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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

bowl of sugared cranberries

 
 
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.

Partial view of the Artifcts Get Papered checklist

 
 
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!

A small gingerbread house on a shelf with fake small pine trees

 
 
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.

Artifct featuring recipe and video of the making of coffee cake

 
 
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. 

And with that, happy Artifcting!

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© 2024 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Your Future Family Heirlooms

What is a family heirloom other than some object that someone decided was important in some way and decided to keep it and pass it along to another family member. That’s it. For what it’s worth, Webster’s dictionary agrees with us – and it all hinges on the word “special.” 

: something of special value handed down from one generation to another

No one ever said family heirlooms have to be financially valuable or historically significant.  

A family member might have an inkling that an heirloom carries with it some history. But then again, even if so, how will you gain access to that history? Usually it’s a conversation, a sticky note, a journal that’s also hopefully passed along. We can do better. We need to do better. 

Artifcts and Heirlooms Go Hand-in-Hand 

Each Artifct you create carries the potential of heirloom status. How you may ask? Many ways, including: 

By creating awareness that this object even exists, or that it has some interesting origin or story, you increase the probability someone will care about it and claim it as their own. It’s no longer just ‘stuff.’  

One of our Artifcts members thought her china set was doomed for the Goodwill bin. However, when she Artifcted it and shared the story with her family, she had children and grandchildren eagerly offering to take it off her hands. Why? Because it wasn't simply a china set that she had received as a wedding gift as long assumed. No, it was a set she purchased while stationed overseas in sub-Saharan Africa as a newlywed under instruction from the US Ambassador that, "Martha, you need a china set for 12 because you are going to start hosting diplomatic dinners." Who would have thought!

Because it wasn't simply a china set that she had received as a wedding gift as long assumed

By serving as a unique digital asset, a digital heirloom. Someday, your loved ones can inherit your Artifcts collection and the stories, memories, and more captured in each Artifct will live on. If you haven't already done so, simply designate your primary and secondary legacy contacts for your Artifcts account to ensure your heirlooms live on for generations to come. 

By creating new family heirlooms from existing ones. One of the earliest examples of this that we saw here at Artifcts was Grandmom's rolls recipe from the early 1900s that was reborn and brought out for everyday enjoyment when engraved in her mother's handwriting on a cutting board.  

One of our favorite tips for Artifcting future family heirlooms is to include a photo of a family member using, wearing, or otherwise enjoying the heirloom-to-be. It helps connect the dots between the object and your loved one, and adds context and visuals to the story or lore. 

What family heirlooms are you the keeper of? Do you have many? Artifct them today to ensure those heirlooms and their stories make it to the next generation. 

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Heirlooms on your mind? You might enjoy these related ARTIcles by Artifcts: 

Gift Your Loved Ones a Why

Estate Planning of Things

How to Artifct Family History and Heirlooms

Grandma’s Secret, Not-So-Secret, Coin Collection

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© 2025 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

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Family History Month ... Your Way!

We’ve all heard the expression “greeting card holiday,” sometimes even used against one of your personal favorites. So many love-hate relationships out there with national days for everything from your dog to your sibling to coffee and doughnuts.  

Then there are the months generally preserved for themes of broad societal significance, like heart health, black history, hispanic heritage, and even family history. Hello October, and hello Family History Month!

This October we’re sharing a few ideas from the Artifcts Community to help even those of you who may think you have no interest in family history to find some value in a month dedicated to exactly that. Use the month as an excuse or opportunity to get to know and capture your own family history and legacy a bit better.

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Hello, Family Genealogists (And Those In the Making)

An Artifcts community member once lamented to us, “I’ve spent so much time and money researching all of this history, and I have the files, but I really haven’t taken that next step to share with my extended or even immediate family. Without me they’d have to start over.”  

And then she told us that all her research is locked up behind a subscription-paywall. Hmmm. If you can relate, here are some tips to help ensure your family history is not lost to the next generation: 

  • Purchase a second research subscription for someone who can pick up the research alongside you to carry it forward to the next generation. Guide them through the myriad of resources online and through special archives and libraries as well as in your own family collection. If you have a tech-savvy grandchild in the family, this may be the perfect way to spur intergenerational connection AND keep the family history/research going. 
  • Take a class or catch a speaker! You can find a plethora of them by searching online or go local. Check your library, community center, museums, or local genealogical society for special events this month (and beyond). Confernce Keeper has a wonderful listing of genealogy related conferences and events, a lot of them for free too. Share what you learn with your family and friends. 
  • Create a family videography to highlight key moments in your family’s history, roles family members have played in historical events, and the modern-day family branches. For beautiful, professional videographies, we adore Lori and her team at Whole Story Productions.  
  • Self-publish a book(let) to document your research findings in black and white. Distribute during a family reunion, taking preorders (and payments) ahead of time. If you need an assist in your family history, we recommend our partner at Legacy Tree Genealogists
  • At Artifcts you can share the family history behind old photos, cherished heirlooms, even Grandma's china! Your family members need not be Artifcts members to view the Artifcts you share with them. Want to make sharing your Artifcts with your family even easier? Create family invite-only circles for easy group sharing, and off you go! We recommend using a special tag like #NickersonFamilyAssociation to easily sort your collection. Some of genealogists at Artifcts also use the ‘Location’ field when they create an Artifct to list a URL or folder path where additional information is stored. 

Memorable Family Dinners, Recipes, and More

You’ve been away from home for months or years, you return, and as you walk in the door, dinner is on, and you get that first smell of your favorite dish. Do you have the recipe? Who came up with it? Do you know the key steps? Special or secret ingredients?  

Some family favorites are born directly out of the original farm-to-table concept, before it was so hip, and those origins become a key part of the family recipe story. You grew potatoes and found a million ways to prepare them. You had fresh citrus, wild asparagus, or vibrant rhubarb all around you, and the specialties of your youth reflect it. Capture that history! 

  • Start a virtual family dinner club. You could create a group online to swap recipes or go a step further and once a month someone is the virtual host. Send the recipe ahead (as an Artifct!) so everyone has the ingredients on hand. Then run your own cooking show and enjoy the meal together after. 
  • Collaborate on a special family recipe cookbook. Ask each member of your family to contribute their favorite recipe AND the story behind it. How did it come into your family? Are there any secret ingredients? Who made or makes it best?  Create a cookbook that builds all the family history and the stories that go with those recipes. You’d be surprised, but even one generation removed, family members will start to lose track of the details never mind the actual ingredients or instructions. 
  • At Artifcts recipes, cookbooks, and treasured kitchen objects come alive through stories and histories, but also with supplementary video and audio snippets. Artifct your favorite recipes, add a video snippet of a crucial step, and share with your family. Our co-founder Heather Artifcted her mother's cranberry sauce AND included a video to show her teenage daughter how to know when you've got a good batch of cranberries. 

Share the History

The reality is not all families have a family keeper, that person who by choice or default holds onto the heirlooms, photos, recipes, and slew of documents that represent generations of a family’s history. Or maybe you are the last keeper or recent inheritor of all this family history and are thinking, “Now what? I really don’t want this stuff.” 

There’s a second reality that is important to recognize: family history is not only family history. Sometimes family history is part of local, national, or even global history. It offers clues to key figures, ways of living, and the social, political, and religious practices of a place in time. So, consider sharing pieces of your family history with the world through donations. 

  • Philanthropic donations. Consider galleries, libraries, research centers, foundations, and museums with specialties that may overlap with your items. Donations are not necessarily only in the realm of inherently valuable objects. Often, you guessed it, the story behind the object is the key. Don’t know the story either? That’s okay. Reach out to an institution, share your items, and give them the opportunity to tell you!  
  • Archival donations. Transform your personal family history into elements of a shared community history by offering your items to professional archives. What types of items might fit this category? As a starter: original works of fiction or non-fiction; scrapbooks, journals, letters, and diaries; original business materials (certificates, advertising, shares, board documents, voting records); media (photographs, slides, film, even websites too). You can learn more at the Society of American Archivists
  • At Artifcts, before you donate, Artifct the items to retain the family lore and history that’s relevant to you, and then share with family. Make sure no one else is interested in the item before you donate it, and attach any documentation related to your donation to the Aritfct. You can then rest easy knowing your family’s history will be in the capable professional hands of institutions that will preserve and protect them for generations to come. 

Let's Talk Wills and Legacy

Hear us out. Wills may be about death, but they are also all about easing the burden on those we leave behind. We all too frequently ignore the items we've collected over time. And, no, they will not sort themselves into piles to sell, donate, or bequeath. First someone must go through it all, a family member or two, or maybe a specialist hired to help. And in the end, someone will have to make 1000s of decisions about what becomes of every single item. Do you really want to leave a burden as your legacy? 

Wouldn’t you rather everyone be better prepared and informed? Not only will making a plan and creating documents make it easier for your family to pick up the pieces, but they can also help loved ones understand why you valued the items you are leaving behind. We've got some tips to help:

(Dramatically) Simplified checklist: 

  • Don’t have a Will? There are many wonderful estate planning attorneys in each community who can help you with this process. But this is an industry transformed by the digital revolution, and then some. If you are looking for a digital, self-guided approach, check out our fellow AARP AgeTech Collaborative partners at Trust & Will.   
  • Haven’t really seen your Will in a while? Give it a checkup. There's no time like the present. Add it to your to-do list this month! 
  • Confirm: Are the major themes covered?  
        • Estate 
        • Minor children 
        • Relatives with disabilities 
        • Retirement 
        • Powers of Attorney 
        • Living Will 
        • Stewardship of digital assets (profiles, accounts, photos, web pages, etc.) 
  • Is there a list of tangible assets referenced in your Will? Your Will may provide for a separate “Memorandum” that can be updated and changed at any time without making any changes to your Will.  
        • No list? Start. Just take a first cut by looking around the house (or your Artifcts collection!). 
        • Already have a list? Double check that it covers at least those items of greatest financial or heart (sentimental) value. 
  • At Artifcts, pick three or four of your most treasured items to Artifct and let your loved ones know why each item matters to you. Use the "In the Future" field to think through and record what you would like to happen to this item one day. Will it be passed down? Rehomed? Sold? Consider sharing the Artifct with your estate planner or attorney to list with other tangible assets referenced in your Will.   

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Artifcting Starter Resources 

We have all sorts of helpful resources that we want to be sure you know about to take the pressure off and let the fun begin: 

Inspiration Checklists

Videos on YouTube

Artifcting Quick Tips

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© 2025 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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My Photos, My Memories

Feeling overwhelmed by your ever-increasing digital photo collection? Not sure what to do with the boxes and boxes of physical photos you’ve either collected or inherited over the years?  

Chances are you are not alone. We take photos to capture a memory or moment in time. We keep photos not because of the actual photo (except in rare circumstances) but because of the memories and emotions they evoke.  

This leaves most of us with an ever-growing collection of photos, some of which take up valuable space in our homes, and others that take up valuable space on our devices. It also leaves us with a lot of snapshots in time, but very few documented memories, stories, and the like for our loved ones.  

As we wrap up Save Your Photos Month, we’d like to propose a challenge—over the next five days, pick a photo a day and Artifct it along with the story, memory, and maybe even the reason WHY you love that photo.  

Over the next five days, pick a photo a day and Artifct it along with the story, memory, and maybe even the reason WHY you love that photo

You don’t need to have a paid Artifcts account to take part in this challenge—anyone, anywhere can join. Sign up for free today and get Artifcting! We all have photos and memories worth preserving. 

You also don’t need to overthink it. Five photos. Five stories. Five pieces of you that are now documented and preserved for generations to come.  

After looking at her own post-move mess of photos, frames, boxes, and a soon-to-be collection of 15,000 digital photos, our co-founder Heather decided to give it a go. Her photos, her memories.  

My Favorite Childhood Photo 

This photo has survived more moves than I can count. It’s one of my favorite childhood photos—I have no recollection of the moment, but it always makes me smile.  

 

Dad & Me. Age 3. Click to view the Artifct. 

I can feel the late Fall sunlight, smell the salt air, and remember the stone step to my childhood home, Briar Bog Farm. My father’s LL Bean flannel shirts, and my purple overalls. I always wore those overalls. Purple was my favorite color after all.  

I shared this Artifct with my daughter and her first response (via text) was, “OMG we look so much alike!” Her second response was, “I didn’t know you liked purple.” And her third, “Did I have a pair of purple overalls when I was younger?” Before I could answer I got the “GTG don’t want to be late for class.” One photo shared, one memory saved, and a new story made. 

You Surfed?!? 

Yes, I surfed. Way back when you could still barter blueberry muffins for a surf lesson or two and a ride out to Cisco Beach in a beat-up Ford van.  

 

Surfing and surfboard photos. Click to view the Artifct

It was the summer between my sophomore and junior years in college. I was working three jobs (bar tending, tutoring, and nannying) but it did not matter. I lived to surf. Any and every free moment was spent on the beach, surfboard in tow. I would (and often did) gladly sacrifice sleep for surfing.  

I smile every time I see these photos. They are a snapshot in time of a crazy, wonderful, totally unexpectedly perfect summer.  

And Miles to Go Before I Sleep 

This is one of the few photos I have printed and framed over the past ten years. My daughter and dear spouse have even asked on occassion when I was planning to replace the stock photo that came with the frame for a “real” photo. 

Sorry to disappoint, but this is the “real” photo. It’s one my favorite spots in the White Mountains, a boardwalk passage across a high-altitude swamp along the Zealand Falls Trail. 

 

And Miles to Go Before I Sleep. Click to view Artifct

Growing up, Robert Frost’s poetry was a constant companion. Whether out for a walk or repairing the paddock fences, there was always a quote or two at hand. Whereas some children are drilled in their ABCs and 123s, I was drilled in verses of one of New England’s most celebrated poets.  

I printed and framed this photo because (1) I love the majestic beauty of the White Mountains, and (2) it is a constant reminder that I have “miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.” It’s my little reminder to myself that like any good hiking trail, life is best taken one step at a time.  

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun 

This is a private Artifct, and for good reason! The stories, the memories, and the laughs. Always the laughs.  

 

Go Caps! Sorry, this Artifct is private. 

The photo though is one of my all-time favorites. I framed it the moment I got it, and that framed photo has graced every desk I’ve had since, pre-COVID and post-COVID. My daughter recently took a good look at it while helping me unpack and said, “Wow, you and Aunt G still look exactly the same!” That in and of itself made me smile.  

She then wanted to know the story behind the photo, hence one of my newest Artifcts. She knew it was me and Aunt G in the photo, but she didn’t know the story or even where the photo was taken. Small moments create bigger memories. 

Marry Me?  

This too is going to remain a private Artifct, but the photo is worth a thousand words. And yes, there are a thousand-plus words in the Artifct to back it up.  

Do you have one of those photos that makes you smile every time you see it? That it puts you in a good move no matter what? That’s what this photo does for me.  

 

Marry Me? Sorry, this Artifct is private.

It was taken the afternoon my now-husband proposed. We were in Telluride for the Blue Grass Festival. He proposed earlier that morning while out on a hike. I was so surprised it took me a moment to answer.  

After I said yes, he wanted to know what I thought he was going to ask. I told him, “I thought you were going to ask if I was hungry and if I wanted pizza!” Well, this photo was taken post-hike and post-pizza, right before we settled into our spots for another night of amazing bluegrass music with the San Juan Mountains as our backdrop.  

Like my favorite childhood photo, I can still feel the sunlight hit my face every time I look at this photo.  

Your Turn! 

Which five photos will you choose to Artifct this week? What five stories will you tell, what five memories will you share?  

Remember, don’t over think it. If you’re not sure where to start, look at your framed photos. Chances are they are framed for a reason! Still stuck for inspiration? Check out our Rescue Those Photos! checklist for some ideas to help you get started.  You can also check out our tips on How-To Artifct That Photo

Remember, photos can’t talk, but you can. Start telling your story today. 

 

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© 2025 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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