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!