This month’s Organizing Challenge is organizing memorabilia . The summer time is a great time to go through your memorabilia. “Why” you may ask? You have extra time. You also are about to go on other vacation trips and will most likely buy souvenirs that you will then need to find homes for. Which then you will need to hopefully remove the ones that you don’t want anymore. Let’s start from the beginning.
What is memorabilia?
Merriam-Webster definition of Memorabilia as “objects or materials that are collected because they are related to a particular event, person, etc. : things collected as souvenirs”.
To help you determine what your memorabilias are, here is a list of some examples:
Artwork and Statues
Clothing – like concert t-shirts, team and band t-shirts
Greeting Cards
Foreign currency
Home Movies
Scrapbooks, photo albums, yearbooks
Trivets and hot plates
Figurines
Christmas Ornaments
Mugs, plates, pottery, spoons, and glassware
Documents – diplomas, degrees
Music CD
Childhood Toys
Antiques
Key rings
Postcards
Magnets
Ashtrays
After you determine what your memoriabilias are, mark days on the calendar this month to review them. Depending on how large the collections are, it may take 15 minutes to a few hours to go through them and get rid of the ones you can do without. Pass yourself, you will be fine. It’s OK to get rid of some of your memorabilia.
How to decide what to get rid of?
Well, ask yourself these questions to help you out.
- Where did I get this? If you can’t remember where you bought the item, get rid of it.
- Is the memory that it represents a positive one? If no, get rid of it.
- Will I be OK if I let go of this? If your answer is yes, let it go.
Answering these questions will help motivate you to make a decision on the item.
If you are starting a collection, start with small collections. Years ago, I learned to keep my memoriabilias collectibles small. For example, when we go on vacation, we buy Christmas Tree ornament. Then, at end of the year, we place them on the tree displayed for all to see. It has been 20 years so we have a lot of wonderful holiday ornaments and enjoy looking at them once a year on our tree. Just lovely!
What do you collect? Do you keep them out in the open, in a box in your closet, or somewhere else? What struggles do you have when trying to get rid of memoriabilia? Join the conversation and leave a comment below.
I, too, tend to pick up Christmas ornaments on my travels. It’s such a fun walk down memory lane each December. I also have a collection of milk glass which is useful for serving and entertaining.
Collections can get such a hold on people, these are some great tips to help them go through them.
The only types of souvenirs I’m apt to buy these days are (a) a lapel pin, for my husband’s collection; (b) a postcard, for my collection (started when I was a child); ( c) something I’ll be able to use, e.g. pottery for the kitchen; (d) a gift for someone else – but it would have to be giftworthy, not just something to show I was there and thought of them. I’m becoming a lot more selective in my old age!
My father collects corkscrews. It has been a very fun collection especially because they are small and can be hung for display on the wall. Collections of large items, that need to stashed in the attic, are harder to enjoy.
Very true – Large collections are so hard to manage. The corkscrew collection sounds interesting. Thanks for leaving a comment.
What a fantastic idea about the ornaments. I started doing that as well and it so nice at Christmas to remember where we were when we bought it. I call that a useful memory! Thanks for the great advice.
I love it – “Useful memory”. Thanks for stopping by.