I’m in the midst of sorting through some old photos and I thought I’d share a quick tip about what to do with the “big pictures”. You know, the 5x7s and 8x10s, the ones that (if you’re like most folks) are probably stacked six deep behind the most recent one in a photo frame on your mantel, creating the photographic equivalent of tree rings.
I recommend devoting a photo album entirely to these big guys. They’re big, after all. At some point, someone (I’m guessing you) thought these pics were nice enough warrant display size. If you put them all in one album, it creates a nice quick summary of your family’s best moments, year-by-year. Sometimes (often, from my minimalist perspective) this is preferable to looking through hundreds of smaller, usually lower-quality photos. It’s like watching your family grow in fast forward.
All you need is a decent quality 3-ring binder and some 5×7 and 8×10 size photo sleeves. These can all be found easily on Amazon or at many large retailers. (Note: buy extra photo sleeves so you don’t have to repurchase in future years.)
I recently helped my mom sort though the many big pictures she had of our family. We took all the old photos out of the frames (she had the tree rings, for sure!) and laid them on the floor in chronological order. The time frames ranged from the early 20th century to just last summer. It was kind of cool to see my family’s progression over the last 100 or so years in a few choice photos.
Then we wrote the dates (guessing when necessary) on the backs and popped them in an album. My mom lives in a rural area, and we couldn’t find the large photo sleeves nearby. We didn’t want to wait for Amazon, so we used a 4×6 album that converted to 5×7 and put her 8x10s in a binder using plastic sheet protectors she already had.
Now these photos are out of hiding and ready for viewing action! (Note to anyone who asks my mom to see these photos: please don’t judge me by the 6th grade dance recital photo… I had no choice in the costume, I swear.)
If you have large pictures that are hiding in your home, maybe it’s time to let those big guys out!
