HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR KID’S KEEPSAKES

A quick + easy way to effectively store your children's keepsakes and not let it become overwhelming. 

It seems one pressure point for parents is the amount of adorable art work that kid's create. Which is great - they are all true treasures! But... we can't keep everything, so how do we best display or store these items and only keep a manageable amount? I saw this idea below early on in parenthood and decided to implement it quickly.

I’m not overly an overly organized person, I want to be better, but I quickly get overwhelmed by organizing tasks. So, I needed this project to be super simple & approachable.And it needed to be fool proof to stick with. So, if you're like me, this one is for you!

I’m only a year into parenthood - And as a sentimental mama, I’ve already seen how quickly all of the kiddo keepsakes can pile up. So, I knew I needed to create a system for saving keepsakes that would be easy, compact and make me selective in what I keep. I saw this idea and wanted to start the habit early on before my kids head into their school days. The most important factor was that I wanted this project to be simple & approachable so I would tackle it and actually keep up with it.

So, let’s get to it!

Here is my EASY method on organizing your kid’s keepsakes and a simple way to prevent us parents from keeping EVERY. LITTLE. THING.

KEEPSAKE ORGANIZER - SUPPLIES NEEDED

Just two things! SIMPLE.

1.   Clear File Organizer Box – I used this set.

The file organizer box comes in a set of 4 – I only needed two, so my friend & I split them. You could easily use the extras for other household organizing or keep to make one and gift to a friend or family member (hello major brownie points).

2.    Hanging File Folders – I used a pastel set similar to this, but my set of 20 is now sold out. Another option is this set of 25 in primary colors. I used 17 file folders per kid’s box – and I ordered 2 sets of 20 folders. I would recommend doing the same and planning for a few extra in case you want to add more folders over time, that way they will all match.

BONUS ITEM – Page Protectors. Definitely not a must, but cheap enough to have on hand in case there are any items you want to better preserve over time. 

 

MY PROCESS

First, CATEGORIZE - plan out the categories you want to add per file folder. You can add as many files as you’d like to log keepsakes over the years for your kids.

Here are the file categories I added –

Pregnancy

Baby

Toddler

Pre- K

Kindergarten

1st Grade

2nd Grade

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

6th Grade

7th Grade

8th Grade

9th Grade

10th Grade

11th Grade

12th Grade

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FILE FOLDER TITLES PDF

Next, FILING - I typed up the categories, printed & cut them out to add to my file folders, but you can obviously write them too! I just used the stock name tag to cut around and then added my printed title, an extra step but I liked that it was cohesive and my handwriting isn't great.

Finally, ADD A NAME - To signify which of our twins’ box was which, I had my friend make a vinyl sticker of their names to apply to each box. You can easily find vinyl name stickers on Etsy – you can customize the size and an option like this would be great - plus it’s under $3!

I went with two boxes of pastel file folders, but you can go with any color combo that suits you. Add them all at once, don’t leave any work for later you…In my opinion, that makes it more likely to procrastinate and not stay organized.

There you have it. 

All done with our Kid Keepsake Organizer!

Additional keepsakes to store - I know some parents write a card to their children on their birthdays + seal for them to open when they are 18 years old -  this would be a great spot to store that keepsake each year. Add in annual end of year letters, decade letters, maybe keep a store ad / mailer each year to add to the folder so that your child can eventually look back and see prices of items from when get they were younger. So many options - get creative!

Now that I have made this, it makes me mindful when doing craft keepsakes that I always want them to be pretty flat for easy storage in this box. But, as you can see, these boxes are prety big and have a lot of room for addition -  I definitely recommend them.

KEEPSAKE ORGANIZER - GIFT IDEA

This kid keepsake organizer would be a great gift for a new mom at a  baby shower or on their child's first birthday. As simple as this organizer is, it would still be so nice to have this pre-made and gifted. Makes it even easier to take the guess work out and get organized right off the bat as a new mom. Because one less thing to make a decision on or worry about as a new mom is a BIG win.

This would also be a great gift idea for a mom at any stage of parenthood if they don't have a system in place already. It's never too late to tackle a project like this!

One more person this would be a great gift idea for is a Grandma - I think any Grandma would love a spot to store keepsakes from their grandchildren. Maybe not one per grandchild, but instead one per family. 

So, go get to organizing!

If you decide this works for you & put this keepsake organizer into effect I’d love to see how you execute it! Just tag me on Instagram @rootsoutwest.

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