Photos. We all have them and most of us have them stuffed away in random places or trapped in bulky albums. When my parents passed away we inherited a ton of albums. They are all amazing photos but it’s been so hard to figure out how to divide them up. Then there are all of the photos I’ve discovered while packing up our house. I did some digging and found a solution that is working great for us so I wanted to share with you.
TIME TO SWITCH THINGS UP
BYE BYE BULKY ALBUMS
One small box replaces stacks of albums. I am so happy to have found this solution. I hope it’s helpful as you think about how you want your memories saved.
Anyone else have these old school albums lying around? Many of our memories are in Shutterfly albums which I do love, but these older albums are so bulky and have ruined so many photos. My parents used these and most of them have that sticky glue on each page. It’s really difficult to unstick all of the photos. And they lead to discoloration as well. Such a shame to have lost some of the precious photos.
ARCHIVAL PHOTO BOX
I can’t tell you how happy this photo box makes me. My daughter shares my joy. Best $18 I’ve spent in a very long time. In an effort to pack up the house, we took things down from the attic. Apparently I had just moved tubs from our old home to this home without ever going through them. Album after album. They date back to my high school days and boy was I into creating albums. Of course I kept a couple of the special ones, but then I spent a good amount of time removing all of the photos from the bulky albums. I did the same for the photos my parents left us. It’s actually a really fun task as it stirs up so many fond memories.
WHY DITCH THE OLD ALBUMS?
So why ditch the albums? I actually have a dear college friend to thank for this. My friend, Moka, always bring a tote bag of photos with her anytime our college crew gets together. We literally dump them out on the table and we all grab a stack and pass them around. The laughter and story telling goes on for hours. I just haven’t experienced that same scenario with the old albums or even photos on the phone. There is something about holding the actual photograph in your hands that feels so good. Despite the advancements in technology, nothing replaces tangible photographs.
I did plenty of research and this photo box was highly related on multiple sites. It holds hundreds of photos. I think I unloaded 7-8 albums into one box. It is a museum level archival box and has metal enforced corners. The photos will be protected and that is what is most important. It’s also recommend for special documents, legal items and negatives. I will eventually add archival paper dividers to be able to label a few categories (growing up, college, family, etc).
I also love that 7-8 albums is now just one box to store. My daughter and I already said we would put it in a prominent cabinet or on a shelf in the new house so it’s easily accessible and not shoved somewhere to be forgotten. It’s also so handy when we need a photo for a school project or birthday celebration. It’s been on our coffee table the last few days and already we find ourselves looking through it over and over. Life changing for sure.
A reader suggested having them digitized which is a wonderful idea (especially for safe keeping) but I still love holding the photos in my hand. Maybe having both would be ideal.
*Curious about our favorite Amazon home finds? Shared that list here.
Why not digitalize them? There is a company in OC that does that. I know you’re leaving but it’s just a thought. Scan My Photos located off Jamboree in Irvine.
Love that idea . . especially for safe keeping. I just find that we love holding the actual photo. Having both would be perfect.
How did you manage with the photos that were in the sticky type of album? Was there residual sticky on the photos, and how did you deal with that? Would love to ditch the big bulky albums!
Gosh, I couldn’t really do anything. Only a couple had sticky residue, but it peeled off a layer of the backing on so many. It was not the way to go with photos back in the day. Now we know. xo
I agree with the suggestion to also digitize, whether to DVD/CD and/or the cloud for easy online sharing too. After living through the aftermath of my husband’s childhood home burning down and having to sort through literally thousands of smoke- & water-damaged photos and albums, it would be so nice to have the security of knowing those precious memories are safe if the worst should happen.
I love this idea. Thank-you for sharing. We will be empty nesters in Sept., and I am adding this to my project list. Pretty sure there will be some tears:) Thank-you and all the best to you and your family as you make your amazing move.
Thank you for the kind words. And I hope these boxes help. Gosh . .my sister just entered the empty nest phase, too. I know it’s an emotional one. All the best to you.
I’m still in the thick of creating family albums with my young girls, and I use Chatbooks. It’s an online company that connects to your Instagram account to pull photos and then print an album. It’s genius b/c there’s no additional work to do, you already did the “work” when posting to IG. You could even make a private/family only IG account just for this purpose, if you don’t want other non-family photos to print in the book.
LOVE this idea my Courts!!
We digitise all our photos into folders and back them up, we print photo books for all the big milestone events and we print photos for walls and frames each year. But I love the option to print and store these so easily x
After my mom passed almost a year ago I inherited all the family photos as it’s just my brother and I. He was worried he wouldn’t take care of them. I went to a similar method and honestly I’m so glad I did. It was tedious taking them out but I enjoyed dismantling the albums and hope to digitize them for safe keeping. I have photos that date bake to when my mom was a baby in 1960 so I’d like to keep it all. We have about 4 albums now but love all the physical pictures just the same!