Old Birthday and Christmas Cards Storage Ideas?

[Cell]

Hi,
Has anyone any practical ideas what do with hundreds of old birthday, Christmas cards and letters  (besides burn them  ) ?

I trying to organise my mases of  stuff that I have hung onto for years which are seriously clogging up my cupboards !( I haven't got an attic)

I do not want to throw them as  most of them  have great sentimental value, such as some of them are  from both mine and my hubby's  grandparents who are now dead and various other rellies

I've thought about storing them in albums ,but that still clogs up the same space in my  jam packed cupboards

Framing them is out of the question too, they'd cover a whole wall and wouldn't exactly suit the decor of our home

Any ideas? What do others do with their old cards they just can't  bear to get rid of?

Kind Regards from a hoarder   

[Tephra]

Cell, if you do manage to find out, please pass it on as I'm in the same boat!!!     


Barbara

[Cell]

lol , I'm  not the only one then
 

[trish251]

Cell, if you do manage to find out, please pass it on as I'm in the same boat!!!     


Barbara

Me too - and I have all the ones my mother kept (including mother's day cards I gave her moons ago).

I currently have them in boxes (sold as photo storage boxes) but they take up lots of room. I am seriously thinking of scanning them and then destroying the originals - but it will be hard to do - I think if I don't decide they will be gone very quickly when I am not here     

Trish

[rbangorreg]

Hi.
    Try this site it may give you some idea's

www.makingfriends.com/readers_cards.htm
    Reg.

[mike175]

I am seriously thinking of scanning them and then destroying the originals

I might be over-cautious but I wouldn't trust anything really important to any kind of computer storage medium. I seriously wonder if any of our descendants will have the ability to read CD's or memory sticks in 20 years time, let alone 100!

I'm certainly glad I didn't save anything special on my Sinclair Spectrum Microdrive . . .  . . . or even cassette tape . . .

Mike.

PS. Just an afterthought . . . you could scan them and print them out to make an album, that would be less bulky.

[trish251]

I am seriously thinking of scanning them and then destroying the originals

I might be over-cautious but I wouldn't trust anything really important to any kind of computer storage medium. I seriously wonder if any of our descendants will have the ability to read CD's or memory sticks in 20 years time, let alone 100!

I'm certainly glad I didn't save anything special on my Sinclair Spectrum Microdrive . . .  . . . or even cassette tape . . .

Mike.

PS. Just an afterthought . . . you could scan them and print them out to make an album, that would be less bulky.

Hi Mike

Thanks for the thoughts - but I think those that come after me will probably destroy the originals anyway. I have backups all over & have changed my storage devices through the years, as I have changed from records to tapes to cds to dvds etc etc - so I think this probably has more chance of survival than the original cards. Thus said - I still have the cards & the box of my daughter's cards & the boxes of my mother's cards     

Trish

[aghadowey]

I have saved my wedding cards, children's birth cards, and also have in-law's wedding cards, husband's birthday cards from 1-18, etc.
When I got married I saved a large peice of gift wrap that I liked and covered a large shoebox with this paper. All the wedding cards are in a box with wedding paper and I made a large label for the end of the box.
When each child was born I saved a peice of baby paper, covered a box, etc.
You could file the boxes (stacked) on a shelf with labels facing out but my shelves are overflowing with books so my boxes are inside a very large box in storage cupboard. Every so often one of the children will ask to see their box,  look through their cards and ask who some of the people were.

[suey]

I find a carrier bag stuffed under my desk works quite well  ...

You reminded me that I had promised I would sort and store all the years of saved cards, they got as far as under the desk and then I could'nt think of how to deal with them all.  I quite like the idea of albums though...

Suey