Picture Overload? Keep Memories with a Photo Collage

How many pictures are on your cell phone right now? Thousands I would imagine! I love that it’s so easy and fun to capture moments with our children. To take a walk down memory lane, I can just whip out my phone and scroll through to see my favorite smiling faces. I have a digital system for organizing and preserving these photos, but a few years ago realized that my kids have very little access to these memories I’ve tried so hard to capture.

I’m not a photo book person. My son is six years old and his baby book stopped at his first Halloween. There is no concept of a baby book for his younger sister. I have accepted this and may come back to this project when I one day have some free time!

When I think back to pictures of my childhood, there was a big box filled with photos. Most had dates and names on them, but if they didn’t, it was always fun asking my mom to fill us in on the memory. I realized that baby book or not, with all of these photos stored on my phone, computer and the internet, my kids wouldn’t have the ability to sit at the kitchen table and reminisce about vacations, holidays and just everyday moments. So I decided to do something about it.

I now print photos two to three times a year, big batches with the highlights of our life. I bought a metal display that hangs right outside of our kitchen, where I can arrange the photos each time I get a new set. The beauty of this is that it’s not a frame that takes effort to swap out or size. I just stick the pictures in the holder creating a giant collage. Then the ones that were there before get placed into a photo box that my kids can access. The box is not organized, it’s just a big pile of pictures. Of course I would prefer things to be  chronological but in this season of life, this is what  works.

My kids have loved seeing all of the photos. I will find them staring at the collage at times, smiling and talking to each other about the moments they are remembering. They often will rearrange the pictures or take a favorite and move it into their room. It’s allowed them to easily have access to the faces of family and friends that they love and reminisce about the things we’ve done together.

And this is all done with a few clicks on my phone. There are several apps that offer photo services, I use Shutterfly. I catalog my photos on a shared site that sends an update to family and friends weekly. This is a better option for me than posting everything to social media. From the app I can print photos to be delivered to my home and also create photo gifts, such as an annual calendar for Christmas gifts. And almost always, the date is printed on the back of the photo.

In this digital age, this is my way of making sure my kids have childhood memories at their fingertips. I know we won’t all crowd around a screen to reminisce, so I look forward to pulling out these photo boxes and sitting around the kitchen table in the future.

Kim Trinchet
Kim is a Wichita transplant who never planned to stay, but 15 years later she’s convinced Wichita is the perfect place to raise a family. She’s a wife to Jorge and a mama to Nico and Lucia. She moved here from the Chicago suburbs and works in the communications world. The rest of her time is focused on seeking out adventures with her little family. She also loves browsing grocery store aisles, reading cookbooks, iced coffee and wine. Kim’s trying to learn Spanish as well, her kiddos are bilingual and already speak better than she does!