Archive for photos

How NOT to save your photos or donate books

By Hazel Thornton on March 26, 2023 19 Comments
photos

Photos found in donated books (click to enlarge)

Have you ever hidden anything in a book? Maybe used a photo as a bookmark? I don’t recommend it as a way to save your photos! Here’s why:

I volunteer weekly for my local Friends of the Library. We price and sort donated books for our monthly used book sales (at which I also run a cash register), and we have a lovely used book shop in the Main library downtown which is open six days a week. We raise around $200K every year for library programs such as the Summer Reading Program for children.

Don’t forget to check your books before donating them!

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Categories : Photos & Memorabilia
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Are you and your clutter ready to “Go With the Flow”?

By Hazel Thornton on March 13, 2023 12 Comments
Woman holding and presenting a copy of Go With the Flow!

Go With the Flow! The Clutter Flow Chart Workbook

 

Looking for a new, fun way to get clutter-free in ’23?

Inn-tro-du-cingg…(drumroll, please)…the long-awaited release of my latest project:

Go With the Flow! The Clutter Flow Chart Workbook

Want to declutter but not sure where to start? Get clutter-free in ’23 with the Clutter Flow Chart Workbook: Go With the Flow!!

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Categories : .ORGANIZE YOUR LIFE
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What’s a photo without the story?

By Hazel Thornton on July 19, 2020 25 Comments

UPDATE #1: Mystery solved! (scroll down)

UPDATE #2: I was so taken by my grandmother’s “bathing beauty” photograph that I used it on the cover of my 2021 book — What’s a Photo Without the Story? How to Create Your Family Legacy (click to learn more). The book is not about my family, per se, but I do use my own photos and stories as examples of what you can do, too. This is the longest story in the book. Most are one image plus a paragraph or two.

Who is this saucy young woman? Don’t know? Don’t care?

She looks like fun, though, doesn’t she?

What if you found this photo in a bin at Goodwill? For sale on eBay?

Would you buy it? Would you feel vaguely sad that somebody got rid of it, and move on?

What if you found her in your parents’ stuff and didn’t know who she was?

Would you keep, or toss? Would you try to find the story behind the photo?

Every photo has a story. If we don’t know what it is, maybe we can find out!

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Categories : Genealogy, Hazel's Family Stories, Photos & Memorabilia, Tell Your Story
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Mom’s Boxes Part 8: The Gangster Hideout

By Hazel Thornton on May 23, 2019 14 Comments

The “farmhouse” after being painted white, pillars added, and lower windows remodeled into new front doors.

READERS: This is the sort of story I intend to write more of over the next few years to share with my family. It’s also the sort of story I encourage you to write about your own family! It doesn’t have to be fancy, with links to articles and such. Just capture the memories for future generations.

Family stories combine memories, family lore, genealogy, internet research, and photos. Have you told yours?

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Categories : Hazel's Family Stories
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Climbing your never-ending family tree

By Hazel Thornton on April 29, 2019 8 Comments

7 Generation Pedigree Chart with sample projects indicated.

Your family tree is never really finished! It is forever growing on both ends. New descendants of your ancestors are continually being born (even if not to you, personally), and no matter how many branches and leaves you’ve added in the past, there are always more for you to discover.

It’s important to define your genealogy project, so you (or I) don’t work endlessly and randomly.

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Categories : Genealogy
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Embrace the Clutter!

By Hazel Thornton on July 18, 2016 4 Comments

Embrace the ClutterEmbrace the clutter!

Why on earth would I, a professional organizer, say such a thing?

Well, think about it. What’s the opposite of embracing something? Fearing it? Ignoring it? Avoiding it?

Doesn’t it seem like anything you fear, ignore, or avoid persists? It doesn’t go away, it just nags at you. Doesn’t it? Maybe not every second of every day, but repeatedly and persistently.

Meanwhile, it usually gets steadily worse, not magically better. Right?

Why not embrace your clutter – and yourself, and your flaws – and make friends with them?

Why not embrace your clutter – and yourself?

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Categories : Inspiration & Motivation
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10 Silly Things Organizers Argue About

By Hazel Thornton on June 10, 2016 27 Comments

Signpost My Way your wayWhen professional organizers argue, it’s often just a matter of semantics. And when I say argue….well, that’s just semantics too. Disagree and misunderstand might be more accurate terms. We are, mostly, a congenial and supportive bunch! Sometimes we don’t even truly disagree, but we’re playing devil’s advocate; or exploring a new twist on an old theme for the sake of a great blog post title; or forging a new market niche by using a unique phrase.

The reason for this post is that I imagine the public, and new organizers, must sometimes feel confused. “Hey, wait a minute, this experienced organizer is saying just the opposite of what I always thought, and the opposite of what this other respected organizer said!?”

When professional organizers argue, it’s often just a matter of semantics.

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Here are some examples: (more…)

Categories : Just For Fun
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