Photographs are an important part of most peoples lives. We use the camera to capture our favorite memories but unless you have mastered scrapbooking you probably have tossed these images in a box or drawer with the intentions of organizing them later. Your pictures need to be enjoyed now. Let’s explore ways to surround yourself with these priceless bits of your life.
Pick a seasonal theme such as Easter finery and go through your photo collection to find your favorite pictures of your family on Sunday morning. Don’t just concentrate on the children but go back a few generations and enjoy the changes in fashions. Why did we stop wearing those cute little hats and gloves? If your pictures are both color and black and white you may want to have them all copied in black and white for consistency. Put your new collection in frames and group them on a table top. Take time to change them each season. Look for vacation photos, back to school pictures and building a snowman shots. A grouping of each family member on their first birthday will surely bring comparisons of common physical traits.
Children always seem to be full of squeals and smiles during bathtime. Take advantage of this exuberance by taking snapshots of bubble covered heads and towel wrapped dancers. Ask your mom to find the pictures she took of you showing off in the buff. Your kids will love it! You can do a couple of 8x10’s or a grouping of various sizes depending on your wall space and the amount of pictures you have to display. The goal is to create a soapy personalized gallery.
Create a mobile to hang in a child’s room with pictures of family members or friends. Photocopy your pictures and place two of them back to back, laminate them, then punch a small hole at the top of the picture. After laminating them together you can cut out different shapes and add embellishments. The scrapbooking section of your craft store will have ribbons, trims and templates to help you personalize the pictures. Thread ribbon, fishing line or yarn through the hole in each photo and attach to a recycled mobile frame or hang directly from the ceiling with a clear pushpin. Hanging them at different heights will allow you to better view each picture in your hanging photo album.
As you are going through your pictures, sort them into theme piles. You are now ready to place them into specialized photo albums. I enjoy looking through a small book filled with pictures of my daughter and her dad carving the Halloween pumpkin. From the silly faces that come from sticking your hand in a stringy sticky pumpkin to the finished product, this event has given me wonderful snapshots through the years.
On a side note, protect your picture negatives or disks from damage by placing them in a security box that is water tight and fire proof. You may even want to keep this box at a location other than your own home. Pictures are one of the few things that we can’t replace if disaster strikes.
Warning! Sorting through old photographs becomes addictive. Be ready to devote several hours to enjoying the blessed life you have lived.
