Do you feel like you are swimming in the stuff that your kids bring home from school?
Do you feel like you have more papers, projects, pictures, works of art, programs, awards, and memorabilia than you can manage?
Do you feel completely overwhelmed by the very idea of organizing all this stuff?
Do you have a desire to bring some order to the chaos, and ultimately have organized scrapbooks for your kids?
Me too, friends. Me. Too.
I really needed to get a grip on all the stuff for my kids so I embarked on a little journey with a big goal. I decided that having a video camera along for the ride might end up being beneficial for some of you too. That’s the goal. This is not a quick tutorial. This video is nearly 30 minutes long and you’ll feel like you’re hanging out with me in our home office as I walk you through my own process of creating order out of chaos. You’ll appreciate the fact that I’m years behind on the kids’ scrapbooks. And you’ll see first-hand what I’m doing to get to a place where I no longer feel Mom Guilt.
Join me on this quest to get organized. This video was built piece-by-piece over many weeks. If I had nothing else going on, this would all have happened in a few days. But that’s not my real life. So I fit it in a little here, a little there. Many outfits. Many hairstyles. Too many outtakes that warrant their own video … some day.
I genuinely want you to feel inspired to get organized with your kids’ stuff without being completely overwhelmed. In fact, I expect that many of you will even get organized with your own childhood and school stuff as well. (But just take one thing at a time, okay?)
As I mentioned in the video, I’m looking forward to hearing from you, too. If you have insights to share that will help us in developing product that will ultimately help you, don’t be shy. We are literally in the middle of designing school/childhood products right now and I invite you to participate in our brainstorming. Consider yourself an honorary team member of Becky Higgins LLC. So much of what we have done is a result of listening to our customers and readers. Your suggestions will be heard and considered.
Tags: kids' stuff, school, video
Wow, Becky–thank you SO much! I can’t wait to watch it! My hubby just said the other day of how many papers we have…just can’t keep up with the school folders every day
and what to keep…and not feel guilty with what we recycle 
Just a reminder (to add what you said about adding dates to school papers, photos, etc), try to add a quick note on the back about who is in the photo.
Some of my favourite photos of me as a young child has my mother or grandmother’s writing on the back. Not only is it nostalgic, but some of these photos have (ahem) been removed from their respective albums and it helps me to know which albums they need to return to AND provide a link to the past.
I also think it comes in handy during acts of God. God forbid there is any sort of horrible storm or tornado that comes through your neighbourhood and loose papers are spread over your town, but it would be nice for the finder to be able to see on the back of a photo the name/s of the people and (hopefully) return them to you.
THANK YOU for the wonderful video. I was feeling like it was project life or traditional scrapbooking………I LOVE the fact that you are able to use both in a traditional 12×12!!!! I feel so relieved!
Great video thank you. My son is in his first year of preschool and I was wanting to wait for your school stuff to come out to put his album together but I’ve decided to go ahead and get started with this year before I get too far behind and overwhelmed. I’m using the Project Life products to get started. I love your products and they make this task so much easier. The steps in this video will really help me get started. Can’t wait for the school stuff to come out!
Thank you for this! I have your school years kits from years ago and have used some of them, but I am no where near caught up (I have a 4th and a 3rd grader). Your video was very helpful for me to see how you used both your old kit and PL together.
You mentioned scanning a lot. I would love to see a quick video on how you decide what to scan and how you decide what size. I debate a lot about what original documents to keep and what to scan. I also wonder how you scan or document larger art items.
Thanks again for the inspiration!
Agreed! I’m documenting my own childhood and have some larger artwork that I don’t know how to scan them!
LArger artwork…simple… take a picture with your kid holding it. It’s great to see them with it and shows their age. Priceless!
I do this, too. Take a picture of child holding the artwork (especially good for 3-D work that is really too big & bulky to save). I’ve shared this idea with many a friends and they now do the same. Hope this idea helps some of you.
I haven’t watched the video yet, but I usually just tape larger artwork up on a wall in order to take pictures of it.
I am currently 5 months pregnant with my first! I’ve really been trying to narrow down in my mind what my end goal for memory keeping will be with my family and I LOVE your approach the best. Family yearbook plus individual kids’ books. I am so excited to start our family and keep on documenting!
Question though: say you have a 7 day trip to California that includes SeaWorld, Disneyland, Beach, Zoo….etc. Would you still print/publish just a few pictures, enough to fit your WEEK or would you consider making perhaps a small photobook just for this vacation. I just know that I go picture crazy on trips and I wind up with another album. What do you do for special occassions?
Priscilla, my husband and I have had the same discussion- we go picture crazy on trips, too, so we are going to pick the absolute fave pics for our week in PL and do a photobook through snapfish, shutterfly, etc. for the whole trip!
I do the same as Jen. I always do a photobook for all of our trips/vacations. It is nice to not have to eliminate so many pictures. I love having project life to showcase the normal day to day things and then the photobook that is more detailed. It also comes in handy if we are vacationing somewhere with people. I typically print a second book for them as a thank you.
I was there – like you – creating all kinds of vacation specific albums (like Becky did too – key word “did) and you eventually look at all the different albums and simplify. Simplify by creating additional pages in your PL album. I am addicted to taking pictures – I am a successful pro too – so I print away and put into PL pages. Sometimes I just create a grid in Fotofusion software and have 100 pics on a 2 page spread. %0 pics from a birthday party with a few of my favorites blown up in the album. I mix and match page protector sizes and it makes the album dynamic and interesting. I love my albums now, I love the simplicity of not having a ton of different albums. It took Becky 20 years? – it took me about 15 – hey hopefully we can save you a few years off your evolving process.
I have an empty We R Memory Keepers 3-ring album and I bought an extra pack of Design A page protectors, and my plan is to document our vacations in this album using the Project Life stuff and my stash of vacation-themed embellishments. I have never done more than 1 or 2 traditional layouts for a vacation because I’ve felt so overwhelmed by all the photos and stories I have collected, but at the same time, I haven’t wanted to go with just a photo book because of all the memorabilia I have saved (and because of all those previously purchased vacation embellishments…). I figured that a vacation-focused Project Life album would be a good solution for me.
I am excited to document our 2006 cruise (which was actually the Creating Keepsakes “Cruise with Becky”!!) and 2009 ‘babymoon’ cruise this way. I have been thinking of buying the digital Cobalt journaling cards for this, since the colours feel playful and a bit tropical to me. 
Carmen.
Thank you so much for this video! I have been in the planning stage for a few weeks now and this came at the perfect time. I have my PL order in but I don’t have my albums yet and haven’t been able to decide what to use. What type of albums are you using and do you order your books in bulk (to get all one color) or does the supplier keep all the colors around?
Thanks!
In the video becky mentioned that her books are from We R Memory Keepers. They are amazing and manufacture Becky’s PL albums too!
Thanks so much Becky. First, the video made me realize I am pretty organized, everything from each year is shoved into the big pockets from your original school kit, but that’s where it stopped. I knew I wanted to use the PL pages to put it together but the visual really helped. Cutting down papers and just saving the part you want. BRILLIANT. Going to get started today.
Thank you so much, Becky! This is exactly what I needed to help get organized with my boys’ pictures, projects, and memories. Project Life has made my life so much easier, but this video will help turn my piles and files into something we can all enjoy. Thanks again for the step-by-step process of getting organized with all that “kid stuff” and I look forward to getting some of your new products.
lots of great information! Thanks for taking the time to make the video and SHARING it with us
Thanks!! This makes me even more motivated than I have been in the past few months! I would love to get my “scrap life” together by the end of the year and be close to caught up…crazy right
Well youre helping!! Thanks!!
Quick Question if you can: you have those white shelf like boxes in your office…do you happen to remember where you got those? I love them!!
Also, what type of journaling pens do people tend to use!!
Thanks!!
Container Store!
Love, love this. I only have one boy, just about to turn 2, so I don’t have a ton of stuff yet. But I know there will be lots to come over the years, and with more children. Thanks Becky for simplifying the whole process! As always.
Watching on my big TV via AirPlay – awesome!!
Love the video and the concept! My daughter is going to go into preschool in Septemeber, and I have been wondering where I am going to put all of her “stuff”. Right now it is just going into our PL, but I know we are going to be getting a lot more art and school work coming home. I am excited now!
Thank you, Becky! I have struggling with what to do with all my past albums. I love PL so much… it is working for me like nothing else. And I see how it works for me going forward. But what about going backwards? (I have two babies who don’t have a baby book either–LOL!) So it was great to see what you did here. It gives me lots of ideas.
^ have been–that should say “have been struggling.”
Becky-
Thanks so much. Even though I don’t have kids I have “little” friends I LOVE Project Life and love having a place to store all the things that I get from being their “Lizzie”. My Project Life binder is one of the first thing they gravtate too when they visit to make sure they are being represented!! It also gives me the opportunity to save cards,notes etc. from my parents since they are 1200 miles away.
Thank you for creating a product that has changed lifes, atleast mine
!
alright… alright… I went and ordered page protectors today
I’ve been meaning to do this to add to the collection I have – I’ve got the binders, containers, the overall system… but I haven’t put the stuff into anything. I’m hoping that you will create those to work with project life core items – page protectors/binders/dividers. While I don’t do “project life” paper books, I like the core items a lot and have incorporated them into the We R Memory Keeper albums I have for the kids.
I would LOVE to see a ready to go fact card for each grade (teacher, school, etc) but perhaps in a digital format that comes with different sizing… that way one grade might have it on 4x6V, another year might be 4x6H, another year it might be 2×3, another year it might be 6×12 with much more journaling.
Also, I would like to see neutral colors as an option or just more than one color combo like the core kits… the photos of school stuff are bright, multi-colored or heavy in school colors. And, having boys’ they like boy colors… cameo, black, blue, etc.
Becky,
Thanks so much for the detailed video. I really like the idea of scanning to make things smaller. We have a scanner, but I definitely need to play with it to feel comfortable using it.
I only have one child, so I am not doing separate albums for her. Except for a dance album. I am now thinking of doing an album of just her school papers, artwork etc. I can see myself using a PL album for it and quite possibly a bunch of different page protectors. I really like the 6×6 and think it could be really useful for her school stuff. However, I just checked my print options and 6×6 is not one of them. Does your printer have that as an option? If not, how were you able to get it that size?
Thank you for your passion for documenting life. Thank you for realizing too many people get bogged down with the traditional way it is “supposed” to be done. Thank you for developing a simpler way, so that people can actually stay on top of it and enjoy the memories today. Our kids can actually enjoy their pictures NOW instead of 20+ years down the road! What a thrill it is too see my dtr excited about looking back at 2011 pictures. I am still working on the documentation cards, but the pictures are all there. If not for PL they would all be in a photo case- out of sight- out of mind.
One thing I find I am using alot are little stickers on the journaling cards. Not all the time, but just a persons name or where we went etc. The problem I have doing this is having little stickers that actually match the kit I am using. For example, I am using Cobalt this year and bright colored sticker just don’t go so well. I think it would be a great addition next year to have little stickers that color coordinate with the kits.
P.S. The above thank you’s are also for David as you have mentioned what a big role he plays “behind the scenes.”
I make pics 6×6 in photo shop then print on 6×8 & trim off the excess or print at 6×8 & crop.
I LOVE to scrap my little ones school things! I am currently using
your old Creating Keepsakes school kits and incorporating Project
Life items as well! I feel like I go through the exact steps you took
in the video!
These albums have also become our family favorites!
I love the Cobalt PL Album for my son’s school album!
LOVE it all!!!
What I do for each of my children:
1-One photo binder (I use 12 x12 inch photoshop layouts, 1-2 per season, to include fave photos and journaling-or project life would work great for this too). So by the time my kids graduate high school they’ll have 1-2 binders each of photos of FAVE pics/milestones.
2-A scrapbook for certificates, awards etc
3-Like Becky did for her son, I take photos of my kids fave art pieces and save them in a folder on my computer. Once I get enough I’ll make a digital project life photo book of the art. I will save a handful of actual pieces and toss the rest.
Simple is my approach. I hate clutter!
I’m super excited, I kinda started to do this with my son’s baby book but watching this gave me a TON of ideas on how to use all the products and not necessarily having to fill all the pockets with pictures or a story. I’m going to go bak and change some stuff. Thanks for the inspiration. I’m a 3rd year Project Lifer and I still love it today just as much as I did when I first started. Thanks for this, i don’t feel as guilty as I once did. Maybe one day I can get to my husband and I’s “before” kid pictures. Awesome video, thanks again.
This video was GREAT!! It motivates me to go through my daughter’s pile of school stuff. As an art teacher, I am SO HAPPY to see you preserving your child’s artwork via scans! Too many times it just gets thrown away. For those bigger piece of art (we do 12″x18″ a lot in my art room) I have gotten the 12×24 page protectors…at least I think that’s what they’re called. it folds over, so I can slip the 12×18 piece of art without having to fold it up. I like being able to preserve the art class artworks like that. I can’t think of the company right now….
This is the post I’ve been waiting for, thank you Becky!!
Thank you so much for this video. You gave me the inspiration to get it done! I have three kids (one a freshman in college) and started their books years ago and not finished. I have all of their stuff in large envelope pockets on a shelf. I love the idea of trimming the work itself and sticking it to the grid cards. Thank you for showing the process in its real form which in real life is unfinished sometimes, and it is ok, just organize it till you do have time. Love the decor in your office!
Becky, This is a great video! I enjoy reading your blog and watching your videos. I’m in my 30s and enjoy scrap-booking my life and my family heritage. I do not have children. I recently purchased some Project Life products from Amazon. My intent is to complete a scrapbook for my older brother. I have most of the family photos from our childhood, and even his adult life. I am currently in the process of scanning them all and updating them with PSE so they can easily fit into the Project Life plastics. It would be nice to have some school themed products that look more retro than current.
LOVE the video. Exactly where I am at. My baby turns 6 on Friday and I still haven’t done his baby book. That is my reality. Here is what my humble addition to your video: LESS can be MORE. I constantly have to remind myself that neither I nor my children will want to spend days and days walking down memory lane of 1st grade. That simple concept has freed me. I still take TONS of photos (yes, often around 200 a week) and collect everything piece of paper they produce at school or at home, but now I am much happier culling. I don’t want to have to add an addition to my house to have the space store everything that comes home or is produced. For me, I have found that initally, I keep everything (I’m horribly sentimental). After a few months, I am much better at culling. By then I have a better feel for what I want to keep and what is more reflective of the child. I’m also sick of the piles by then. It is a constant battle. I remind myself that I want my children to have wildly successful and happy lives as adults. I want them to happily stroll down memory lane every now and then, but I don’t want it to be a burden because there is just so much “stuff.” So please remember LESS can be MORE!
Hi Becky,
That was awesome thanks for sharing! I don’t have kids at this point in my life, and my mom wasn’t a saver of that type of my school stuff, but after just recently losing my dad it gave me many ideas for memories and such that I have of him. It also just gave me many ideas for other life stuff to organize and get into albums. Thanks for sharing. This will be my first year doing PL and I haven’t been able to start yet b/c I was waiting on the page protectors (they are on their way now…yay, can’t wait!!) but I’m super excited and already love PL just b/c while I love scrapbooking, life is busy and my priorities have changed and I”m all about LIVING life to the fullest, while still recording it and PL will make that so easy! I’m so excited and thank you for your products to help us with that. Also, just wanted to give props to your company in that I don’t know what other company gives so many ideas and updates to their customers and I think thats awesome! Your doing an awesome job!
Thank you so much!
Blessings,
Stacy
P.S. How awesome that your kids will have those awesome memories of their childhood that you saved! LOVE it!
Thanks for much for the video. My oldest graduates 8th grade this year and I really want to give him a K-8 book as a gift. I just can’t decide whether to do it digitally or the paper version you’ve presented. I just got done making a digital book of all his writing (200 pages – Inkubook 8.5×11) and a 12X12 shutterfly book of all his art work. The scanner has been my best friend! Love both these books! Now I’m left with class photos, 1st day of school pix, report cards, field trips, team sports, awards, holidays & family pictures. Any advice to those of us approaching this digitally? Thanks Becky!
Cathy Zielske has some great posts on her blog about her school album process as well as 8 1/2×11 and 12×12 templates for sale at Designer Digitals http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbooking/supplies/product_info.php/products_id/9355 . I was going to try to add some links to some of her posts but my browser is acting up so I couldn’t search on her blog http://cathyzielske.typepad.com/ She also has a great series of her hybrid Project Life weekly layouts.
thank you for the video! i just bought one of your old school kits from your sister in law & will be using that & some of the newer project life stuff to start an album for my son who just started preschool this year. thank you for making this such a simple process!!
Simple take a picture of your kid holding it. Priceless!
This was FANTASTIC!!!! (and the bit about the love languages brought tears to my eyes – I can totally relate to this as gathering and honouring my children’s “stuff” is a love language for me). And so timely. My oldest is halfway through Kindergarten – I’ve been gathering and dating everything faithfully in order to compile it similar to how you have done it. I CAN do it, and with the help of your products, it will be easy and fun.
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Maria
Chilliwack, BC
Hi Becky,
Thanks for the video. Here are some thoughts…
One way I keep the “stuff” under control is by having paper trays in my kitchen cabinet. My kids’ work comes home once a week and I sort it:
Keeper – goes in the child’s paper tray in the cabinet.
Good, but I can let it go – goes in the stack to be mailed to grandparents and great-grandparents (grandparents love to get mail:).
We can live without – goes in the recycle bin.
This method keeps the weekly paper organizing under control for me. At the end of the school year everything in the child’s paper tray goes in their school kit pocket.
In regards to the school kits (I have two), here are some thoughts…
I love all the elements but one of my concerns is that the style of the paper and elements won’t be “in style” in 10 years when I’m completing my sons Senior book. I’d like a product that was current each year regarding, colors, patterns, and elements.
I love the idea of getting away from a typical scrapbook kit, but one thing I love about the old school kit was all the prompts… school name, favorite subject, friends, after school activities, ect. It would be great to have a yearly kit that included a child interview and prompts.
As far as the pockets go, I found them to be too small for what I wanted to keep when my kids were in Pre-K and and Kinder, but now as they are getting older, I’m finding that there’s not as much stuff (more worksheets, less art). If you were going to keep with the pocket system it would be nice if the sides were expandable (according like) at least for those first school years.
Thanks for all you do! Looking forward to your next project.
Dear Becky:
I love Project life, your blogs, and your positive look on life and memory keeping. I am doing both your project life this year and some special events layouts, mingled with the 6 pocket 4 by 6 pages for the extra pictures. you have simplified the process, and I feel NO GUILT. and as Ali Edwards likes to say: IT IS ALL OK. I only have one request. My husband and I are in our 40′s, professionals, have travelled alot, and we have no children on this earth. (our only child, a little girl, is in heaven with Jesus, as I lost her when I was 3 months pregnant). I realize the absolute need for children’s and baby products, but can you make some products for couples, maybe with a travel and/or date night theme or romance theme?
Thanks again for all your hard work, creativity, and a great blog.
Rosa
this was great-thank you!!!
lovely video Becky : )
Thanks for sharing your adventure.
Can’t wait to see what your childhood collection will consist of. I am eagerly awaiting the release. I have two little ones myself, and from the looks of your video, we see the same pediatrician : ) too funny.
Hugs,
Jen
On scanning…I’m a little computer illiterate…how do you reduce the page after you scan? Is there a certain program used? I’d like to do what she did with my kids drawings etc.
Thank you! I have a kindergartner and I still have her preschool art in a stack. I’ve been meaning to scan it but have lacked the motivation. Seeing how you break it down helped me a ton! I can’t wait to get to work. Thanks for all you do Becky!
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can’t even begin to write all the wonderful things I am thinking right now —- I am ready to go organize! Thank you so much for putting this together.
Also — question — what type of scanner do you use?
I use the Canon P-150 – and it ROCKS!
I usually just take a photo – I find it faster and much easier than scanning.
I was so relieved to see that even Becky – THE Becky Higgins – has empty albums on her shelves and piles and piles of loose artwork. So relieved I could have cried and almost did. My son is 5 and has soooo much stuff that I have to go through it seems overwhelming, but now I know it is doable. I would also love some tips on how to reduce images once they are scanned (I have the ScanSnap scanner) to fit into the pocket pages. Thank you for this, it came it at the perfect time!!!
To reduce the size of a scanned in file – artwork, a page etc. you need to decide what program you want to use. It sounds like their are alot of new computer users around here. I don’t know how many responses you will get to help answer your question since it is a such a broad question. I would say start scanning and find a friend who can show you how. It is really easy … you just need to tell us what program you use. Or on second thought … a scanned in image is no different than a photo…it’s just another file. So scan away and upload to a photo site like Costco or Shutterfly and order prints. I know this won’t help you much but I didn’t want you to get discouraged. All my best- Lynn
I have 2 school kits (one box opened but not any of the packets & one entire box not opened) if anyone is interested. Send an email
My friend Rachel also has a few of my old school kits available for sale. You can email her at rachelpribyl@juno.com
Sorry here is my email Jessicayoung21@hotmail.com
Becky,
This post reminded me of the “old days” from your blog. I have really missed some of your videos and I have to say that it was a bit refreshing to see something that didn’t focus so much on Project Life. Not that Project Life is a bad thing or anything like that, I LOVE Project Life! Your blog posts are always great as well but it was nice to have a visual to go along with the tips you were giving us readers. Your video has really motivated me to get moving and organized. I keep seeing you say to us “YOU CAN DO THIS!” THAT is what is going to help me accomplish my goal!! Thanks Becky!!
I agree! I felt like I was back to the old days with Becky! When I watched it I actually thought to myself…”what I would have given 5 or 10 years ago to have seen inside her albums and had this information.”
LOVE it!!! You have made te process seem very do-able. I feel less overwhelmed and more motivated to get busy. Traditional scrapbooking does not work for getting everything into albums, but Project Life clearly does. Seeing all the cut down and scanned art sealed the deal for me. I have a tub of my 11 year olds school papers that I am going to put away using your system. I have a Pre-schooler as well and I don’t want to end up with two tubs! Thank you!!!
I would love to see two kids core kits, one boy and one girl, with school and sports and birthday and holiday and seasonal cards in them.
Hi Becky,
Awesome awesome video!!! So excited I have a 2.5yr old & a 5month old & already have tons of paperwork to organise.. You’ve provided some breathing space for me to believe it is possible to keep up.
)
I really loved the idea someone mentioned about accordion style page protectors for bigger artwork for younger grades. Even if they just came in their own pack of definitely buy a few
Also would you ever consider making a flip up page protector in 4×6, such as the c-line ones?
I would so love some, living in Australia costs a fortune for shopping something like that.. Plus I’d love it all to be the same brand in one book hence I want BH ones
Everything you do is wonderful.. Would be happy with anything!!
Jess
Becky, I laughed so hard I cried when you showed me your kids albums. You are officially my hero – I have always admired you and as you were sitting there talking about getting organized I was staring at your shelves behind you thinking OMG I wish I could be more like Becky, just look how organized her shelves are and those color coordinated binders. I still think that way but I am SO glad you shared how far behind you are with the kids albums – I feel SO much better because the same thing happened to me when I had my second child – first child albums and albums, second child I think I have half an album done and also the last time I did my first child’s album was also in kindergarten. I am so happy you shared such a funny and personal moment – it makes you all so much more real and inspiring to us all. I am planning to start Project Life soon because I want to get back to recording their moments instead of waiting for a time to do traditional pages – which clearly isn’t happening! Thanks Becky!
Amen Dayna. Me too!
I couldn’t have said it any better!
I really appreciated your video and how you broke down the steps of getting organized. It was motivating to watch.
It was also good to get away from all that plastics shipping/amazon problems/ordering problems chatter from yesterday.
Thank you for such a fantastic video Becky. It was only from seeing this that I realised my kids are exactly the same ages as yours – and I have boy-girl-boy too. I can sooooo relate to those piles of paper and what you had to say about them. I am so motivated now to get everything organised, and can’t thank you enough for sharing the way you do it.
My only concern is that the only 12×12 pages that I do are for Project Life – everything else is 8.5×11. So most of the dividers and the big pocket pages wouldn’t work for me. If you ever think about making smaller pocket pages and/or dividers, I would be eternally grateful
One question for you though: What do you do with the kids’ completed school books, and how/where do you store them?
Re my last question above, I realise that I should clarify this: I’m talking about the exercise books that they fill out at school, ie Writing, Maths etc – these are starting to build up and I don’t know what to do with them all!
hi Becky thanks for the video that was amazing.I have BIG piles and photos and oh soooooooooo much art.My kids are 11 and 9 so the piles are growing.That has inspired me to organise.I love your ideas and this will help me so much!!!Keep doing what you do and I appreciate all your hard work it is helping me organise my thousands of photos and stuff. heaps of stuff. Carolyn…ps cant wait for school products
Thank u for this Becky. Loved seeing inside your albums and office!!
In terms of your school kit development … I am assuming its going to be like a project life core kit but with all school-related designs. If so, I would also love it if it came with predesigned larger pages to accommodate the large, professional school photos that come each year. Putting something together myself with matching cardstock would be possible but I would prefer this to come with the kit, please, thereby making a bit of a cross btwn the old kit and the new I guess!
I would also love predesigned titles etc. In Australia, this might include: childcare, preschool, kindergarten, year 1, year 2, year 3 … All the way to year 12, usually. I guess the easiest way would be stickers for letters and numbers and we could make our own but properly designed ones would be my preference, if possible.
Thank you very much!
Kate
Oh! And another request, if possible, please …
It would be great if there could be an actual kit available for sale when the school kit is released, made up by bundling all the most likely items needed to put a school album together, please. Ie – a core kit, larger matching pages, xxx photo pocket style x, xxxx amount of pocket style x, coordinating dividers x ?? Packets, etc. This would make it much easier and we would avoid bombarding you with what the bare minimums are to make a standard album covering 12+ years at school (although any number of extras could also be bought … Every album is different!).
Thanks for your time, Becky!
Kate
I am currently using and loving your old school kit for both of my boys ages 10 and 6. That kit has helped me become more organized with all of the stuff. Thanks! Karla
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m have already started scanning my sons artwork & other bits and pieces and wasn’t sure where to start. I know now what I need to do. Finish last years PL album for our family. Then it will be moving on to my sons albums, also about 5 years behind. Then it will be time to work on my twins albums, they are 2.5 years old and have nothing done
. Thanks for the inspiration and love love love PL.
I use your original school and expansion kits for my 2 kids (years 1 and 3), and I LOVE them, they’re so easy to use, and I love all the journalling prompts on the stickers. The few “traditional” scrapbook pages at the beginning of each year’s section is really the only pages I do anymore using adhesive, now that I’m doing Project Life for my family albums (and before PL this year, I did digital photo books through Creative Memories).
I don’t use the big envelopes that came with the kit to put all my kids’ extra stuff in, I put it all in separately so we can flip through the album and see everything without having to get anything out of an envelope. I put 2 items, front and back, in 8.5×11 plastic sleeves. The office supply company sleeves that I use are of course not as good a quality as your plastics, I would love it if you produced 8.5×11 sleeves.
For the extra photos each year that don’t make it onto the first few “traditional” scrapbook pages, I just pop them all in WRMK photo pages, but I’ve been thinking I might changes these plastics over to your Design A PL pages, and use PL grid journalling cards to write a blurb about each photo (before I forget why someone was dressed up as Pocahontas in year 1 etc!). I would love if you made your new school kit with 3×4 journalling cards that were pretty (and not plain like the grid cards). I guess my only problem is the new kit isn’t going to match my old kit, but I’m sure I would buy 2 anyway and just live with the clash of patterns
Another plastic product that I use in my kids’ school albums are certificate and ribbon plastics (which are sold by http://www.smilefile.com.au here in Australia) – basically they’re divided plastic sleeves that fit standard A5 size certificates (2 certificates per side) and standard ribbons (5 ribbons/medals per side). The SmileFile “system” (that I didn’t buy, I just bought their plastic refills) uses 8.5×11 size folders, so all their plastics are that size. Their plastic quality isn’t as good as your products, so I would definately buy your plastics and replace the stuff in my albums, if you made these size plastics in the future.
Thank you so much for your video, I was thrilled to see that the system you use to organise your kids’ school “stuff” is really similar to what I’ve been doing the last couple of years, it feels pretty cool to “think like Becky”!
Oh, and I nearly cried with relief when you showed us that Crew’s baby album isn’t finished yet. Last month I finally started and finished my little boy’s baby album, and he’s 5. I had been carrying around so much guilt about not having an album for him. I ended up “tweaking” your original baby kit, using some of its elements and also some leftover PL plastics, and made sort of a hybrid Sweet Baby Kit/Project Life Baby album for him. It feels such a relief for it to be finished and on the bookshelf.
PS – thank you for asking your customers for suggestions re the creation of a new school kit, what an amazing company you and David have created
Rather than repeating all the well deserved praise, I will keep it short and sweet!
Love this idea. I scrap my daughter’s albums in 8.5×11 and would love to see some school/childhood solutions for this size. So much comes home in this size and I can slip it in a page protector – no scanning required!
8×10 page proctors please! Tons of formal school portraits and other studio 8×10′s.
For the 12×12 Project Life., it would be great to have 8.5×11 HORIZONAL page protectors for those school certificates and art projects.
Thank you!
oh, love the horizontal 8*11 idea, also 5* 7 horizontals would be great too.
Love the horizontal 8 x 11 idea also. I would totally use that. And not just for school photos. The would be great for showing off enlargements, memorabilia, etc in the regular PL also.
Would LOVE to see 8X10 and 5X7 horizontal pages TOO!!!!!
and 8×10 and 5×7 Vertical also!!!
I wish all this would have been available when my kids 22 and 18 were young. I think about what I did save, what I didn’t save, and realize less is probably more. I do wonder how important it will be to my kids (boys) to have these pictures, etc. Lots of guilt over I should’ve, would’ve, could’ve. I always worry that these projects won’t be important to boys as they aren’t as sentimental. Hopefully that will change as they have their own families.
They mightn’t be sentimental, but their wives may be. Just last week I sat with my boyfriends mum for about an hour going through old photos.
Great video, Becky! However, as the mom of older kids (mine are 28, 20, 16 & 14) I will give you one big tip–they don’t WANT 5 or 6 or 10 books of their lives. They are very happy with much, much less. Frankly, I love Stacy Julian’s system–5 page per year. That’s plenty. I’ve done Project Life beginning with the first Project 365 kit, and I do lots of other regular scrapbook pages, but my kid’s books are 5 pages per year. It works out to about 2 books per kiddo–enough to be interesting and give a feel for their childhood, but it fits in their apartments! My two oldest both married last year, and they–and their new spouses–love their books but would not have room (or patience) for more than that. All the other scrapbooking I do stays with me–they can fight over it (or scan it) when I’m gone! : )
Thank you for this perspective, Kary. You have me thinking and I have some questions, if you don’t mind.
You said 5 pages a year. I assume that is five double-page spreads per year? Or is it two and a half double page spreads per year?
Does this include baby photos, too?
Oh, I just found this article that clarified it for me. Including it for others who might want to read about it.
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705385373/Tip-Creating-a-simple-scrapbook-of-your-childs-school-year.html The article says:
She envisions that if a parent follows the “School of Life” idea and creates five scrapbook pages per year, when a child leaves home, he will be presented with three albums—his baby book, and two volumes of “school of life” books–one for the primary and one for the secondary years. Within the “School of Life” format, it takes just five pages per child to be “caught up.” This allows moms to let go of “scrapbooker’s anxiety” and replace it with a sense of creative freedom,” says Julian.
Hope Becky doesn’t mind! She seems so absolutely generous and selfless that I don’t think she’d mind.
I was thinking of making one school album per child. That would work out well with the Project Life format. 14 years (preschool, kindergarten, grades one through 12) times 4 pages (two double paged spreads) equals 56. Title and ending pages have you up to 58.
Becky Higgins and Project Life have moved me from “completely overwhelmed and not doing anything about my photos” to “getting things done.”
Becky, thank you so much for this! My boys are 5 and 3, and we’re just getting started on all the paperwork and “things” of school and life for them. The pages you’ve put together with all of Porter’s things are motivating and inspiring! I took notes as I watched your video
and I’m very much looking forward to getting started. I am much like you in that I find so much value in the creative scrapbook pages, and still enjoy doing them, but soooooo appreciate the ease that comes with your Project Life products. Thank you so much!
I too feel somewhat relieved that Becky isn’t ‘caught up’ on her albums! hehe
My girls are 10 and 5 and I have fallen into a system that seems to now work. I use a combo of Becky’s old school kits, page protectors, folders and bits & pieces from other sets to organize their school albums. Artwork gets stored in one place all year, school papers in another. Come the end of summer, I take it all out and spend a week or so scrapbooking the previous school year. That way, my bins are all cleaned for a new school year too. I save everything – from newsletters to ticket stubs too. I love to cut titles from school headlines, which artist my oldest was studying in her art class newsletter, etc. You can always toss it when u go to put it all together. And don’t forget to get a good handwriting sample or handprint during the school year. Oh and one final thing – I love to take at least one good pic during the school year of each kid in their school outfit – meaning, their fave thing to wear. Last year, the 5-yr-old couldn’t live without her skinny jeans, t-shirts and boots – this year, we’re willing to wear dresses again!
Oh though of maybe some more protectors.. 8.5×11, and the 6×12 size that holds 3 photos on one side & 3 on the other. Then I can use all BH stuff in my binder just the way my type A personality would love
What a fantastic video! It totally inspired me to dig into my piles (and I mean PILES) of kids’ school work, etc. I am waiting for you to come out with a new core kit for this and all I would hope is that it’s gender neutral and fun and bright, like classic school kid colors. I think a 6×12 page protector with 3 horizontal 4×6′s would be a great addition to your PL pages. Can’t wait!! Thanks again for sharing how you do things. It’s so helpful!
Great video! Thank you for sharing your tips with us. You make it seem so doable! I only have a 2-year-old so far but I will definitely implement your tips in the future. Thanks Becky!
Becky – thanks SO much for your video, i’m 3 years into PL and loving it. My son starts school tomorrow but has been drawing for a couple of years so I too have a huge PILE of art work from my son and LOVE all of it. I’ve framed a couple, put a few in our PL album and just saved the rest. 24 minutes into your fantastic video was a LIGHTBULB moment for me. SCAN them and make them SMALLER! So clever.
In 2010 I made a calendar with his ‘scribbling’ and i have thought about making a photo book – but having them in our actual albums really appeals -thanks
now i just have to work out how to scan and print, or do you save and print them out as photos?
THANKS BECKY:>
julie in wellington, new zealand
I’ve just spent a few too many hours over the holidays, photographing EVERY piece of artwork, little scribble and pasting, from the first creation 6.5years ago till now. I kept my absolute faves and with a push from my hubby, let go of the rest. A full wheelie bin of paper to be precise!
I have catalogued it, named and dated every artwork as best I can. Then I spent another couple of hours putting together a photo book of EVERYONE’s artwork. A whole 50 pages!! That way no-one can feel left out that their book isn’t as full as someone elses (I have one that isn’t very interested in craft!)
I’ve been organizing my kids things this ways for over 15 years now! It works beautifully and I have ALWAYS dated my kids school work as soon as it comes home. I may keep it for the long haul or I may just display it on the fridge/in a frame for a short time but it will always be dated. Because I keep things from our summer adventures as well I have mine sorted from birthday to bithday vs your school years. I have recently gone to The Container Store and upgraded to the largest filing container I could find because I’m about 13 years behind on scrapbooking but one day…one day the kids will be driving themselves around and away from home more than they are now and time will be on my side – but that’s not now. Only other thing I can suggest is some art is made with certain supplies that bleed/run/stick – I put those pieces right into a page protector and file them as normal.
This is so resonating with me. My mom did a small 8×8 album for each of us a couple of year ago and also gave us a box of our papers that she had saved. My daughters love looking at pictures of me as a child. It would be nice to have the artwork and pictures together. I, personally, wouldn’t want a library of albums either. Two sounds like a perfect number, and with the Project Life pocket pages, I can pack a lot into five pages per year. It also breaks it up into something manageable for me. I’m new to Project Life this year and loving how much time it saves by allowing me to concentrate on the memories and not the pages.
oh.my.gosh.
i swear i could’ve made this video.
this is exactly the predicament i find myself in.
perfect solution!
thank you. thank you.
i have already been filing away special papers etc. just like you showed.
whew! at least i’m on the ball, somewhat.
i too scrapped like that before…detailed page layouts.
in fact, i have you book on layouts and used it regularly.
but like you, i just don’t have that kind of time anymore.
three kids and all involved in school and sports, that just doesn’t
leave much time for detailed layouts. aaack!
i haven’t wanted to let it go. i wanted to keep doing their school albums,
but felt completely overwhelmed.
why i didn’t think to use your newer products to make it happen, i just don’t know.
brilliant!
i cannot wait to resume the documenting!
Project Life albums for the family and
PL products for the school books.
yes! i can taste the victory already.
thanks, becky, for helping us leave a legacy of memories for our families.
mwah!
sincerely,
motivated again,
Lisa in H’burg, PA
I would love a paper punch so we could make our own cards for the journaling slots, 2×3 rounded corners. So if you have some really cute scrapbook paper in your stash, you can easily use it in the kits. I also love the Stacy Julian concept for school albums with just a few pages to highlight the year and keep things simple. Other than that, I am sure whatever you come up with will be great. Thanks for sharing all your great ideas.
I think there are a lot folks who would like that punch! It would make using the Design F (?) I can’t remember if that’s the right letter – the only with the slots for all the smaller pictures – easier to use also. There are a lot of times I get frustrated because I need to go back and reprint in different sizes and a punch would help lessen that a lot.
Wow! It’s like you were reading my mind and knew exactly what I needed!!! Thank you so much for posting this video. I felt like I was drowning in my children’s artwork/school work/certificates, etc. and was about to purge and throw it all away. Love your ideas. Thanks for the inspiration once again
~Susan
Thanks Becky for putting this together and all your hard work. The stacks of memorabilia and art work look familiar. My suggestions would be for horizontal 8.5 x 11 page protectors for certificates, page protectors for ribbons for my girls’ swim meets, and page protectors for DVDs for our family videos. Thanks as always for your hard work and listening to our suggestions. Blessings!
Great video! In reading a couple of other comments, I do wonder how much stuff (i.e. albums and files full of pictures and memorabilia) our children will want when they grow up. Do you have that same worry? That we’ll pass along too much and it will just sit in a box in the attic forever. Or should I just look at it in terms of doing this (scrapbooking and PL) because I enjoy it and that’s enough? Do other people have older children who enjoy having volumes upon volumes of childhood memories? What does everyone think is a reasonable amount of albums, etc. to pass on to each child?
I am wondering the same thing after reading some of the comments. I would love to hear perspective from Becky & the design team.
Honestly I don’t care if my kids want the albums I have made when they are older, because they love looking at them NOW. They are 12 & 14, and I have made one family album plus a small 1″ binder of school stuff/art work for each child every year (I run 12 months behind). I frequently find half a dozen albums pulled out on the dining room table.
THANK YOU!! This is sooo helpful. Thanks for making it seem possible to catch up and not so daunting of a task!
thank you thank you! One thing that I have my children do when they come home with their mountain of papers is to go through and keep the ones that they feel are special, granted there are a couple that I will keep but mostly I let the kids do it. Now I just need to organize those and scan them–thank you!
Great video. I loved seeing all your different hair styles too!
Thank you for taking the extra time to show us all the process and how achievable it can be…thanks to you! inspired and ready to work!
LOVE the scanning! you rock!!! ONe thing I saw Kelli Crowe (she is a scrapbooker…used to be a garden girl for two peas in a bucket) do was place the typical 8 1/2x 11 art page…slip it into that size page protector and Place a Cute Scrapbook label on the OUTSIDE of the page protector…in case her son grew up to be the astronaut that he drew…she could frame it for his office! I really liked that Idea. I am sooo way sharing your blog with many of my friends who have BOXES of unsorted stuff…again, you rock! Thanks so much for taking the time to do this for us!!!
love all your stuff have followed your blog for years. thank you for inspiring me in so many ways as a mother, organizer, documentary.
just bought some of your stuff off amazon to get our three childrens lifes more organized.
you are awesome
-nicole
Can we see what you’ve been doing with your kids classmates personal yearbooks for this year? I’ve kind of just been happy I have those completed scrapbooks from their school year and called it done.
Thank you so much for the video-I’ve watched it over and over to keep inspired and motivated!
Here is my wish list for you!
1. I would love to see page dividers that match the kits-I haven’t bought the plain ones, yet because I keep hoping that you will bring out ones that match like they have in years before!
2. I would love to have a punch for the smaller size 3×4 pockets-that would save me so much time!
3. I really liked how your envelope pages from the previous school kit said the grade numbers on them and could you please release paper packs to go with the school kits that say the grade numbers on them (similar to what you did before…) Loved how simple they were-just tape in their school photo!
4. Would love to have 8.5×11 page protectors so all my protectors are matching!
5. Something similar to the 4×6 memory book flip pockets that C-Line makes so I can fit more photos of an event on the same page.
6. 6×12 divided page protector that holds 3 4×6′s (front and back-6 total)
Also-I get tired of rounding all of my photo’s corners….it would be nice for next year for the cards to just have square corners…I know you tried to do this before and a bunch of people complained b/c they wanted the corners rounded. Maybe you could take a poll? Just wondering if I’m the only person tired of rounding corners!?
Thank you so much for bringing us Project Life! It has totally changed my memory keeping-and I show all of my friends and tell them how wonderful it is!
What a great video…so inspiring. I am so happy, I feel like I can do this with my kids things. I would love to see a punch for the 3X4 slot. It would be great for cutting little snippets from our kids stuff. Thanks Becky…as always so inspiring!
Thanks so much, the video was just what I needed….. but can you please please let us know what to expect with the school stuff that you have in the pipeline? Do I set everything up and leave spaces for the school themed cards/papers etc or use what i have? Is it just like a PL kit but with a school theme? or are you cooking up other stuff as well similar to the sold-out school kit I have seen pictures of?
I second the 3×4 punch request also.
Thanks again to you, David and the rest of the team. You really have made a difference to my memory keeping and I am so, so grateful.
Great video! I enjoyed watching. I am glad I ghave seen it now as my son is beginning school days and not in years time when i have that much sorting to do! Thanks for sharing the wisdom you’ve learnt.
I really love the old Project Life kit with the leaf designs, is there any chance you could ressurect that design?
My son & the years of my twin 8 year old girandchildren are no longer together. He has them every other weekend. He does not get any of their school papers. So this won’t really work. We usually don’t even know when their events are. It makes me sad because their step-mom is very involved with her child who is also the same age. My husband & mother have health issues that require most of my time. The project you did with Porter’s class won’t work since I don’t have things. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for the “real” and inspiring video.
Does this mean you are not coming out with another school type kit?
Also, I don’t know how to scan. But I would really love to know! (hint, hint)! I love the idea of scanning to keep memorabilia.
Thank you for all of your products!
Thanks Becky for the very helpful video. It may sound weird, but I don’t actually have any kids – and yet I was drawn to watch the video because: 1) I am an organizing freak – love to see how others sort/organize/etc and 2) I have a huge rubbermaid container in my basement full of my school memoriblia – every year I make a goal that I want to purge and sort through it all and get it into an album – but I never knew exactly how to do it. Last year was my first year doing Project Life and I LOVED it! I had been thinking about using it for my school memories, but again wasn’t completely sure how to do that – so THANK YOU! You have given me some great ideas and good nudge to get at it.
Oh and I wanted to mention that dating/signing the backs of artwork or projects is a great idea. My mother did that for about half of the “stuff” I have so it will help with sorting. Another tip I heard was at the end of each week have the child go through and pick the items they want to keep and what they don’t mind getting rid of – gives them a chance to show you want they really value as well. Just a thought
Becky, that was a wonderful video. Thanks so much. I have a 12 year old girl & a nearly 8 year old son & neither have any albums finished. I have the same albums as you organised but apart from a front page their are only random layouts completed. My mission over the next few months is to get both kids first year completed so nothing is lying around & then I’m sure with your organising tips I will continue to get many more years completed. I’ve just started PL for our family album & have got all my 2011 photos in an album & January of this year too. Its such a great way to scrapbook I can’t thank you enough.
So, maybe I am just a bit stupid but I have just opened my “Big Variety Pack 2″ with Designs A and D and was surprised that the pages are differentt sizes. Is that supposed to be like that?
I am having such a frustrating day! Have waited weeks to get a chance to go and print my pictures already to start PL and finally got them done today … but when I picked them up they were dark
Now I will need to print them again, such a sad start.
But I am trying to get my album ready anyway and now am wondering about the plastics sizes….
Yes, the design D is a bit smaller. It was a bit odd for me at first, but now I LOVE that they’re different.
Thank you for the reply! My Design D is actually a bit wider than design A. Do you mind sharing what you love about it? It feels kind of wierd in my binder when you flick and they stick out all different widths, I am not complaining, just adjusting and making sure I got the right product. Would love to be inspired by your love
Thanks again
Whoops! I made a mistake, I actually have the design G to go with my design A. G is smaller so I have the same feeling with different sized pages, but I always add a ton of inserts so there are hardly ever like-sized pages. Personally, I like the different pages so it can be more customized. We add a lot more than photos and journaling cards (product packaging, lists, letters, notes, etc.) so it’s very “scrapbooky” and the haphazard pages add to the charm
Cool,, Thanks Erin
This was great, thank-you! I have a rubbermaid tub that I have been staring at for over a year with my daughter’s school work -some to keep, some I need to make myself toss. This is a great way to consolidate, thanks for the step by step tutorial. Good to see there are a lot of others who struggle with this, I don’t feel so guilty!
Jill
I found your video extremely helpful and motivating… thank you for taking the time to share this with all of us and being real… love it. Thank you… ~ kimmy
I just finished my first Project Life page. Now I’m just wondering how on earth people get clear pictures of their pages as mine all turn out with major glare on them. I’ve tried all sorts of things and nothing seems to work. Any ideas? I have a compact digital camera that takes good pictures. I’m not using the flash.
Thank you so much for taking the time to document and share your process. You are beautiful on the inside and out and your honesty and encouragement is so sweet. Just as you were wrapping up on the video my little three old daughter got up from her nap and joined me. She excitedly exclaimed, “that mommy has scrapbooks, too!” and pointed at the ones on our bookshelf! I am looking forward to craving out time to work on my books, too. Thankfully a couple of years ago I started slipping artwork and schoolwork chronologically into 8.5×11 page protectors in a plain old binder (one for each child), but now am excited to maybe do some scanning or photographing of artwork and mix in pictures and journaling to create scrapbooks. Thank you again!
Thank you for Project Life. It’s made documenting my family’s lives an activity in the present and not just something I wish I’d done in the past or need to find time for in the future. That said, I do have catch-up as well for previous years, which is why I found your video very useful.
I am excited to see what you produce for the school kit(s). Something that I would appreciate would be materials that are “journaling prompts”. Lists on the journaling cards, prompts on the title cards, etc… Your son’s list of books he read in a year is an example. Im thinking the kit materials would need to be flexible so lists, prompts may have to be generic, but I’d like some resources that would help me to move through the year knowing I’m documenting all I need to (pics to take, things to ask my kids, memorabilia to keep, things to journal, etc). Stuff like this for the everyday and the big events (back to school, holidays, extra curricular activities, birthdays, trips, etc). Maybe checklists of some kind? This sort of info is out there, I’d like it in one place and incorporated into the Project Life method. That’s my wish.
Thank you again for helping me reduce my mom guilt.
Thank you for this.
I noticed that there weren’t many photos of Porter in the portion of the album that you had been working on at the end of the video. Is the yearly family album intended to be for photos, including those taken of the kids throughout the year and the scrapbook mostly for memorabilia? You mentioned that the family album mostly has “together” photos…just wondering about what happens to the photos of the individual kids/their activities, etc.
Thanks!
[...] I came across Becky Higgins video showing how she tackles her children’s’ art work and stuff that she to has collected [...]
Wow, great video. I am thankful I can skip several steps though. Since my kids started school, I have kept all their art, awards, school work, photos, etc.. in 15 qt. plastic Sterilite tubs from Target. (Probably $1 per tub.) Each child has one tub per year labeled with the grade, teacher and years. (Just like Becky did with her sticky notes.) Whenever the kids empty out their backpacks, or bring anything home from school, I just put everything into the tubs. Eventually, when I get time to do a compilation of that school year, we purge or scan and see what memoribilia make sense putting into an album. I’ve found that it’s so much easier to do this step a few years after that grade when EVERY single piece of paper isn’t so sentimental to the kids!!
P.S. Becky I LOVE those tall white bookcases in your office. Where did you get those? Thanks!
Wow! I don’t have kids yet and someday, I will keep all of your tips in mind. I hope Youtube never goes away so your videos will be around for a long time yet. and of course, that Project Life won’t ever go out of style (nor out of business!). THANK YOU!
thank you so much for doing this video. I actually have all of my kids “stuff” organized in hanging file folders but it has been neglected. Our 3 kids are the same age and I was comforted to see that each of their albums are in the exact same level of completion.
Thanks for inspiring me to get back on track.
Thanks for the video Becky! I laughed when you showed Crew’s album because that is pretty much where I am at with #3 but I only have the first year of my 7.5 yo #1 child! So I really need to get the ball rolling.
Totally value the date thing with any kids work and I even will write a description of what it is called or what that child made.
As far as products I have used that I appreciate are the slim something by 12” journaling papers with lines on one side and dates on the other from the baby kit. I was not hard core with them but loved having them handy to write milestones, etc on them.
Also, in general for others, I try to treat my pictures and kids’ school work like antiques…the less there is the more valuable it is. For some, many pictures with a loved one may not seem as precious as 1 or 2 special pictures. Or, like you briefly mentioned in the video, one child had many pictures of a similar item/topic so you eliminated some.
amy
The video is great. Thanks for taking time to share your process with us. Not only is it helpful to see how you sort and organize, but it’s also refreshing to know that you are not completely caught up with your kids’ albums. I know you’re not super-human, but sometimes it feels like you are.
I adore Project Life and look forward to the school years products. Keep up the great work.
[...] happened to miss my new video, I share more on this topic in much more detail. Check it out – Get Organized With Kids’s Stuff. I love the discussion in the comments of that blog post, by the way. There were a few comments [...]
Hi Becky, This video was really great for encouraging and inspiring us all to be able to do get our memories into albums. I live with heavy mommy guilt! I love the idea of scanning, but I noticed that you didn’t have any of the larger, 17X20 inch papers that are used on easels at school. I have a big, big pile of those. Do you have any recommendations for scanning those in? Kinkos? Or some other suggestion for capturing the art. I have tried photographing, but it really isn’t the same.
Thank you so much for everything you do. You are inspiring in so many ways!
For the school kits I would love to see Journaling prompt cards. I try to do this at my kids birthdays, but having a reminder or 2 to do it during the year would be great… stuff like
my friends are:
my favorite activity is:
my favorite songs:
My favorite school lunch is:
books I love:
what I learned this month/week/year:
etc…
also, multiple cards to journal “I’m thankful/grateful for”: again, I could make these myself, but haven’t done it yet and it would be a good reminder once a month/week. they could be from our point of view or our child’s words… counting our blessings!
a boy set and a girl set would be nice, but at the same time I wouldn’t want them to be overly boy or girl… what if my boy isn’t into soccer balls and base balls? So, a neutral set would be just fine too! Can’t wait to hear more about these sets!
As well as dating artwork it is a great idea (especially when children are younger) to make a note of what the drawing or painting is about! Can be the source of lots of laughter years down the line.
I loved this video — I am organizing (and purging a little!) right now
I have not yet started using Project Life, though it looks like a great product, because traditional scrapbooking is still “working” for me (and giving me a lot of joy). So when you shared a glimpse of Porter’s “traditional” scrapbook pages in this video, it was such a treat. I have your sketches books just about memorized! For those of us who still scrap traditionally, would you consider posting more “peeks” into your scrapbooks? Even though they are from a few years ago, the page designs still look so current and pretty (and scrap-liftable — is that a word?).
So, Becky… that stack of papers in the end… the ones that have been scanned and put into his scrapbook… the next step for those is the recycling bin right??? (Do you keep any filed away still or do you part with them?)
Somebody please just tell me it is okay to be rid of the big stacks I have finished with!
This sentimental mom is needing a push!
What would be a good email address to reply to your request for our ideas/input on organizational ideas? I have a great system that I think others could benefit from, and have pics to share on how it works for me. I have 3 girls (2nd grade, Kinder, and age 2) and have developed a system for storage that works well for us. No more mom guilt! (In that area anyway!) Would love to share if I knew where to email this info! Thanks!
[...] are in the form of a Shutterfly photo book, which I discuss briefly at the very beginning of my “Getting Organized with Kids’ Stuff” video. You can certainly implement scanned art or scanned cards or scanned anything into digital pages or [...]
Hello Becky! What kind of bookshelves do you store your albums on? (in this video) Are they ikea? or are they custom made?
[...] be the hardest part about starting to scrapbook. To help you out with some of the first steps, I’ve attached a blog post here by Becky Higgins (from her blog at her site). If there’s anyone I could point you to for help [...]
Great video Becky! I am so glad that I took the time to watch it. I love the idea of scanning items and using the smaller version in scrapbooks. I know that I will use many of the ideas that you shared. Thank you!
I finally had time to watch! Thank you so much Becky for all you do for us! This video is very helpful.
As I have said before, I was stuck and your philosophy and products have freed me up.
I have a son graduating from high school in two and a half months and I am hoping that I can put together an album for him by that day. I don’t have a lot of time and do have a lot of papers and photos to sort through, so it will be a bit of a rush job.
But, another wonderful thing about your products is that I can easily move things around if I end up needing to do that after that album is finished.
The products that I started with 12 or so years ago involved permanent adhesion of photos (that were not digital). If I lose the negatives, then that photo is stuck or possibly damaged if I try to remove it. (I guess scanning is an option, too.)
Anyway, I like the idea of photos just being slipped in plastics so much better!
I use your CK school kit and love it. I still think its perfect. To simplify it more would be to use pocket page protectors with title cards and embellishments that are school themed that fit in the pockets. I love using the big envelopes to store all their papers.
I would want a page protector that has a horizontal 8X10 spot for the class picture.
so if you’ve been scrapbooking since you were 17 you have only really been doing this for 2 years? ;0)
This video was so timely. Just yesterday I set up a table and started pulling out all the unfinished (or never started) project materials, pics, pages, scrapbooks, misc memorabilia and started organizing. The my husband mentioned all the schoolwork and artwork from the kids. I loved that you shared your piles and unfinished scrapbooks too. Thank you for all of your information and inspiration.
P.S. You look great in ANY hairstyles!
Becky,
I’m embarrassed to say, under my bed is a storage container with all the art and papers from my sons primary years. He’s 28! I think I can do this.
Thanks,
Dee
Another thing I find helpful, I am a meticulous calendar keeper. I write all kinds of things in my daily calendar. So, when I sat down to organize, I included not only year books from my children’s school but also all my calendars from years past so I can refer back to them to find an event and the date it happened.
Thank you Becky. I LOVE your encouragement. Just what I need to know I can get this completed too. Thankfully, my Claire is just about to start Kindergarten, so I’m not that far behind.
I am so fortunate to have the School Years kit for my 8 year old son. I have been crossing my fingers that you would do something like it again so I can use it for my 4 year old daughter who’s about to enter kindergarten! YAY!!!
[...] here’s the deal: I made a 30-minute video that outlines my master plan for documenting my family’s life and documenting my kids’ [...]
3 kids, 9 grandkids, all my mother’s photos and albumss covering 80 years, and my own stuff to do …
15 mos now I’ve been using project life – since my retirement date – and I just love the process and the ease of it.
Finally I understand thru this video the big envelope pages ! The light bulb went on! I do not have to show every single certificate and paper, just use the envelope for things to keep but not necessarily showcase ! Awesome !
Anxiously awaiting the mini-albums for the Grands family history books
Thank you for a wonderful video that outlines a process I cause to conquer twelve years of school memories. You are my hero!
Hi Becki,
I loved this video! As a matter of fact I have gone back to watch it several times to make sure I didn’t miss anything! I have 2 daughters – a freshman in high school and a 7th grader. Unfortunately, I have kept almost everything from every grade for both girls. Needless to say, I am swimming in stuff right now but I want to get everything organized so that the important stuff gets in the scrapbooks. I hope you will soon do a video more specifically on how and what you decide to keep for the scrapbook, what you scan and what you photograph. Can you give me a few quick tips on what you do. Right now I am so overwhelmed with tubs full of artwork I’m having a hard time figuring out if I scan it, take a photo or keep the original. I’m very sentimental and it’s hard for me even to toss the spelling tests!
I would love it if you would give me some additional tips to go on to help sort through this mess so that I can get to the fun part – scrapbooking!
In addition to my question here, it appears in your video that you don’t really decide what to scan until after the initial purge. Do you usually make your decision on what to scan as you are scrapbooking or do you go back through your file box at a later point and make your decision on what to scan and what original items you want to keep or include in your scrapbook before you sit down to put everything together? As you can see I’m really struggling with this and would love any advice you have.
I just received my very first Project Life Kit for Christmas and can’t wait to use it but I need to get the school papers and artwork under control first. Thank you so much!