Boxing Day in Canada, December 26, is set aside to honor this time of out with the old, in with the new. But I needed to lift my spirit so I could celebrate the season with creation, not obligation.

Here are a few tips that I used to keep the task light and fun.

1. I organized in my p.j’s.
2. I had a yummy cup of tea for mini-breaks and listened to a
Christmas cassette mix that I created in 1999.
3. I only selected boxes that I could sort and repack in a couple of hours.
I left a box filled with old letters and cards for later…like next lifetime. Maybe.
(This is supposed to be fun, not traumatic.)
4. Clear plastic bags, baggies and twist-ties are an organizer’s best friend.
5. Set aside a bag for items you are going to donate.
I keep a basket on a table in my closet for small give-aways like books.
This makes it easy to keep the stuff energy moving as I do weekly errands.

This year I only decorated two specific areas in my cabin. This saved space and guarantees that everything Christmas will be put back in the decoration box. My favorite “new” decoration is a festive bag filled with last year's Xmas cards, photos of my Christmas past, and a box of brand new cards that I will mail....maybe.

Taking time to move my energy gives me the external and internal space to move through the season.

May your holiday be filled with light, love and plenty of cheer!

Xmas in the Corner

Though I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas, I do not always love love love rearranging my entire apartment. Since I've spent the past two months reorganizing and decorating so I am not willing to rearrange yet again.

This year I isolated Christmas to the art corner of my apartment. This saves space and guarantees that I won't have any leftover items at the end of the season that I forgot to pack.

I hung my stocking, added a festive bag filled with last year's Xmas cards, photos of my Christmas pasts, and the box of brand new cards that I will mail....maybe. Finally, I added the cocunut nativity scene that my grandmother really loved and the string metal stockings I bought last year.

(I want the outlets available for my new MAC laptop, so I didn't even bother with my tree.)

Now I can enjoy the holiday without feeling like a total Scroog-ette.