Tips and Tricks to Organize Sentimental Items

I walked in my craft room saying to myself, I have got to learn some tips and tricks to organize sentimental items. If you are like me, your rooms are wall to wall with items. You have a hard time letting go many times.

I remember when my husband and I first moved from out trailer to our huge house we have now. We said “how are we ever going to fill up this place?” I never dreamed I would use 4400 square feet in a home, but I do now.

Over the years, memories accumulate. Clothes, ticket stubs, souvenirs, cards, stuffed animals, etc. It all adds up in your home. At The Original Time Capsule company, we understand the sentimental value that your items have for you. So let’s learn how to organize these items and which ones to physically keep, and which ones to take a picture of and keep in a photo album.

It seems like we just keep boxing things up and store it on top of each other. I am a sentimental person when it comes to my items and especially heirloom belongings. So, how do you know what to keep, what to get rid of, what to give away? For example, what do I do with my old baby blankets, birthday cards, wedding napkins, work certificates, etc. What do you do? How do you keep your memories organized without feeling too much guilt or shame getting rid of things?

1. Use decorative boxes with labels
2. Use clear containers if you want to see your items.
3. Keep similar things grouped together (for example, all of your favorite old lotions or perfumes together).
4. Organize your memories by category (for example, for your kids save a file for each year they are in school).
5. Use a jewelry organizer to separate out your old sentimental necklaces, earings, etc.
6. Keep all of your favorite sentimental things in one place, like a time capsule or shadow box. Put a favorite book in the time capsule, and pass it on to your great grandchildren to read in the future.
7. Keep your important papers and photos in one binder or photo album (for example, birth certificate).
8. Use Mason jars to save sentimental items in and display them as unique art around your home (for example, your Florida beach vacation sand).
9. Make a Christmas ornament out of your old clothes, photos, or objects you want to keep forever (in those clear Christmas bulbs sold at stores). Keep your baby’s first lock of hair in one of them.
10. Save audio and videos on You Tube of your special moments using the sentimental items that you want to keep. Then you can get rid of the items, but keep the video of someone special using them. Make a video of you reading your child’s favorite book, so when you have to be gone, the video is still there.

It is even harder going through boxes of your sentimental items when you lost a loved one. I cannot imagine the experience of having to rehash a hard story of seeing someone leave this earth, by going through old boxes of clothes, toys, letters, etc. I am truly sorry for those of you who may have lost a loved one recently. I hope in some small way we offered you some creative ideas of how to let go, and yet pass on a legacy at the same time with these ideas.

Get a Time Capsule today to get started as a family preserving the things that matter most to you. Paint on it, draw on it, or put any photo you want on the outside of your “Any Occasion” DIY Time Capsule. Then have family members write a special “Message to the Future” letter to grandchildren and great grandchildren of your family, describing what each sentimental item is and the story behind that belonging.

What are some of your tips or ways you organize your sentimental items? Comment below.

Making Milestone Moments Count,

– Marcie