New Year's Resolution, Time to Organize, Time to Refresh

Most people I know start every January with a New Year's Resolution.  Some friends I know want to exercise more, hope to lose weight, or commit to saving money.  While I wish to also meet those expectations, I thought of a resolution that can be a win-win for myself, my family, and local groups looking to raise money.

In late December I was cleaning my collectible room, which is also our family room and daughter's play room.  As I was cleaning and organizing my autographs, I realized 2 things:
1.  I need a larger room.
2.  I need to refresh the displays with updated items and photos.

I noticed that I had baseballs displayed of players that mean nothing to me, I had photos of players that are no longer in professional sports, I had plenty of current player items that were hidden (ie, Current Bruins and Celtics Items).  So it was time to re-organize, update and purge.

The first thing I accomplished was cleaning of the current items and replacing of outdated items. This was easy because I had frames in which I can easily switch photos, ball cubes for the newest baseballs and labels so I could easily identify the autograph.  The frames I purchased were the Format brand which are usually $5 and under at stores such as Michaels, Walmart and Target.  Format frames have easy to pop glass and only need a small nail to hang.  Ball cubes of all sizes can be found at sporting good stores (Dick's sells them starting at $3.99.)  I highly recommend investing in any type of label maker which can be found at any office supply store. 


Ray Allen autographed photo in 8x10 format frame.



Labeled autographed baseballs in cubes

 The second thing I accomplished was create shelf space by taking down and separating items by what i want to store and what I want get rid of.  By doing this I added about 20 square feet of shelf space, to which I created more room for new bobblehead dolls and of course Bruins Stanley Cup autographed pucks. 


New shelf space for Bruins Autographs

As I was purging items I categorized them into 2 areas.  The keep, but store pile and the give away or sell pile.  While I sell a very small portion of my autographs, I do offer many up as donations to non profit organizations that are hosting fundraisers in the form of silent auctions, etc....  This is always a win-win for all involved.  So take some to time to organize, refresh and prioritize what you want and need, and guaranteed you'll feel accomplished and maybe a little heavier in the wallet.