Our lives are full of memories we either create or inherit and so are our homes. Do you have a collection of photographs, letters, plates, souvenirs, or other mementos that are sitting in boxes, collecting dust, and taking up valuable storage space? While I strongly believe that you should limit what is to be acquired or kept in the first place, we all have some treasures or keepsakes, about which we feel very sentimental, stashed away. What is the point of having your memories if they are inaccessible? Think outside the box! There are artful ways in which you can organize them.

Dress them up! I was drawn to this art display at a local community centre, currently running an art exhibit on the theme of love. The tutu on this dress form is made out of letters and notes written to the artist.

Love Tutu, Textile Assemblage by Jaime Murdock, 2009

Isn’t it stunning?

Make it a conversation piece! I was recently at a dinner, where the hosts used a shadow coffee table to display mementos from their travels: maps, tickets to shows and sport games, and other items displayed in a table such as this one:

Plate them up! Do you have an old collection of plates? Design your own creative pattern as a way of displaying them on a wall:

with permission from http://southernhospitalityblog.com/

Make a black and white photo gallery wall! Black and white photos are timeless and classic. Arranged on a single wall, they will not only tell a story, but they will also make a bold decorative statement.

Not everyone can afford art, but we can unearth memories and treasures we already have in our homes and honour them by artfully displaying them. Make it a project, make it memorabiliart!

Oksana V. Bellas is the Founder and Chief Organizing Maven of Order Matters, Vancouver, BC. She holds an MBA and has many years of experience in operations and management of organizations. Through organizing individuals, entities, and their schedules and space, Order Matters’ goal is to bring balance and order to people’s lives. Check out Order Matters blog for regular tips and inspirations for leading an organized life.

MemorabiliArt – Organizing Outside The Box is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Organizing all that school clutter

Organizing keepsakes with memory binders and totes

Taming the school clutter….again

image courtesy of Zen

Looks like some of my organizing buddies are doing the same thing.  Check out these great ideas:

School Time Papers @Complete Organizing Solutions

School Papers – Simple Steps to Decrease the Clutter @Organize with Sandy

Budding Artists – Taming Your Children’s Art Clutter @A Fresh Start

I also came across some unique ideas for showcasing your child’s artwork.  These would make such great grandparent gifts.

Children’s Artwork Necklace ~ I just absolutely love this idea and only $9.00!

Tikatok ~ where kids write, illustrate and publish their own books.  What a great keepsake!

For even more ideas here is a short video from Monkey See.  I love this site and got totally sucked in the other day watching a whole series on how to work with curly hair, it was very cool :)

Video ~ Organize Artwork

Have you tackled the school paper pile yet?

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Sponsored by It’s Frugal Being Green

Organizing School Papers and Kid’s Artwork is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

I’ve collected some great links over the past couple of weeks related to our monthly topic of picture and keepsake organization.   I hope you find them helpful as you tackle your picture collection.

Tackle Your Keepsakes ~ @ Canadian Parents

Preserving Digitized Photographs ~ @ Unclutterer

Organizing Memorabilia ~ @ BellaOnline

6 Secrets to Digital Photo Bliss ~ @ Take Charge Solutions

Photoshop as an Organizing Tool ~ @ Online Organizing

No Guilt Photo Organization ~ @ Buttoned Up

Organizing your Photos ~ @ Suzy Q Crops

Organizing Photos ~ @ Chez Larsson

Later this week I’ll continue with this picture organization series with my step by step guide on how I organize my own pictures start to finish.

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This post sponsored by Dovetail Organizer.  Win a copy for yourself by participating in this month’s organizing round-up.  Here’s how.

Link~Tastic – The Picture/Keepsake Edition is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

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A couple of weeks ago I talked about how I organize the kids school papers and today I want to share you with how I save some of their special memories. Using memory binders that I purchased from the dollar store, I save my kid’s special keepsakes for them in page protectors sorted by grade. These binders are kept easily accessible in my office and throughout the year I can very quickly just put the keepsake papers/awards/notes/stories that they want to keep right into their binder. Having one page protector sheet per school year helps us to really be selective and only keep the most favorites.

I also have a separate one for my daughter’s piano certificates and awards.

For bigger keepsake items (special outfits, baby books, journals, art, etc) I keep one clear tote for each child in their closet.  The kids are each allow two totes, one for elementary school and one for secondary school.

Using memory binders sorted by grade keeps everything organized nicely and the memory totes allows us a little space for the bigger things that the kid’s don’t want to part with. This system forces us to put limits on what we keep which is a good thing because I don’t want to burden my kids with excess when they are grown. I always ask myself, is this my memory or the kids? What we hang on to is what is important to them, not me. Sure I guide them with their decision making if they need it but ultimately keeping what is of most value to them is what is most important to me.

As for how I store my own childhood memories.    I have one 60 L tote that I keep in my basement storage room.  That’s it.

One of these days I’m going to have to open it up and pull out all of my old notes from my best friend in elementary school.  She’s still my best friend now, living in the same town as me, 27 years later!  What fun we’ll have laughing at our ever important, highly dramatic (no doubt!), school girl shananigans.

How do you store your own childhood memories or the memories for your own kids?  What works, what doesn’t work for you?

Organizing keepsakes with memory binders and totes is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie