5 Ideas of What to Do With Old Family Pictures

Have lots of old photos scattered around the house? Some people have their old pictures neatly arranged in photo albums, but most of us keep them in old boxes. As time goes by they fade out, get dusty and torn, and we forget who is pictured on them and where. We’ve gathered together 5 ideas on what to do with old family pictures. But if 5 is not enough for you, then read this article with more ideas on what to do with old photos. Here is our list:

1. Make a Family Tree

That’s the hardest thing to do yet the most rewarding. It can be a great project to do with kids and your other family members. First, you will need to do some research. Make a draft of your family tree and ask your family members to fill in the gaps and provide you with other valuable information. Write down all the data that you have – names, dates, occupation. Look through the pictures and choose the ones that will go on your tree. Now you need to restore the pictures. There are two ways to do this – manually or digitally using the apps. And the final step is to put everything together. Search for a template that you like, and either fill it in on your computer or print it out.

2. Turn Them Into a Wall Art

Why not commemorate your next of kin and create your own family fame wall? This way your family history will be on constant display at your house. For this task, you will need to sort out the pictures that you have and pick those that will suit your task. Then divide them into 2 piles – ones that need restoration and those that don’t. Digitize and restore the pictures from the second pile, and print out the renewed copies. Now, this project may take some time, since you have to find suitable frames for your images. Of course, you can buy them in the closest store, but we think that it will be better to pick a frame corresponding to the picture, the time and the mood in it.

3. Make a Scrapbook or an Album

A great way to preserve your pictures and to keep the family history. This project is somewhat similar to the family tree, but here you have room for your creativity. We suggest finding a theme for your scrapbook, for example, childhood pictures or a love/marriage theme. First, you will need to select the pictures that you will use and decide whether you will restore them or use them “as is”. Then choose the pictures that will go on the front cover and show the main idea of your project. After that plan each layout – what pictures will be used, what themes and background, captions, and texts.

4. Digitize and Share

The main idea of doing something with old pictures is showing them, not keeping them in the old shoebox. And nowadays many families don’t live close to each other and reunions are sometimes hard to organize. Thus being said, it’s easier to share your pictures online. Digitize them, restore if needed and upload to one of the cloud storage. Invite your family members via link to see the pictures or even to upload more if they have some.

5. Make Various Crafts

Turn the old photos that you have into things. They could serve as presents for birthdays, anniversaries, or other holidays. You can make tree ornaments, framed collages, and beautiful pendants. You can even create a unique tabletop – order a glass for your table and arrange old pictures beneath it. And when you get tired of looking at the same photos, change your display. And another way to use your old picture is to digitize them and bring them to the printing shop. This way you can print them on various things, like mugs, t-shirts, pillowcases, etc. 

We hope these ideas were helpful, and you will apply one of them, or maybe this article will drive you to search for other ways to reuse your old family pictures.

Photo by sarandy westfall on Unsplash