A Collection of Treasured Items

[#1]

This weekend my husband and I were decorating our tree, and it is always a trip down memory lane with all our ornaments. We don't have that perfect tree where everything matches in two colours, our tree is made up of ornaments that were given to us over the years. A collection of memories that all come flooding back each year when we open up the boxes of ornaments. 

My Mom gave me an ornament every year, they are dated and have either a daughter theme or a mother-daughter theme. Her goal was to give me an ornament each year in my childhood, so that when I grew up and moved out I would have a collection of ornaments for my own tree. She knows how much I treasure them so she kept up the tradition even to this day. 

This year I decided to capture those ornaments in particular, so I have the full collection frozen in time. As years go by they will begin to fade, and some could even crack or break. Since they are very sentimental to me I wanted to capture them the way they are today, and if anything does happen to them in the future, I will always have the photo attached to the memory. 

After the holidays I will move all of these ornaments to their own list inside the board called "Mom's ornaments" and I plan to go through the rest of my house and capture a few more items that are near and dear to me, and turn this board into my treasured items board. Whether it be a letter, a photo, or a 100 year old dish that my grandmother gave me, a piece of furniture, or even just a scenario in my mind that I want to capture.

In time, I will most likely not hold on to all my sentimental items, but with the Trello board of photos, the same feeling I get when I look at the item will come flooding back to me through the photo. I referenced this in my article "Confessions of a Former Pack Rat".

It is also a great practice for those that may be using the "KonMari + Trello" board I shared previously as well. There is a section on sentimental items and you could create a Trello board for those items or ones that you part with that you still want to have the nostagic memory. In time if you no longer have attachment to that item, you can archive it from the board as well (but still be able to reference if you need it again). Lots of options, but the photo method works great, and doesn't take up any space in your home. 

Is this something you may consider trying? How do you safeguard your sentimental items and memories?

[edwin vasquez]

What an awesome collection! I dont have a method to safeguard memories, but will definitely consider this. Thanks for sharing.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Thanks so much @edwin vasquez :)

[Monique vdB]

okay this is jaw-dropping!!!

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Thanks @Monique vdB , it's definitely a non-minimalist tree! :)

[Alice]

Jodi, this is a wonderful idea! I have a similar tradition with my mom and I love it. I started taking photos of sentimental items too during my big purging and decluttering session last year and I keep them in a "Memories" folder, but a Trello board would be great. Thank you so much for sharing.

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Thanks @Alice I am so happy to hear  you have a similar tradition with your Mom :) The photos of sentimental items are great as you feel the same (or similar) nostalgia when you look at the photo of the item (instead of having the real thing in front of you). Glad to hear you also did a big purge/decluttering session, such a freeing mind (and space) clearing experience. 

[Esme Crutchley]

You are so inspirational @Jodi LeBlanc 

💜

[Jodi LeBlanc]

Thank you @Esme Crutchley - and right back at you! 💜