Preserve family memories for years to come

Families enjoy many moments together throughout the years. However, in todayÕs digital world, quite often those experiences fail to see the light of day past an initial tweet or Instagram post. Too often file upon file remains in a digital graveyard on a mobile phone or external hard drive.

Instead of letting photos, videos, drawings, and memorabilia from vacations and other family experiences linger unappreciated, families can preserve these memories. Explore the various ways to share occasions with others.

Photo books

Don’t procrastinate and let photo files pile up. Promptly upload them to your favorite photo printing site or bring them to a retailer that has photo machines, such as a nearby pharmacy. Such businesses routinely offer coupons and steep discounts on photo books. The software is user-friendly, and, in a week or two, you can have a photo book ready to go. This is less time-consuming than making photo albums, printing photos and then placing them behind plastic-lined pages. The photo book software also may include background designs and funny captions to help customize pages even further.

Photo collage

If you are a purist and like to have photo prints in hand, then have several of a particular occasion made and then attach them to a decorative piece of wood. Using a decoupage product or a shellac, coat the collage so that it can be preserved. Hang your collage as a piece of handmade artwork on display.

Artwork gallery

Children routinely bring home artwork they made in school, daycare and other organized classes.

Sometimes these items get stashed in plastic containers that are ultimately stored in attics or basements, only to be ‘discovered’ years later.

Rather than relegating them to storage, invest in frames of various sizes and hang the pictures as if they were in an art gallery.