subject: How To Archive Family Memories [print this page] How you begin to archive family memories depends on a few different things. First of all, you will need to decide how much information you already have about the many different members of your family. If you have quite a bit, you will be able to jump right to the book without doing any further research right off the bat. However, if you are missing some key information, you will want to collect it either by researching your ancestors online or by contacting family members who may have the information you need, which might include maiden names, alternate last names, birth dates and death dates. If you are just starting out with this type of hobby, start by keeping things simple, because you can always research and add as many details about your family as you want later, when the book is loosely put together and organized.
Once you have the information that you need, your adventure to archive family memories can begin! It is easiest if you have everything with you in an organized storage bin or drawer so that you will not have to keep interrupting your project to fetch needed items. Your family tree scrapbook or archive can be as elaborate or as simple as you want to make it. If you want to add lots of color and decoration, an idea that is popular is to gather some materials from certain important events and include them in the book. For example, on a page that showcases your mothers high school senior photo or graduation picture, you might add in a copy of the program from her graduation ceremony. You might also add in some graduate themed stickers on the page, decorate the photo with colorful borders, and you can also use graduate themed paper for the pages. There are millions of different decorations and special themed effects that you can utilize when you archive family memories.
Many people wonder about the order of the people who will be presented in this archival book. This again really is up to you, according to what your tastes and preferences are. Some people enjoy starting their book off with themselves or their children and move backwards through the generations as far as they can go. Others start with their or their spouses great, great grandparents (or however far back they have information on) and will work forwards through the book, finishing up with themselves or their children. There are many fantastic websites online that offer all kinds of information about family tree scrapbooking and tips on how to archive family memories, and all it takes to find them is a quick search.
