Did you know that in China we celebrate Valentine’s day during the summer months?

That’s right! This tradition, known as Qixi Festival is based on an old romantic legend. Every year, it is celebrated by couples throughout the country with flowers, chocolates, and other sweet presents.

I thought this holiday is the perfect opportunity to tackle together the LAST category of items on our organization to-do list: sentimental items.

Organizing sentimental items can be both fun and tricky. While it’s fun to go down memory lane and rediscover meaningful items and experiences, the process can also be emotionally charged. For this reason, it’s important to get in the right mindset before you organizing.

To get in the right mood, I recommend listening to mindful music, and I created a playlist here.

Go through whatever category of items would be easiest, so that you feel motivated to continue. I started my own sentimental items organizing by going through my photos. Once the pictures were done, I tackled my jewelry box and keepsakes. Lastly, I went through old letters and cards I had kept over the years.

Here’s How to Organize Photos:

1. Make a pile and trust your heart to know what sparks joy for you.
2. Go through each photo and if you come across similar photos, keep the one that sparks the most joy.
3. When organizing miscellaneous photos, categorize them by year, events, or both.
4. Get yourself some photo boxes (I like Print File’s durable boxes)
5. Buy or make yourself some index cards
6. Arrange your photos in order of date or special event
7. Use your index cards as date dividers so that your photos are easy to find
8. Label your photo boxes and place them neatly away

The process above can easily be applied to organizing cards and letters you want to keep.

How to Organize Jewelry:

It’s important to regularly organize and clean your jewelry because it can get lost, tangled, or broken so you want to be careful with such valuable pieces.

1. Declutter. Give away or sell items that you no longer love
2. Create a jewelry display stand with your most favorite items. This simple trick makes styling outfits for the day much easier
3. Organize your remaining pieces by material in a jewelry box and make sure items are not touching each other (to avoid inevitable tangling)
4. Remember that your jewelry must be clean and dry before you store it as moisture can make some materials degrade quicker
5. Change up your display counter month to month. You can do this according to the seasons or different styles you want to experiment with!

How to Organize Other Keepsakes:

Many times we keep items given to us out of love and respect for the gifter but don’t necessarily want to display them in our homes at all times. In these situations, I tell my clients to keep one item that represents a collection of items or perhaps one item that’s representative of the the connection they have with the loved one.

1. Identify your most meaningful keepsakes
2. Talk to yourself about why you want to keep them and if there is a way they can be displayed in your home to honour the memory of the person who gave them.
3. For items that have no meaning, give them away or sell them
4. For the keepsakes with no home, create a box or bin to store them safely.
5. Don’t forget to label your boxes!

Organizing sentimental items can be a great experience but only if you get the right mindset and let your ❤️ lead the way. Give it a try! If you’d like to download and keep a copy of this how to guide, you can do so here!

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MAKE SURE TO FOLLOW US FOR MORE GOOD IDEAS

Instagram | Facebook | Little Red Book | Wechat

You can also contact me or subscribe to my newsletter here.

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PIN IT FOR LATER ↓