New Years Resolutions
It is the beginning of a new year and many people think of this as a good time to organize their life. One of the things you 
may want to tackle this year are the shoe boxes full of photographs tucked high on closet shelves or in drawers. Let this be the year you finally make good on your promise to yourself to get all of those photos organized into albums and labeled so that in years to come your children and grandchildren will look at them and get some insight into who they are and where they came from. The following is a guide to getting started:
1. Organize your photos
Craft stores sell plastic containers, either single 12” x 12” or stacked 12” x 12” drawers. You can use smaller containers, but this size accommodates not only packets of photos but memorabilia, such as menus and programs.
Separate your photos and accumulated memorabilia by occasion. Weddings, graduations, retirement parties, milestone birthday parties, sports activities, all become separate boxes containing everything related to the occasion. Vacations are another category you may want to separate from the rest of your photos and place in their own box. Depending on the number, you can keep them all in one vacation box or make a box for each vacation. The rest of your photos, everyday photos that document your life, should be put into labeled photo boxes in chronological order. While this initial step may be time-consuming, it will make the job of converting packets of unidentified photos into a keepsake chronicle of your life much easier. As you’re sorting through the pictures, keep a pad of sticky notes handy to make notes on the pictures as you think of them. Make sure that whenever possible you date the packets and note the location or event you were photographing.
2. Select your first project
Now the fun begins. Decide which box you want to scrapbook first. You may choose to do the most recent because the memories are fresh in your mind and should be relatively quick and easy to complete. Or, you may go straight to the oldest group of photos, choosing instead to work from oldest to newest. Depending on how far behind you are, the job of chronicling events from many years ago may be challenging as you try to identify people in old photos and write about what took place. You may need to enlist the help of family members for this task, especially for older pictures. Even if you think you won’t be getting to the scrapbooking phase of your project for some time, asking older relatives to help with identifying people and places will make it much easier when you are ready.
3. Create your project
Select a few photos that best depict the day. You don’t need to include every picture but include enough to portray the mood and theme of the day. If there are a lot of pictures you want, crop some to make it easier to put them into a collage format. Add journaling that includes who is in each picture and where they were. Add your thoughts on what the picture shows and why it is important.
You can print your journaling on a printer, cut or tear it out and add it to the page or you can do your journaling in your own handwriting, which will mean more to those who will read your words in years to come.
Use only archival or acid-free papers and embellishment to ensure that the keepsake you create will be a lasting treasure for your family for years to come.
