Decluttering and Organizing to Create a Welcoming Space for the Holidays
December 04, 2024
If you want to truly enjoy the holidays and not just operate in survival mode, take some advice from Santa Claus himself, who’s known for “Making a list and checking it twice.”
While you could potentially remember everything that needs to get done and also smoothly delegate along the way, why would you do that to yourself when you could plan it out and recycle and update those plans year after year? You wouldn’t be the first person to wing it and then gasp when they realize they’re missing a particular gift, key ingredient, or even the tickets to the annual holiday lights show that they never miss.
Today in ARTIcles by Artifcts, we’re sharing tips from the pros in hopes of keeping your holiday season merry and bright.
The following is based on the Fall 2023 Evenings with Artifcts episode featuring C. Lee Cawley of simplify YOU, Jill Katz of One to Zen Organizing, and Samara Goodman of Samara Interiors. If you prefer to watch the Evenings conversation, pop over to YouTube now.
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Shift Your Frame of Mind and Start with Clear Goals
The holiday season is filled with micro changes to your routines and your home, which can make even the most laid back among us a bit stressed out and edgy, Jill told us. While Jill specializes in organizational services for neurodivergent people, you’ll discover her strategies and tools can keep us all in the holiday spirit.
WHERE IS YOUR MIND AT ON ALL THINGS HOLIDAYS?
To counteract feelings of frustration and anxiety, Jill suggests shifting your frame of mind about the lead up and the moments that make up your holidays in two key ways:
First, embrace that preparation is part of the holiday fun.Give yourself the space during the weeks ahead for prep activities like:
Choosing gifts thoughtfully, not frantically
Hand writing notes on holiday cards
Planning menus that come together to light up everyone’s taste buds
Creating music playlists
Second, absolutely avoid urges for perfection. Take a step back and remember why you are doing all this to start with and breathe. What do you want to remember about this holiday one year from now? Five years from now? We bet it’s about how you felt, not whether that centerpiece matched Martha Stewart’s design or that cake looked as good on your table as it did for Ina Garten.
WHAT WILL SUCCESS LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?
Now let’s consider your goals for the season. Are your holiday plans designed to guarantee more family time? Are you seeking to create a new holiday tradition this year?
To reach your goals and avoid madly racing thoughts that will detract from what’s important, track your holiday routines and to-dos. This will also help you to avoid starting from scratch next year. While you might like a pad of paper or digital note, hands down our panel recommends digitally accessible and customizable spreadsheets.
Before you decide spreadsheets are too intense or complicated, hear us out. A spreadsheet lets you simply list out your to-dos based on when they need to be done, e.g. 4 weeks out, 3 weeks out etc., so you can keep track of the multitude of tasks and subtasks that are part of your holiday routine.
Common holiday to-do items from our panelists’ own spreadsheets:
Taking out and putting up decorations
Buying tickets for a holiday event
Planning the menu and its corresponding shopping list
Ordering custom holiday cards (and noting the “no later than” date for getting them mailed)
Gathering or buying materials related to annual traditions
Making any needed repairs around the house before guests arrive
Choosing and selecting a hostess gift for parties you’ll attend
Tackling cleaning tasks big and small
Pressing tablecloths and napkins
Buying flowers for the table or around the house
Ordering items that will sell out early or have shipping timelines that could threaten your fun
Last year our co-founder Ellen added a new recipe to her family's annual Christmas Eve open house: sugared cranberries. Now those ingredients are added to her annual shopping list.
Creating a Welcoming Space
Hosting this year? Great. We’re ready with tips for you.
PAPER CLUTTER
As the holiday season begins, get a strategy in place for one of the top sources of holiday clutter: paper! We’re talking about cards and flyers, donation requests from charities, and holiday cards, too.
C. Lee suggests buying or repurposing a decorative bin (with a lid) that you don’t mind setting out in your space to catch all the incoming catalogs and other generic mail. “But have a second box just for holiday cards that you do not want miss and may also include checks, cash, or gift cards.”
You’ll also likely generate some necessary paperwork during the holidays that C. Lee recommends you place into a durable labeled folder. What might this include? Copies of travel documents and itineraries, last year’s holiday card (to help you decide on this year’s), gift lists and ideas, receipts, and more.
Pre- or post-holidays, our handy Get Papered checklist can help you declutter all that paper! CLICK THE IMAGE to access this list and others and download for free!
ALL THINGS HOLIDAY
Clutter aside, let's move on to holiday decor and more! As an interior decorator who naturally embraces many principles of home organizers, Samara suggests that in decorating for the holidays and preparing for guests you think about all five senses.
“Often people think about what the room looks like, and what the menu will taste like, but what about touch? Cozy blankets and that feeling of warmth around you can be so inviting. As for sound, music sets the tone, ranging from upbeat and playful to quiet and calming, and helps you to transition through an event, too. And smell can go beyond your menu. Keep a pot of simmering mulled cider on the stovetop to evoke memories and warmth. And use cloves and cinnamon sticks to fill a decorative vase.”
Samara also favors natural decorations that are compostable, inexpensive, and reusable. You can check out ideas from her here. A simple glass hurricane with a white pillar candle can be filled with red and green candies during the winter holidays, sand and shells in the summer, and acorns or lentils in the fall. Likewise, you do not need a Christmas bowl. An elegant neutral bowl of clear glass, bronze or silver, or smooth wood can grace your home during any season or occasion. Just add festive ornaments at Christmas and enjoy!
Iconic gingerbread houses offer instant, homemade, and compostable decor! CLICK THE IMAGE to view this Artifcted house.
GUESTS WHO WILL SPEND ONE NIGHT OR MORE
If guests are coming to stay, you can easily discover online list upon list of items that you may want to have out and about to make your guests feel at home. Some things are small and easily done if you think of it, such as a small sign with your wi-fi password in a high traffic location as well as by their bedside.
Other things you maybe already have and/or do by routine anyway. Our favorites:
Laying out a sleep mask in case the sleep space is brighter than in their home
Providing a fan or sound machine in their bedroom
Clearing closet space and adding spare hangers along with a luggage rack
Placing a carafe or similar for water in their bedroom
Topping up or replacing basic toiletries
C. Lee also suggests repurposing wine glass tags for regular coffee mugs and glasses to avoid stress and confusion as to which glass belongs to which guest (and reduce dishes). And we also love her suggestion to leave out a note along with some plates/bowls, breakfast foods, and coffee/tea directions so that they can help themselves when they wake up and you can relax into your day.
A breakfast treat like coffee cake can be made ahead (even well ahead and frozen), and pulled out for all to enjoy at whatever hour they roll out of bed!
It's Okay to Control the Chaos When Guests are Staying
About those guests of yours: Keep your eye on the prize. Priorities shift when guests are in the house. Do you feel more like, "Your home, your rules?" Maybe treat your rules more like guidelines.
Set boundaries only where necessary to keep everyone (pets included) safe and to preserve your sanity. We’re willing to wager that more often than not your friends and family will follow along if they know your boundaries and general modes of operation. Just give them a nudge! For example, add a temporary over-the-door rack to hang multiple coats so people know where they can store coats and bags if you don’t want them strewn about. And if you are a shoe-free household, post a little sign and offer skid free socks to put on for their comfort and safety.
Guests are gone? Now is when you can reset and return things to normal around the house. Do not try to do this while they are there; it’s like fighting gravity. Is that really how you want to expend your energy while they are there and you’re trying to enjoy time together?
Tips for Making the 11th Hour Less Stressful
Remember that spreadsheet? We mentioned sorting it by weeks. Well, you may also want to create a timetable for the day of your event, says C. Lee, so you and everyone else remembers/knows when each thing needs to happen. When does each dish need to go in the oven? When will you light the candles and start the music? Who is arriving and when?
And what are old school sticky notes good for when it comes to the holidays? Delegation! Jill reminded us all to ask for and accept help. And even if you truly have it under control, you can appreciate that you’ll have folks joining the festivities who will feel more comfortable if they can help in some way.
Pop a sticky note next to the salad bowl, ingredients, and recipe, and say, “Make me!” Or add a note next to the stack of plates, flatware, and glasses and, write “Ready for the table.” If you coordinated in advance or simply know who will want which task, label the note with their name.
Samara encourages you to work ahead to set the table, which can be a serious effort depending on the number of place settings, the distance your table is from where all the essentials are stored, and how many layers of decorations, flatware and glasses, and more you add to complete the table.
“And if you don’t have a separate table you can decorate in advance, create a table setting box with everything you’ll need, including the tablecloth, napkins, candles, candle sticks. For items you can’t put in the box, like place settings, platters and glasses, make a list and add to the box to check off as you set the table.”
One more 11th hour prep tip is about gift opening. Have your helper tools stationed and ready. This might mean a bag for ribbons (to reuse) and another bag for non-recyclable wrapping and tissue papers. And to avoid losing anything in that holiday mess, have a box set out where small gifts can be popped into temporarily. Oh, and don’t forget to have a safety cutter on hand for eager gift receivers to open tough tape, boxes, and plastic covers without landing in the emergency room.
The Final Word
We asked our panelists for their final few words of advice to avoid getting our tinsel in a tangle. Here’s what they offered:
Simplify hostess gifts by picking one item to give to each hostess that season. Avoid more ‘stuff’ and go with consumables like wine, an evergreen potted plant, or special gourmet treats.
Which leads to… embrace regifting! If it’s a distinctive and memorable gift, perhaps just avoid regifting it inside the same circle of friends or colleagues to avoid awkward moments.
Centerpieces can be created well ahead of time and even done as an event, together with friends and family, for an instant tradition!
Minimize how much new you take on during the holiday season: one new decoration, one new recipe, one new tradition.
Plan in downtime so you can enjoy the season without being drained by it.
Have you ever had to clean out the home of a loved one who has passed away?
Have you ever served in the role of executor of an estate for a friend or family member?
In a strange way, if you have not, you’re missing out on life education that has the potential to help you and your family and friends to one day leave behind love, legacy, and memories rather than a “dumpster fire,” as Rachel Donnelly, our friend, founder, and author of Late to Your Own Funeral, has been known to say.
Read on for one family’s true story. We’ve made modifications along the way to protect their privacy.
Honoring a Bachelor’s Legacy
Emily was always close to her cousin Joseph, growing up in neighboring towns, spending many weekends together at the family’s cabin. Time passed, Emily moved away (three towns over), married and started a family, and had a fulfilling career, keeping her busy, but never too busy for her cousin. In contrast, Joseph remained a proud bachelor, well-liked by his neighbors, and ever the humble host.
“Joe’s place was a gathering place. People just showed up with a cooler of drinks to shoot the breeze on his back acres, enjoying the lake view. You could see two dozen different birds just relaxing by the lake.”
Joseph’s affable nature and pride in his numerous collections related to pyrotechnics and war—think Civil War through WWII guns and other historical artifacts—meant he was also well known far beyond his local area.
So, when Emily got the call that Joe had passed away, she sprang to action.
"He joked all the time that I was going to get all his s*** one day, but he was better prepared than you might expect given his other bachelor ways. All of the items in his collections were labeled. And he had shared with me the names of antiques dealers and others he bartered and traded with over the years. I had a head start on what to do with everything valuable.”
We asked Emily, “But where did you even start? How did you know where to start?”
“Well, I’ve seen this movie before, being the executor for my mom’s estate and helping my husband with his sister’s, too, so I knew the basics. And I wasn’t alone.”
Here are Emily’s 5 steps to a DIY estate cleanout, bachelor style:
Step 1. Security. Joe lived out in the country in a modest 2-bedroom rambler, and didn’t really worry about locking his doors. Everyone knows everyone. Everyone looks out for everyone. But of course, Joe’s reputation as a collector was known far and wide. Not only were his collections valuable, but, if improperly handled, some pieces were dangerous. So, as executor, Emily immediately sent a family member to stay at Joe’s home to ensure his belongings were secured.
Step 2. Make it legal. Joe had a Transfer on Death Deed (TODD), otherwise known as a beneficiary deed. As such, because he planned ahead and named Emily to receive his home and all of its contents, in a matter of days the property was legally in her name, neatly nipping a prolonged probate process in the bud.
Step 3. Dust (and tidy). Emily’s lifelong bachelor cousin was not much for cleaning, but this isn’t only about dusting away the cobwebs. His extended dining table was also his home office and the most likely place for her to find bills and statements, her clues to the financial assets and liabilities that were now left to her to sort out. Finding bills to be paid was foremost on her mind. If only this part of his life was as well organized as his war memorabilia!
Step 4. Grief and ‘stuff.’“Joe was always telling stories. He loved history. And because the things he collected had stories, I wanted it all to have good homes. We easily could have gotten a dumpster. But how would that honor Joe’s memory, help his close friends grieve, or have been good for the planet? You can’t just throw it all in a landfill!”
A few weeks after the funeral, Emily arranged for a celebration at Joe’s house. While he had no immediate family, the neighbors, other collectors, and extended family were eager to gather to remember their friend. Emily also invited them to select mementos to remember Joe.
This gathering was then the steppingstone for a broader community initiative to find the right auction houses, antique dealers, and yes, pyrotechnic experts, to liquidate the more valuable (and explosive) assets from Joe’s estate.
“Some things went at auction for only $1 or $5, many more sold in the $50-75 range, and then there were exceptions hitting $2,000 or more. We used Facebook Marketplace, too, because it’s fast, local, and you’re not giving up 20% or more to an auction house.”
Step 5. The dump. Well, not only the dump. Yes, some items were trashed, but they could re-sell steel, aluminum, and copper scraps from Joe’s various projects, recycle electronics, and bring home goods to Habitat for Humanity’s ReStores.
Have a lot of old machines and tech products hanging out? The clutter of modern living! CLICK THE IMAGE to explore our FREE checklist for all things tech and more.
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At the end of our conversation, we took Emily back to the beginning to ask if she had considered hiring a professional to do all this work at any point during the cleanout.
“No. Maybe it’s a trust issue, worrying they’d just toss stuff out. But really, I had the time—I’m retired—I already knew what was what inside his home, and I was not doing the work alone. I had my husband’s support. He could have said, ‘Hell with it, I’m not helping. Just sell the place!’ And Joe’s wide network of friends and neighbors helped at every turn, too.
To tell you the truth, in the end, it feels good.”
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Did you miss our first installment about estate cleanouts? Read it now -->
Have you ever heard of the Zabbaleens of Egypt? They are a more modern-day version of the ragpickers who took to the streets in major urban centers of London and Paris throughout the 19th century to eke out a living by night to gather and recycle refuse.
In Egypt, the informal Zabbaleen trash pickers charged households a monthly fee to recycle and upcycle 80% and more of the trash that the households of Cairo generated. What could not be sold, most of it the Zabbaleens reportedly fed to their pigs, the pigs being another household income source.
In 2003, according to an article by The Guardian, the estimated 65,000 Zabbaleens lost their livelihoods when the Mubarak government privatized trash collection. Nearly overnight, the dismal results of the privatization became apparent. Collection trucks could not make it through Cairo's narrow streets, trash toppled over, and landfills were overwhelmed. It took a decade, along with the support of Egypt’s Minister of the Environment, to return the Zabbaleens to their work.
Today’s ARTIcles story shares echoes of these lessons and what modern consumer buying behavior, sentiment and expectations combined with the explosion of virtual marketplaces means for home cleanouts for modern day families in the United States.
Modern Day Home Cleanouts
The “why” of a home cleanout, or an estate liquidation, could be the death of a loved one, downsizing with a giant capital D, or perhaps even a life changing relocation. Either way, not all of that ‘stuff’ is coming with you.
And now you have a new task. Because once you’ve separated out what you will keep or give to family and friends, the lion’s share of items that remain, from everyday linens and furnishings to everything you never wanted to sort through in those junk drawers and closets, will be sitting there waiting for you to find it a new home.
And we know how incredibly tempting it is to sweep it up into bins or call a junk hauler to get it over with and move on.
You may not have the time, energy, or know-how to get it all where it needs to go next. And it’s unlikely you keep a virtual rolodex of best fit options to sell, donate, (up)recycle, and trash every item. Cleaning out a home is time consuming, emotionally draining, and physically burdensome work.
And that is exactly why there are professionals who exist to help us all through these challenging situations. What could take you several weeks to months “in your spare time,” could be done in four days or less by a professional. That gives you back your time to focus on selling your home and otherwise moving on.
And let’s be honest, for many of us, having an impartial professional helping us means you’ll have another person helping you let go of those heavy sentimental items. Even if you’re okay with the idea of letting go, actually doing so is often a whole different matter.
HOME CLEANOUTS 101
Once you take out items you and others want to keep, you can simplify your home cleanout by sorting what’s left into into three categories:
Sell
Donate
Recycle & trash
And the percentage of items each channel represents has transformed dramatically over the last decade.
“Ten years ago, 75% of the items left behind would have been destined for donation,” according to Matt Paxton, author, TV personality, and founder of Clutter Cleaner. The volume headed to donation has dwindled dramatically, supplanted by new, often online, markets for used goods and a desire by many to earn a little cash.
“Now we’re selling 80-90% of the items left behind. I donated less than 100 lbs. on our last job. In the past, it would have been at least a ton if not two (2,000 lbs. to 4,000 lbs.). And now only 500-1,000 lbs. is going to the junk haulers.”
According to Paxton, $8,000 is the average market value for all the stuff left over in the typical home. His estimate is based on his most recent 1,000 cleanouts. “Ten years ago? The attitude was more like, ‘Eh, I’d rather donate it.’ Now every penny counts.”
Matt laughed as he recalled his move in 2019 from Virginia to Georgia, “Want to guess how much money I got for everything? $7,800. That even includes the $300 I got when I sold the couch I slept on my last night in Virginia, because the rest had already been moved out.”
The Future is Resale
The future of resale looks rosy, not only because of burgeoning virtual marketplaces but also anticipated trade policies under the current US administration. If prices go up on new goods, especially new goods of debatable quality, people will turn to secondhand goods.
Do you want to pay 50% more for a poor-quality new item or go vintage/used? It’s not unlike houses, where inferior new-build homes can fail to hold value compared to well-built brick homes of old. Add to that the strong vintage and upcycle alure with the Gen Zs who go out thrifting as their weekend leisure, and again, resale wins.
“When I think about how much we used to throw away,” lamented Paxton. “We didn’t know!”
According to Paxton, top categories for resale today that were often overlooked in the past include:
Vintage clothing. “A vintage t-shirt can easily sell for $25 today. You have a whole stack stashed in your closet, and you realize how quickly it adds up.”
Recycled books.“This kills me. We threw away 500+ tons of books where now it could be recycled for cash.”
Costume jewelry. “We cash in this type of jewelry for our clients for the value of the gold and silver. It gets melted down.”
Furniture.“Then there’s the furniture, so much of it that we could have gotten $100 a piece for but donated instead. It’s easily more than $100,000 worth of furniture we’ve donated over the years I’ve been in this business.”
Mattresses. This one is a mind bender. “I used to pay $100-200 a piece to dispose of mattresses," said Paxton. "Now we can often resell them to companies that will refurbish them. We’ve converted them from a liability to an asset for our clients.” And that, friends, is a win for homeowners and the environment.
Eager to dive into marketplaces with your items? We’ve curated a list of resources to get you started at the end of this ARTIcles story.
Finding a Professional for Your Home Cleanout and Getting Prepared
Do you want to work with a professional to cleanout your home? Paxton, founder of Clutter Cleaner, a national estate cleanout and move management company, recommends considering and interviewing a few types of professionals. Some offer comprehensive packages and others will expertly coordinate and bring in other providers as needed, such as appraisers, junk haulers, and more, to provide the services you need:
A local estate sales company. You can check by city and zip code on Estatesales.net and ask about the full-scope services each offers.
You will spend a substantial amount of time with this company if you choose them to help you clean out your home. Call multiple professionals and choose the one that you enjoy spending time with. “You should enjoy their personality and fully understand their process. Consider working with them for an hour or two to see how you like working with their team. Make sure it’s a match before you hire them for a full week,” said Paxton.
You’ve Found Your Pro. Now What?
Once you have picked the cleanout partner that is right for you, go through the house and mark the items you absolutely know you are keeping or shipping to a friend or family member.
Once you’ve done that, then call the professional and schedule a date to get started with them.
They are there to help you figure out what to do with the stuff you don’t know what to do with and/or be the muscle behind your plan. Sometimes it’s not a total home cleanout. You may just need help packing up and picking up some heavy items.
Can You DIY a Home Cleanout? Should You DIY Your Home Cleanout?
We had the pleasure of interviewing several families who opted for the DIY home cleanout experience. Not only was each clearing out the home of a deceased loved one, but their reasons for DIYing were shockingly similar and fell into six categories:
Time, a lot of time. In all cases, at least one of the family members or executors leading the effort was retired and had no obligations that prevented them from committing any time they desired to cleaning out the home.
Proximity. The home in question was local to them, meaning they did not have to commit to spending hours on the road or flying across the country to get the job done. They also had local knowledge of places to donate and sell items.
Legal and financial go ahead. Legally, there were no probate issues preventing them from accessing the property and dispersing its contents. There was no conflict either as to what to do with the belongings – ownership and intention were clear and respected. Financially, there was no immediate or compelling need to liquidate rapidly.
Community. Whether it was other family members, neighbors, or friends, a whole community of people stood up to ask how they too could help with the cleanout process. “Many hands make light work,” goes the expression.
Knowledge. The executors and/or family had deep knowledge of both their loved one’s intentions for their home and everything in it as well as prepared list of resources for who to contact in case of their demise to sell items of specific financial and/or historic value.
Intrinsic motivation. Whether it was about honoring their loved one, enjoying the sorting process, or feeling good about finding new homes for items and/or recycling them in ways that are good for the planet, each person we spoke with had an interest in doing the work themselves.
A Word of Caution on DIYing Your Home Cleanout
It’s one thing to slowly declutter and downsize your belongings when you are not moving, on your own, item by item, at your leisure. It’s another if you plan to DIY a home cleanout for yourself or a loved one. Are you sure you are using your time wisely? Value your time at at least $20/hour. If you spend 10 hours preparing to sell an item, then you’ll need to receive $200 for that item to breakeven. Make sure the DIY is actually saving you money.
You do not have to look far to find stories about the time, financial, and emotional costs of home cleanouts. The Reddit thread pictured below was started by someone clearing out an aunt’s home and business office, a time-consuming double whammy that by doing on their own “took over their life” and delayed saving money on rent and from selling the farm and home, too.
Most of us are over 50 when we start this process. Do we really want to spend the next 5 years of our lives cleaning out the past, or do we want to spend it creating new memories with our loved ones today?
Explore the World of Resale
Curious about where to sell everything you aren’t taking with you? Here are some (primarily) virtual marketplaces pros use, and you can too.
Etsy, "Global marketplace for unique and creative goods," etsy.com
LUXURY AND OTHER HIGHER END GOODS OR COLLECTIBLES
You can certainly look to local luxury consignment and resale shops, but depending on your items, you may find more value in the reach of some of these virtual marketplaces:
The RealReal, "Where luxury is yours to define," therealreal.com
Poshmark, "Buy, sell, and discover fashion, home decor, beauty, and more," poshmark.com
1stDibs, "The most beautiful things on earth: Antique and modern furniture, jewelry, fashion, & art," 1stdibs.com
Auction houses, such as Bonhams, Doyle, Heritage Aucitons, and Nye & Company
Specialty antique and collectibles dealers (too numerous to list - search online based on your item)
“The only thing I kept was a collection of assorted trinkets stored in a shoebox: the clarinet cap that had belonged to the boy with leukemia, the key chain with the gold star, my Steif mouse from Dr. Salinger’s menagerie.” Betsy Lerner, Shred Sisters
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There are no clear statistics on how many Americans have memory boxes, although an informal survey of Artifcts community members and friends found that 100 percent of those asked did indeed have a memory box, bin, or even a drawer. The most minimalist among us even had a memory box (or two!).
Memory boxes are widely used for bereavement support, family history preservation, and dementia care, where the content of the memory box can help patients remember past people and events. Choices abound for those looking for a specific type of box for a specific purpose, as detailed in our Boxes Abound! ARTIcles story.
We’ve seen over the years how no two memory boxes are alike—the contents of Amy Shred’s box as quoted above are different from the contents of your box, my box, etc. We all have certain things that we hold on to for different reasons. The contents of our memory boxes are reminders of our past, connections to people, places, and events near and dear to us. Most memory boxes are overflowing with heart value, even if the financial value is dubious at best. Case in point, the now-disintegrating rose petals our co-founder Heather has kept for the past eight years. Pure heart value.
Preserve and Share the Memories
The whole point of creating and storing a memory box is to keep the memories safe for years to come. But how will anyone know WHAT those items are, let alone the memories that led you to keep them. Neither ‘stuff’ nor photos can talk, and all too often our carefully preserved and curated boxes become a mystery to the next generation, often ending up in a trash or recycling bin.
We can do better than that!
We challenge you over the five days to pick one item a day from your memory box and Artifct it on the spot. With Artifcts, there is no story burden, you can come back and edit and add to the story as often as you want! “My husband gave me this rose on our first date,” is all the story you need to connect those petals that are now floating around your memory box to a cherished memory.
Challenge accepted? Great!
Follow our easy steps below to ensure your memories, stories, and memory box contents are digitally preserved and contextualized for the next generation.
Pick an object! Don’t stress over where to start first. What is the first item you see when you open your memory box?
Snap a photo. If you’re up to it, you can add a related audio or video clip, too, or record something new.
Add a short story. Even a simple fact of WHAT the item is may be enough to get you started.
Save! You’re done. Now you can privately share your Artifct with family and friends.
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Imagine if one day you inherited Amy Shred’s memory box, and you discovered the clarinet mouthpiece. You KNOW your mom didn’t play clarinet, but there’s a mouthpiece in her memory box. What gives?
This is one of the many superpowers of Artifcts—Artifcts lets you contextualize and give voice to your memories, stories, and histories on your terms. No more guess work or made-up stories in our endless attempts to connect dots and find meaning in the things we keep.
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Interested in additional ARTIcles? You may like the following:
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