A Treasures Album is for photos of family heirlooms and treasured items that are too bulky to put in a scrapbook. Along with the photos you put the history of the item so your descendants will understand its significance. See also Heritage Albums.

If we only had a limited amount of time to save material possessions from out home in the event of an impending disaster most of us would save our photo albums first. After that it is likely we would select various objects that had great sentimental value to us but maybe no monetary value. It is the memories behind the item that make it so important instead of the item itself. However many of us have not bothered to record the info about these types of items anywhere.

More than once I have had the sad task of sorting through a relative's property after their death. I have found items that were stored in such a way (carefully wrapped and in a safe place) that I knew they must be important. Possibly they were owned by a special ancestor or had another significant meaning. However if no one knew the story behind the item they became just one more thing to sell at an estate sale or donate to Goodwill.

If you don't want the same fate for your treasures take the time to record the information. How you make the album will depend on the number and type of items you have, the number of children you have and how the items will likely be distributed someday. The album can be as fancy or as plain as you want. It might be made very special with matting, borders, etc. or just be a photo and journaling record of the items.

A Reflection or Sentiments album is a good choice for this if you only have a few items.

You may want to just group the items on the pages by subject. In the event that the items are divided someday the people who get the various things can color copy the pages containing the items they get. Another option would be to use portrait sleeves in the album. Put single items (or sets of items that will likely stay together) on card stock and put them in the sleeves back to back. That way the album can be easily dismantled and reassembled into smaller albums. Some pages could be color copied if someone wanted a picture of family heirlooms even if they did not get possession of them.

Another way to do the album is to use photo mounting sleeves for everything instead of pages with protectors or portrait sleeves. Use any size of album. For each "treasure" mount the photo on card stock. The size of the card stock will depend on the size of photo and the amount of journaling about the item. For many items the 4" x 6" or the 5" x 7" will work but a few of the items will need the 8" x 10" size. Arrange the items on the pages however you want by adhering the sleeves to the scrapbook pages. They can easily be removed later or switched around.

Once you start your treasure album you will be surprised at how many treasures you have and how much fun the album is to make.

HOW TO:

1. Go on a treasure hunt through your house. Look in closets, on shelves, in drawers, in the basement, in the garage, etc. Any item you see that brings back a memory of a person or past event is a potential treasure. Even recent items might be a treasure to others someday, so don't overlook them. Don't forget about recipes, letters, etc. As you go gather up the items or make a list of them. It would also be a good idea to start making notes about the things as you see them. That will give you some idea of the amount of space you will need for journaling about each item. You will likely find things that you can't remember some of the details about. In that case try to find a relative who does remember.

2. Once you have your list and/or items together take photos of them. It helps if you have a tri-pod and zoom lens but it is not necessary. If you will check the manual of most newer automatic cameras they usually have a special setting for close-ups of small objects. Most things will show up best if you put them on a contrasting solid-color background. I think that dark blue or light tan work better than solid black or white but use what you have (a piece of fabric, table cloth, sheet, etc. all work well). On some things you may want more than one photo taken from different angles. On other things you can have 3 or 4 items in the photo and then you can crop them apart for the album. If you want to break this down into a long-term project it is a great way to use up the last one or two photos on your rolls of film. Just keep you list handy and mark things off as you take photos of them.

3. Crop the photos and mount them on the album pages or on the card stock. You can also include photos of the original owner of the item or the item in another house. There is a round oak table in our family that has already passed through 4 generations. I have found photos of the table in the houses of 2 of the previous owners. You can also leave a little room on the page if you want for the next person to add a photo or more journaling about the item.

4. Journal about the item. Do this on scrap paper first since memories tend to come back in bits and pieces and not chronological order. Be sure to include who, what, when, where and why. Try to use specific dates and names as much as possible. If you don't remember every detail of an old family story and there is no one else around to ask just do the best you can. However it is best to mention that the details are a little fuzzy so people will know.  Also be sure to explain why the item is important to you. You might want to have someone else read over the journaling before you put it down in ink. Sometimes things are so obvious to you that you fail to journal adequately. You may find yourself referring to "Grandma" or "the old home place" and other things like that. You know exactly which grandmother and whose old home place you are referring to but other people might not. If a friend can understand the value of the item from the photo and your journaling then you will be sure that your great-great-grandchildren will understand it, too.

Poem for a Treasures Album