5 Scrapbooking Hacks to Make Memory-Keeping Doable

This post was updated 2022.

Whether you love or hate the thought of scrapbooking, this post is for you!  That's because you have pictures, and you have memories to go with them.  And they need a home--a place to LIVE.

Photos that sit on phones, computers, or in the cloud are not living up to their full potential, so to speak.  In fact, they aren't even photos yet--they're just files.  You might not even know what you have or where it is.  Unless you have some wicked {good photo organization} of those files, you might not even be able to find something you know you have.  

Knowing what you have and where it is and then giving those photos a tactile home, next to the written memories of them, has some powerful effects.  You can read about those effects {here}.  Our photos are much more powerful than we give them credit for.

And that's all well and good until you don't have a lot of time to spend scrapbooking--in which case, you need some time-saving scrapbooking hacks.

BUT FIRST:  THE "DOABLE" PART

The first thing to know is that "scrapbooking" doesn't have to be fancy and time-consuming.

Did you know that "scrapbooking" in the layered, embellished sense of the word goes back to about 1980, with heightened popularity in the 1990s?  Before that, though, people still put "scraps" or mementos in blank-page books with their photos!  

They did! (You can read a brief version of the interesting history of scrapbooking {here}--I learned a lot of cool stuff I didn't know before.)  The reason for this is to keep the photos protected.  They couldn't just leave them in a drawer or a stack on a shelf.  The photos needed a place to be kept so that they could be seen, and wise photograph owners would write next to the photo a description of who was in the photo and where it was taken.

Obviously, the paper-crafting modern version of "scrapbooking" is definitely not the only way to preserve photos and memories.  In fact, given the history of photography, it's a relatively recent invention and isn't used by the majority of photograph owners.  So just do whatever works for you.

Find something you love and get excited about using.  (I've got some suggestions for you, of course.)

You need your photos and memories!  They're good for the heart and soul.  In fact, they're {the secret ingredient to self-care and wellness}!

So let's make it a little easier to DO!  Here are 5 scrapbooking hacks that can help!

#1  MAKE THE TIME ON YOUR CALENDAR

If you struggle to find time, you'll probably have to make it.  There are a lot of really fantastic tips and suggestions for how to do that {here}-- from the concept of "time creation" to making memory-keeping a regular family tradition!  There are suggestions there for streamlining your responsibilities to give yourself more time as well as how to pare down your photos.  

Making time and actually blocking out on your calendar--like an appointment with yourself--is one of the biggest hacks that I use to help me actually stay caught up preserving my pictures!

#2  MAKE YOUR PHOTOS MANAGEABLE

If you are overwhelmed with the amount of photos you have, you definitely need to read {When Photo Overload Becomes Photo Overwhelm}.  

This is a very real thing these days, and a very real problem.  The tips there can help you get your photos into a manageable state so that you even WANT to scrapbook, let alone CAN.  The biggest tip is to not preserve every photo you take.  If you're overwhelmed with your photos, just choose your favorites to preserve in print.

If you need photo organizational help, check out my 3-part series (particularly the Part 2 video) there at that link.

just one of the things you'll learn in the 3-part video series

#3  GO DIGITAL

This has saved my bacon.  Digital scrapbooking is what's FULLY responsible for me staying caught up on my own memory-keeping. 

I was a paper scrapbooker for probably 10+ years, but for the last 10 I've been digital.  I love that I can just replicate the design of an entire page with a couple of clicks of the mouse instead of having to re-create it by hand.  I love that I can get multiple copies for multiple kids with zero extra work/time.  

Digital scrapbooking is an enormous time-saver!!

If you're new to digital memory-keeping, check out three different possibilities--from quick templates to fully-creative and flexible books and scrap pages--at this link.  I only recommend companies with heirloom-quality products and private photo storage, and you'll find both there. 

It has changed my life.  No kidding!  

#4 CREATE YEARBOOKS

Another amazingly helpful scrapbooking hack is Yearbooks.  I can't even tell you how much I love this idea!  

It's what I always recommend to people who are overwhelmed with their photos and really just don't know what to do with them.

I love it because you already know where every photo goes in the book.  Create a book for 2019.  (The video below is the easiest way I know of to do that while still getting a book that's the highest quality in the industry.  Win-win.)  Add 2 pre-designed pages for January.  Put photos from January on the pages.  Write your memories about the photos.  That's it!  

And it really is that simple, as you'll see in the video below.

You could also consider the Yearbook Method, which is putting pictures from one month on two pages.  This helps some people pare down their photos by just choosing their favorites, which makes their photos manageable again.  

Whether you use the pared-down Yearbook Method or you preserve the majority of the photos you take using more than 2 pages per month (like I do), the easiest way I have ever seen to make a yearbook is by Forever, and I show it to you right here:

If you prefer full creativity and flexibility, you can also make Yearbooks using Artisan digital scrapbooking software by Forever.  It's powerful software and you can do a lot with it!  That's what I use and I L-O-V-E it!!

Plus, with a Forever account you're getting heirloom-quality publishing and an option to purchase and OWN your own permanent photo storage (which just about nobody offers) without paying a monthly fee (or a "rental" fee, as I call it).  You can store videos there, too.  And it's super easy to share your photos and videos with anyone you choose!

#5 WORK WITH SOMEONE ELSE

I have a friend who gets together with her sister for lunch every Friday for 2 hours and they work on their photos.  Sometimes it's uploading them from their phones, sometimes it's putting them in digital pages, etc.  When I had little kids, I got together with a friend and we scrapbooked the entire day while our kids played together--and it was absolutely fantastic.

This hack to work with someone else is kind of like leveling up from the #1 idea up top.  One of the main benefits of working with others is that you have an accountability partner, of sorts. 

This is why I've been holding online events for quite a few years!  Click here to see "our community & events" and see what events are coming up next so you can come!  Most of them are free, and all of them are fabulous.  I recommend the Photo Rodeo for a general event where everyone just works on whatever they need to, from photo organization to digital scrapbooking.

BONUS:  ONE LAST SCRAPBOOKING HACK THAT CAN REALLY HELP!

I've been a digital scrapbooker for so long that I work pretty fast!  If you'd like to hire me to do the physical work of putting together your books or scrap pages, click the "contact me" tab at the upper left at the top of this blog.  Having a partner and a scrapbooker-for-hire is a pretty big, helpful scrapbooking hack! 

Choose one of these great methods, prioritize time on your calendar, and make your photos manageable... and you've just hacked scrapbooking!

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Stop Wishing Your Scrapbooking Was Done and Do It (with 3 options)

This post was updated 2022.

Are you one of the many people who WISHES your scrapbooking was done?  Would you really like to have your photos in a book instead of languishing somewhere in the cloud?  Do your kids ask to see pictures of themselves, but you don't have anything significant to show them because you can't find them on your phone?  

You've come to the right place!  Today I'll show you three completely do-able ways to stop wishing your scrapbooking was done and do it!

 

Solving Photo Organization Woes First

If you have some hurdles you need to get over before you're ready to start memory-keeping or scrapbooking, here are some videos and articles I've created that may help.  Have a look around, click on whatever you need help with, and then you'll be ready for the 3 digital scrapbook solutions I have for you. 

If you don't know how to get your photos from your phone to your computer, here's how (5 minutes):

Or, for my favorite solution, read "Help! My Photos Are In Too Many Places!"  There's even a 13-minute video tutorial on how to upload and organize your photos using my favorite solution (which also has an app so I can access all my photos from my phone without taking up storage space.

For a very thorough and in-depth look at photo organizing (and why storing and preserving are not the same thing), watch my 3-part series!

Part 1 is "Organizing and Decluttering Photos"

Part 2 is "Solutions for Storing and Preserving Photos"

Part 3 is "Strategies for Consistency"

Three Options So You Can Stop Wishing Your Scrapbooking was Done 

And now on to the 3 options I suggest to help you stop wishing your scrapbooking was done and do it!

It's very important to find a high-quality method to preserve your photos, but it's equally important to find something you love.  If you don't love it, it feels more like a chore instead of something to look forward to.  

Putting your photos and memories into something you can hold and look back at for years and years to come is good for the heart and soul.  In fact, I've called it {The Secret Ingredient to Self-Care and Wellness}.  So you should find something do-able that fits your needs and preferences so that you can enjoy all the {personal benefits of memory-keeping}.

So let's explore!!  These 3 different options really offer something for everyone.  Truly.  If you are an "I love creative Me Time" for scrapbooking, there's something here for you.  And if you're a "who has time for THAT?!" person, there's something here for you.

See which one you like best: 

Something to consider as you create digital scrapbooks, no matter which of those 3 high-quality options look the best to you, is a yearbook! If you're feeling stuck or overwhelmed, I really believe a yearbook is a genius way to get up and going again, preserving your photos and memories.

A yearbook is a home for all the photos and memories from one year.  This video gives a few ideas and examples (and shows how easy it is with [free] Design & Print software). 

You saw there that you can add pages beyond the 21 that a book comes with (for a per-page fee, which varies depending on book size), but you could also try the Yearbook Method!  

The Yearbook Method is one that helps you just preserve your favorite photos from one year in print.  Start with page 1 as a "highlights" type page, and then each two-page spread moving forward is dedicated to just one month.  This helps you narrow down your pictures by only preserving your favorites in pages, which makes scrapbooking take less time.

Which One is YOU?

You can create something simple and quick but still top-quality using either of the first two options from the video, AutoPrint and Design & Print.  For a more creative, flexible digital scrapbook, Artisan is easy to fall in love with.  

To learn more about Artisan and what you can do with it--expanding on what you saw in the video above--read What to Love About Digital Scrapbooking.  The first part is about transitioning from paper scrapbooking to digital scrapbooking, so start reading at "The Best Digital Scrapbooking Company and Why."  You'll find additional (short) videos and several photos of my own Artisan scrapbooks.
   

What do you think?  Which method do you think would work best for you?  Which one will be THE ONE to let you stop wishing your scrapbooking was done?  Let me know in the comments below.

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2023 UPDATE regarding references to Heritage Makers and/or Evolve (live.grow.give):  

• Heritage Makers and Snap2Finish became YPhoto under Youngevity (which purchased Heritage Makers in 2013).  YPhoto uses only templates, so the creativity showcased here is no longer available there, and they also no longer have capability to print previously-created projects like these from the old system. YPhoto is not a photo storage site like Heritage Makers was. Best-in-the-industry quality and permanent cloud photo storage with guaranteed privacy are required for anything recommended here by Photo & Story Treasures, so we highly recommend Forever.  
• The Evolve website was a lovely one I wrote for from 2017-2019 before the owner of it had to retire it.

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Digital Scrapbooking and Memory-Keeping For Hire

One of the casualties of the busy lifestyle so inherent in today's culture is our photos--and with them our memories.  Unfortunately, we're not just losing our photos and our memories.  We're {losing ourselves}. 

I believe strongly in the process--how sitting down with your own photos and memories is a great source of peace.  Taking the time to look through photos, choose your favorites, and preserve them in a hand-held way where you can write memories next to them is powerful.  There's actually a lot of perspective, gratitude, and connection to be had through it, too.  Studies even show that looking back on happy times (in a photo album, for example) actually increases happiness in the present.

I've been doing this myself for years, so I know all these things firsthand.  However, I also know that memory-keeping has become a lost art.  And, no, I'm not (necessarily) talking about scrapbooking.  I'm really just talking about the simple act of printing up a picture and writing down something about it.  People just don't do that any more.  Digital photo snapping is super cool and easy to share, but we have SO. MANY. PICTURES.  So many people I talk to are {overwhelmed}, and most people don't even know what they're supposed to do with all those pictures.  Or how.

an heirloom-quality book plus digital scrap pages of the same event
(Click here for a variety of top-quality options.)

Because memory-keeping comes second-nature to me, I have--in recent years--begun digital scrapbooking and memory-keeping for others.  There's no way, of course, that I could do ALL that memory-keeping entails since they're not my pictures and not my memories, but it's really easy for me to be the boots on the ground, so to speak, making everything happen.  Your wish is my command.

So if you find yourself wanting to do something more with your photos than confining them to JPEG Jail, let me help you.

There are lots of options from digital hardbound books to digital scrap pages.  If you'd like a cute scrapbook-y kind of look, I can do that.  If you'd like a clean look, I can do that.  I can let you pick a template or I can create from scratch for a fully-flexible option.  (I do charge by the hour, so templates will go much faster, but getting exactly what you want without needing to fit into a template has perks, too.)  

I can make any project you have in mind, from baby books to family yearbooks to graduation sign-in books and tribute books and cookbooks and canvases and holiday gifts.  It all matters.

Let me be your memory-keeping partner.  You take the pictures and make the memories, then you share with me your favorites (both pictures and a little blurb about each one) so I can make those pictures and memories last.  {Here is the basic information} about how Scrapbooking For Hire (or any project) works.  For more details how it works, just {contact me} and I'll e-mail you a document outlining everything.

If you need a memory-keeping partner, don't put it off!  Memories get dimmer all the time, and photos left in digital form are always at the mercy of technology.  Let's get your photos out of the cloud and your memories out of your head into something that will be seen, held, and loved for generations.

Know anyone else who needs memory-keeping help?  Share!
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"Conversations with the Inspiring Jennifer Wise" from VoyageDenver

If you've read this blog much over the last 9 1/2 years, you've found hundreds of articles about photos, memories, family and personal stories, memory-keeping, photo organization, digital scrapbooking, time management, crafty DIY projects, and meaningful (and totally fun!) gift ideas.

What you haven't read a lot about is me.  My personal experiences and my own Heritage Makers projects are often scattered throughout, but there are very few posts about me, Jennifer Wise, the face (and heart and soul) behind LifeTales Books.  Why do I write this blog?  Why am I so crazy passionate about something as commonplace as pictures?  What brought me to this point?  And why?

I'm honored and thrilled to be featured in VoyageDenver Magazine in their Trailblazer: Rewriting the Narrative series where they "interview hidden gems from Denver and the surrounding areas."  In this interview, I talk about my business and my story, my path in entrepreneurship, what sets me (and Heritage Makers) apart from the rest, and my thoughts on female leadership in business today.

2023 UPDATE regarding references to Heritage Makers in this post as well as the VoyageDenver article:  Heritage Makers and Snap2Finish became YPhoto under Youngevity (which purchased Heritage Makers in 2013).  YPhoto uses only templates, so the creativity showcased here is no longer available there, and they also no longer have capability to print previously-created projects like these from the old system. YPhoto is not a photo storage site like Heritage Makers was. 

Best-in-the-industry quality and permanent cloud photo storage with guaranteed privacy are required for anything I recommend, so I now highly recommend Forever for:  

·        creative digital scrapbooking applicable in a variety of photo products using Artisan software

·        easy photo-memory books using free AutoPrint and Design & Print software programs

·        private, permanent, secure, and guaranteed photo and video cloud storage (triple-backed-up and bank encrypted)

·        white glove digitizing services for old memories like VHS tapes, slides, old scrapbooks (scanning), 8mm film, audio tapes, and much more

Learn more here to  find similar products at top-quality with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

___________________________________________________

The interviewer chose the title:  "Conversations with the Inspiring Jennifer Wise."  So you can take that to mean that you'll come away inspired after reading my Trailblazer article!   And you can do that right here:

{Conversations with the Inspiring Jennifer Wise, 

from VoyageDenver Magazine}

If you enjoyed the read, let me know about it by commenting below!  And share it with someone you know who would enjoy it, too!  Pin, Tweet, email, or share on Facebook.

How to Increase Happiness and Relaxation

This post was updated 2022.

Two things that seem to be in high demand and short supply these days are happiness and relaxation.  Stress seems to be taking their place. Today I’m going to show you how to find increased happiness and relaxation in some surprising places from some unexpected sources.  It’s funny how easily they could be had but how elusive they are until we get a few hints.

The Surprising Sources for Happiness

Something we all have (and sometimes have too much of!) is pictures.  They’re on phones, cameras, computers, and social media.  I believe this leads to an all too common way of thinking about pictures:  big deal.  But pictures and memories are a much bigger deal than we think.

In fact, pictures have been shown to increase happiness!  Gretchen Rubin, author of “The Happiness Project,” says {pictures make us happy for many reasons}, including:

• They help us remember people, places, and activities we love.
• Pictures help us remember happy times from the past, which makes us happier in the present.
• A photo can sometimes replace a thing we love.  (Think about something that was broken or old or impractical to keep–a photo lets it live forever with you.)
• Taking photos increases {creativity}.

Dr. Peter Naish did a study on {how viewing photographs lifts your mood} when compared to other common ways to do so like eating or drinking.  Looking at photos increased mood by 11%, whereas eating, drinking, watching TV/movies, or listening to music increased mood only 1%.  He found, too, that looking at pictures even helped people relax more!  After viewing photos, people reported a 22% increase in relaxation!  (Incidentally, drinking wine came in at 14% and eating chocolate came in at 8%.)

And it’s more than just pictures–it’s what’s behind them.  In the mid-1990s, Dr. Marshall Duke from Emory University took a close look at the American family.  Dr. Duke’s wife, Sara, had noticed something about the children she worked with:  the ones who knew a lot about their families did better when challenges arose.  

So Dr. Duke and a colleague, Dr. Robyn Fivush, decided to further examine this theory.  Through their {“Do You Know?” study}, they found that kids who were connected to their families by knowing family stories were more resilient and had higher self-esteem.  They also had a greater sense of control over their own lives, {even in the face of crisis}.

Another thing that working with our photos and memories does is develop a stronger sense of self, more gratitude, and a sense of purpose.  Our perspective gets better.

"The secret to having it all is knowing you already do." -anonymous

The Trick to Tapping Into Happiness, Relaxation, and Strength

The only trick to using photos and memories and family stories for increased happiness, relaxation, connection, resilience, and strength is that you have to have a way to access them.  If I sit back and try to remember family stories, none come to mind all that quickly (especially when I need them).  When I brainstorm (either alone or with others) and then write them down, I have a place to go to when I need my family stories.  Same goes for pictures.  If they’re unorganized or in too many places, they’re just overwhelming–they’re not useful for happiness, relaxation, or strength.  But if I put them into a book or scrap page and write my memories with them, they’re there the instant I need a lift.

Many people don’t do much with their photos these days because of {overwhelm} and {too little time}.  There’s also a pervading false notion that you have to be a scrapbooker in order to do something with your photos.  

I’ve been a memory-keeper, preserving my photos and memories and stories, for as long as I can remember.  Since 2005, I’ve been helping other people do the same.  So today I’ll share with you the best time hacks I know of for making time for your photos and memories so you can get all the fabulous side-effects of memory-keeping.

Before I share my three favorite time hacks, here are two helps: 

• If disorganized and cluttered photos makes getting started difficult, there are several {photo organization tools and resources (including a video)} right there at that link.
• If the idea of doing anything at all with your photos is overwhelming,  you might want to try {Scrapbooking For Hire}.  This service can be anything you want it to be, from basic tips on where to even start to helping you with photo organization or the actual creating of {digital books or scrap pages}.  Sometimes you just need ideas and directions, and sometimes you need a partner.

My Three Favorite Time Hacks to Make Memory-Keeping Doable for Increased Happiness and Relaxation

1. TIME

One requirement for memory-keeping is time.  That’s true of everything, right?  Learning something, helping someone, Christmas shopping, reading, cooking.  Everything requires time.  Because of busy schedules as well as {the pervading sense of and idealization of busy-ness in our culture}, it’s more important than ever to make time for something as important as our photos and memories.  

I have a whole collection of {ideas and time management helps from experts} at that link, but one of my favorite ways to “find” time for memory-keeping is called a Digi-Crop.  I’ve been doing this for years and years.  Here’s what a Digi-Crop is andhow it can help you.

2. HELP

Another great time-saver hack for getting memory-keeping done is to ask for help!  If you’re writing a family story, the fabulous gals at {evalogue.life} can help!  If you’re trying to get some photos and memories preserved in books or scrap pages, check out {Scrapbooking For Hire}.  

3. MY FAVORITE METHOD AND PRODUCT

My number one favorite memory-keeping time hack is shown in this video.  The idea of a Yearbook broken down by month means that you already know where all the photos go!  (Halloween 2015 pictures go in the 2015 book on the October pages.)  These beautiful templates make your yearbook come together so quickly!

If you'd like more flexibility than the templates offer, I highly recommend Artisan digital scrapbooking software.  It's what I use because I love the flexibility and creativity.  Learning the Design & Print platform (above) takes about 2 minutes, so it's much simpler to use, but I know a lot of people who love all the design capabilities in Artisan (below) even though you do have to learn the program.  (Plus, I have a whole bunch of Artisan Quick Tip videos for you!)

There’s No Time Like THIS Time

Pictures seem to be one of the easiest things to put off.  They pile up on cameras and phones, and before you know it, you’re {swimming in them}.  But memories fade far faster than we think they will, and digital photos left in digital form are always at the mercy of technology.  

If you’re serious about increasing your own happiness, relaxation, strength, and well-being, there’s no time like this time.  Why on earth would you wait?  Take advantage of the hacks I’ve shared, or {contact me} with your specific needs and questions.  

Whatever you do, #dontletyourbabiesgrowuptobejpegs  {Get started here.}

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This post was originally published at www.livegrowgive.org on October 26, 2018, by Jennifer Wise as part of the #familyhistoryfriday series that ran for a year and a half.  Although this is the last post in the series, you can go back and find many, many more posts about family, photos, memories, stories, and connections!  Just click the #familyhistoryfriday hashtag below next to Labels.  This entire blog is dedicated to the same theme, so explore and enjoy!

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What Do You Tell Yourself about Preserving Pictures that Isn't True?

Everyone has pictures!  Unfortunately, not everyone preserves them.  In the “olden days” as I like to call them, we would take a pictures on film and not see them for weeks or months until we printed them when we got the film developed.  We’re in a funny place now where we take pictures and see them immediately but don’t print or preserve them, so we often never see them again.  

What happened?  Why the disconnect?  What is it about digital photos that has made us forget to preserve them?  I find that there are several myths surrounding memory-keeping that are preventing the majority of us from preserving pictures.  What do you tell yourself about preserving pictures that isn’t true?

So What Do You Mean, “Preserving?”

My quick answer to this question is usually, “Preserving a photo means getting it out of digital form into a place where it can be seen and loved, complete with its story (your memories).”  While I stand by that definition, I think it’s important to look a little deeper.  

“Preserving” means “saving.”  So if you’re preserving your pictures, you’re saving them.  Saving them from what?

Now that’s something to think about!  Digital photos come with a whole set of potential problems:  computer crashes, corrupted files, phones dropped in water, etc.  Another problem with digital photos is that they don’t leave us a place to write thoughts or memories or details about the photo.  (Unfortunately, this will eventually make them worthless.  I know that’s a hard pill to swallow!  #truth)

Digital photos also come with an even bigger problem:  overwhelm.  Digital photos are so easy to take that many people just amass them instead of mindfully taking them.  With thousands upon thousands of digital photos, it’s no wonder that preserving them can be daunting.  

If you’re overwhelmed with just the amount of photos you have, help yourself out by reading {When Photo Overload Becomes Photo Overwhelm}.

Why You Should Care

Photos, memories, and family stories have been shown to increase self-esteem, lower rates of depression and anxiety, foster a sense of purpose and belonging, reduce stress, increase present happiness, and contribute to greater resiliency, healing, and coping.  

As time goes on, we are in more and more need of the things that memory-keeping provides:  connection, grounding, peace, comfort, and happiness.  We need to take time to process life, and there’s not an easier way to do that than sitting down with your pictures and writing a little something about them.  Reminiscing is powerful for the mind and the heart.

If you’re still not sure why preserving photos even matters, read {The Secret Ingredient to Self-Care and Wellness} as well as {The Importance of Memories to Personal Growth}.  There is some astounding research and information there!

Start there and then you’ll be ready to tackle the four common memory-keeping myths.  I’ve busted them all for you, in fact!  (Click to read each one.)

• {BustingMyth #1:  “I’m not creative.”}
• {BustingMyth #2:  “I don’t preserve my photos because I’m not a scrapbooker.”}  Think about this one.  Photography has been around for 200 years, scrapbooking for about 30.  This one is obviously a myth!
• {BustingMyth #3:  “I don’t have time.”}  We say this one so much that you probably don’t believe me when I say this is a myth!  Read on!
• {BustingMyth #4: “I can’t preserve my photos and memories because I don’t know what to write.”}

How to Actually Do It

We tend to make things complicated with too many pictures and visions of Ultra Creative Scrapbooking.  It doesn’t need to be that hard!  

Here are my three favorite suggestions to help you go from suffocating under your photos to enjoying them and letting them be {the best kind of retail therapy there is}!

1. {Declutter and organize your photos} (or use this {video tutorial on organizing digital photos}).  Either way, organize then just choose your favorites to preserve so you’re not overwhelmed.
2. Set aside time.  Here’s a suggestion for {making it a family tradition} instead of an item on Mom’s to-do list, and {here’s a HUGE collection of ideas for making time for yourself and getting together with others for memory-keeping}.  (I even have an online group you can join–it’s free, and you can find the information at that link.)
3. Do what you love.  Whether you like printed pictures or digital ones, there’s something for everyone.  Choose a high-quality photo album (make sure it's acid-free and lignin-free) for your printed photos, or try digital books (again, quality matters) for your digital pages.  Digital scrap pages are literally the reason I’m caught up preserving my memories and photos!  No joke.  And for people who are really overwhelmed with the amount of photos they have, digital yearbooks are my go-to, hands down! 

Here are a couple of videos that can help.  

This first one is the fastest way I know of to preserve your photos and memories digitally (and you'll get a PDF version of your book for digital sharing, too), and your books are printed using the highest quality inks, papers, and bindings in the industry.

And for awesome digital photo organizing, preserving, and sharing (guaranteed for your lifetime plus 100 years with no monthly fees), this tutorial can get you started.

Whatever you do, #dontletyourbabiesgrowuptobejpegs!  Don’t tell yourself anything about preserving pictures that isn’t true.  Let pictures and memories and life’s stories be the therapeutic benefit they can be for your heart and soul.

Get started here!

Find many more tips for catching up on your photos {here}. If you need a memory-keeping buddy, {contact me here}.  I can even collaborate with you, working to make parts or all of your digital books or scrap pages {for you}!

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This post was originally published at www.livegrowgive.org on October 12, 2018, by Jennifer Wise.  You can read more #familyhistoryfriday posts about photos, memories, stories, connections, and family by clicking the hashtag below next to Labels.  This post was updated in 2023.

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