June / July 2021
Organizing Printed Photos

Organizing printed photos takes time but it is well worth the effort. Is it ranked low on your priority list? Do you repeatedly say, “someday” when you think about this task?  It helps to have a specific project in mind. What is your reason? Why do you want to organize your photos? Having purpose and goals will help you stay focused on the finish line. For example I have recently accomplished several photo projects including: Christmas photo books for myself, my daughter, and mother-in-law. I also did a High School photo book and a Senior Photo Collage Board for my son, Connor. He just graduated from Oconee County High School and will be attending Georgia Southern in the fall. 
Begin by gathering all of your printed photos. You may have them in Albums or boxes and probably both but pull them all together. Once you have located all of them you can begin sorting your photos into groups chronologically. Decide how you want to sort them: person, family, or birthdays, vacations, holidays or events. There is no right or wrong way to organize them. 
Once you have decided how you want to organize them, start the process. You can always change the order later on, if it is not working well. It is always a good idea to get started. You will never finish and you will never know how easy or difficult the task is, until you get started. Just Do It! Getting started will probably be the hardest part.
I recommend having temporary boxes, containers, or clear plastic storage bags to store your “working” piles in. Also, have a sharpie,  labels and/or post-it-notes  available to label each pile. This will allow you to put your work away and begin where you left off, rather than starting all over again...again and yet again. This can happen, if you don’t organize your progress.
As you go through your piles of photos make sure to discard: 
-Duplicates
-Photos you don’t want anymore
-Blurry photos
When I started sorting my photos I had so many that were not even mine. My sister used to send me duplicates of her vacation photos. That  was back in the day when people sent their film out to be developed, it did not cost extra to have an additional set printed. 
Storing Your Printed Photos
Once you get into a rhythm of sorting and purging photos you will need to decide how to store them long term. 
 Here are some options:
-Store photos and documents flat
-Store in a dark room like an interior closet with stable humidity and temperature
-Photo Box: photos stored standing up or flat
-Archival Photo Box
-Photo Album
-Scrapbook Album
Scanning photos 
To scan or not to scan...that is up to you. I recommend scanning your most precious important photos. They are probably photos you already have in frames. Scan them to preserve them. If you have lots of photos to scan I recommend Modern Image in Atlanta. They are reasonably priced and you can mail or drop off thousands of photos to them. Another company is Pixorium for scanning. Want a Storybook created by a Professional? I highly recommend Pixorium. 
While you sift through your photos you will undoubtedly find some favorites. When you do, pick a few to display now!  This will encourage you to keep going and you can appreciate them everyday. 
Here are some options for displaying your photos:
-Frames
-Photo Tree
-Photo Collage in Frame
-Shutterfly has great products available to display your photos in creative ways.
-Photo Montage wallpaper
Enjoy your Photo Organizing. 

Adele Gross
Daily Money Management, Professional Organizer & Downsizer
Simple Solution Organizing LLC

706-714-1314
www.simplesolutionorganizing.com

April / May 2021
Starting a Supper Club
Most people I know are craving to spend time with family and friends. It has been 14 months of Covid-19 restrictions. My Supper Club group has not had a formal gathering during this time but we have had lots of outdoor get-togethers. If you have ever thought about starting a Supper Club now might be a good time to do it (if everyone is vaccinated of course)! 

Supper Club is an important part of my family’s life. I have participated in various Supper Clubs for 21 years. The people, location, and “rules” have evolved but the sole purpose has never changed: spending quality time with friends on a regular basis.

It all started when a good friend, Sharla, in Gulf Breeze, Florida suggested we start a girl’s and kids Thursday night get together at her home. Sharla had the nicest house of the bunch; it was very conducive to FUN!  She had a beautiful swimming pool connected to her living room via a wall of sliding glass doors. We socialized, with cocktails in hand, while our young kids burned off energy swimming and playing.  It was a welcome release for all of us. My friend’s and I talked about our week: the good, bad, and the ugly. Each week we rotated bringing an entrée and on occasion our husband’s would join us and other friends.  We looked forward to it week after week. Lives change through the years and eventually our Supper Club fizzled out. We continued to get together sporadically; however, it was never quite as special. 

My family moved from Florida to Georgia in the summer of 2003. Some of our neighbors invited us into their Neighborhood Supper Club in Athens, Georgia. Again, lives change, people move and eventually that Supper Club dissolved.  However, a few of the original families still get together, month after month (not in 2020 because of COVID). We are 1 of 5 families that continue to meet. These families are so special to us.

Our kids have grown up together through our Supper Club gatherings. Our kids attend different schools and live in different neighborhoods but they all enjoy and look forward to our Supper Club dinners. They often ask their parents, “When is Supper Club?” That really warms our hearts.

I almost cancelled, one of our most memorable Supper Club dinners that my family hosted. I had hurt my back the day before. I was in a lot of pain and considered cancelling but my son, Connor, begged me not to. I am so glad that we did not cancel it. It was one of the best parties ever and we started a new tradition: sharing old photos of yourself from High School or younger. Many of us laughed so hard we were crying and I think someone in the group may have experienced incontinence. 

Our Supper Club is unpretentious. We meet at people’s homes, parks, restaurants, bowling alleys, pumpkin patches, and any other venue that sounds inviting. The goal of our Supper Club is to meet and spend time together, the place and the food is really secondary. We invited two new families to join our group several years ago. The decision to add new families was not decided lightly; it was given a lot of thought and discussion. There was more food to purchase and more kids running around but we are so glad for the companionship.

Let’s talk about how to get started with a Supper Club:

• Someone has to Coordinate it
• Talk to potential members to see if they have an interest
• Decide how many members or families you want in the group
• Decide how often your group will meet
• Decide where your group will meet
• Decide what type of Supper Club you want:
  • Gourmet
  • Themed
  • Informal
  • Kids or Adult Only (you may want kids at a different members home than the host with a sitter while your Supper Club meets)
  • Separate meals for adults and kids or do they have they share the same meal
  • Host makes all the food or just the entrée and other members bring side dishes

A Coordinator is vital to the success of any Supper Club. Look for one that is ready, willing, and able, to jump in and handle the details. One person has to be the planner and the communicator for the group. I send out a schedule for the year and families sign up for the month they want to host. This initial schedule may change but having a schedule helps our club stay committed. Here is additional information about starting your own Supper Club(s) and there is an App.

The fun times continue in our group; we look forward to many more gatherings.
 
Adele Tusson-Gross
Supper Club Coordinator, Daily Money Manager, Professional Organizer & Downsizer
Simple Solution Organizing LLC
www.simplesolutionorganizing.com