memory keeping: taming the madness

i am SURE that i could be classified as a hoarder, but only when it comes to memorabilia..

(ok. and maybe craft stuff too, but you never know when that paper towel roll will come in handy!)

i HAD almost everything the dude had made/drawn/done. EVER.

Yikes.

BUT..

when it was time to make room for baby, i knew something had to change.

my entire filing cabinet drawer of stuff had to be downsized.

seriously downsized.

this is the downsized version of my filing cabinet.

one crate.

uhmm.. spilling over.

that's 2004-2010 in memorbilia.

we are talking:

movie stubs

(maybe a pair, or two of those theater 3d glasses you are supposed to return...)

chuck e cheese tickets

chuck e cheese tokens

carnival tickets

armbands for various functions

birthday invites from family & close friends

cards recieved for birthdays

the dude's drawings

the dude's classwork. (like everything with handwriting on it... )

my old paper planners

business cards of new resturants we tried

travel brochures of places we visited

valentines cards from classmates

airplane ticket stubs

luggage tags

the list goes on...

are you getting the picture?

i keep SO MUCH STUFF.

way too much.

well kept.

i weeded out alot.

(believe it or not)

why do i keep it all?

because i wish i could see something i wrote when i was 6...

or something from our many trips to the skating rink..

but my mom. she's SO not a hoarder.

i'm sure there is something somewhere besides pictures.

because my dad IS a hoarder..

(we are talking like 100 keys from long gone vehicles & houses.. i mean WHY?!)

 but i've never seen any of it.

so finding a middle ground in my genetics..

and my hoarding/purging tendencies...

i had to come up with a plan & a keep/toss method.

first. the weeding out.

what i keep:

one token/ticket from various places

(instead of a handful)

movie/concert/musuem/attraction stubs

(not 3 pairs of 3d glasses that will never be used again)

birthday cards that have a handwritten message

(not every single one)

sweet handwritten notes from the dude

his classwork that falls into one of these categories:

1. tells his point of view of something we did as a family

2. artwork that pertains to something we did as a family

3. artwork that represents his interests

4. anything that fits in a 81/2 x 11 sleeve that has his hand/foot print on it

(that handprint wreath from christmas on 11x14 paper.. ya. in the trash.)

christmas cards with pictures ON them

party invites

birth anouncements

so then what to do with these items so they can endure time & be enjoyed now as well?

 the paper items go into a plastic sleeve & then into my scrapbook.

they get mixed in with my actual pages.

i do yearly albums, so that's pretty easy for me.

i've learned i don't get memorabilia onto actual pages often,

so the smaller stuff, like ticket stubs, go into baseball card sleeves.

 i use a 12x12 album & mix up the page sizes.

not a scrapbooker?

grab a 3 ring binder & some page protectors & get to work.

you don't have to be a scrapbooker to get it into an album.

the non-flat 3d items like..

party bead necklaces from my baby shower

 the piece of mulch the dude stuck in his ear & had to have removed by the doctor when he was 5

(yes i kept it, they put it in a container & gave it to him & it just seemed wrong to pitch it..)

the cullen crest ring i got from the bk happy meal i ordered just for the ring..

and maybe one pair of 3d movie glasses.

go into a jar a la kelli crowe time capsule like.

& find their home in various places around the house.

the key is to treat your memorabilia like junk mail.

when you get it home, sort it & pitch it right away.

i do this every friday because the dude cleans out his desk at school..

sometimes things don't seem to fall into any category, but get saved anyway..

like this:

 

at first i thought...

'wow. maybe i am a little 'too into' vampire & werewolf stuff. first he knows who edward is, now he's drawing werewolf transformations?!'

then i asked him about it..

apparently it's NOT a werewolf.

it's a witch.

turning into a mouse.  

(and totally not influenced by my obsession of the supernatural on this one day)

apparently they read 'the witches' on this particular day.

sometimes you never know until you ask.

xo-k

linking to:
the blackberry vine