recommendation: organize your holiday cards

Its a new year, so of course resolutions are fresh in my mind, which is racing with organization ideas to get our house in order. One of the things I want to work on this year is doing something with my box labeled 'items to one day scrapbook.' I want to make that day come and either put them down in a book or throw them away. I bet you anything that I go through the pile and don't remember the significance of half the things I saved. Ha!

Last week I was putting away Christmas decorations (boooo) and found a stack of cards I've been saving over the years. Not every holiday card I've ever received, but cards with nice notes, that were handmade, picture cards or year in review stories. I've been saving since 2006. My friend Anne told me that she keeps a binder and when she gets a school picture or a great holiday card, she just sticks it to a piece of paper and puts it in there. Easy enough, right? I decided to tackle the project the next day. Its a very random project but if you are a pack rat like me and insist on keeping random things like this, the least you can do is keep your crap organized!

I bought binder dividers and sheet protectors at the dollar store, 2 of each so $4 total. I had a binder at home but you can buy a cheap one for probably $2-$3 (nice thick ones are really expensive!). Lastly you'll need some paper - you can use normal printing paper or 8.5 x 11 scrapbook paper - I used a little of both since I have both at home. I labeled the binder dividers by year from 2006 - 2015 and put some sheet protectors into each year and then got taping away! I used photo adhesive tabs that you can get from Michaels. One hour and about $6 later, I've finished my binder which has all my favorite cards from the past few years and a spot to put future cards.

Feeling a little more organized and a great way to start off 2012!