OPTED Magazine

I thought I’d share with you an organization method for scrapbooking that I stumbled upon last week.  I recently became a fan of scrapbooking as an outlet for my creative energy and a way to memorialize my photos and keepsakes from special moments.  But my problem has been managing the materials I’m collecting when I don’t have the time to put together a page.

Enter an under $10 solution from your local office supply store: the expandable file.  It turned out to be the perfect purchase for organizing my scrapbooking materials.  And here’s how I did it:

• First, I purchased a 31 pocket expandable file from Office Depot and ripped off the flap cover.
• Then, I affixed a blank sheet of paper on the front of the file and wrote the numbers 1 – 31, representing each pocket of the file
• The next step was to brainstorm all the pages I wanted to create or the page ideas based on materials I had already saved.  I copied my list onto the blank sheet of paper, assigning a different page to each pocket.
• Afterwards, I sorted all the matching materials into each of the pockets, giving me a great starting point for my future projects and a way to keep it all organized.

The size of the expando file is perfect for larger paper or standard 8 1/2 by 11 paper and the pockets are strong and deep enough to hold stickers and mementos as well.  While it doesn’t eliminate the need for a box of other supplies, it keeps individual ideas completely seperate.

What are other benefits of this system?

Well, one big problem that I had (other than keeping everything in once place) is seeing exactly what I was missing to create the perfect scrapbook page.  For instance, I wanted to create a page from last fall’s pumpkin carving at Halloween.  I had the digital photo of the pumpkin saved on my computer, some pumpkin carving stickers, but no appropriate paper to match.  Using the sheet on the front of the file, I was able to make notes about what else I needed to purchase or other steps to take to be ready to create the page.  A comprehensive list located right where everything was located!

Now I am able to pull out the expandable file and if I am feeling in a creative mood, I know all the pages that are ready to go (because I have everything ready and checked off my list), as well as every page that requires more action steps before I can create the final product.

If you liked this post, you might like::

1. How to create a tickler file
2. A notebook: not just sheets of paper
3. Use one piece of paper to keep you on track
4. An easy car paperwork organization solution