I’ve never been an overly-sentimental person and I’ve always hated paper clutter (including photo and memorabilia clutter) so it’s probably not a huge surprise that I have digitally preserved all of our old photos and memorabilia in attempts to drastically reduce the amount of extra paper we have laying around our home.
In fact, digitizing all our old photos was one of the first “projects” Dave and I tackled after we were married!
I think we were both totally overwhelmed at the thought of digitizing all our childhood photos from birth through college (when we both got digital cameras), but once we found our groove, we were able to finish in only a few weeks!
Since then, the amount of time, effort, and energy required for me to keep our digital photos organized (and create our digital photo albums) is so small that it has actually turned into a fun hobby for me instead of a daunting to-do that looms overhead until I finally get around to doing it.
So while I can relate to the massive numbers of emails and comments I get from readers who are totally overwhelmed with the thought of digitizing and organizing their photos and other memorabilia, I also know that once it’s done… everything is SO much easier!
It’s just the “getting it done” part that’s the problem!
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Maybe you don’t have a scanner. Maybe you don’t have a great computer. Maybe you don’t know how to use a scanner. Maybe you just don’t have the time or energy to tackle this type of project. Maybe it’s just too overwhelming for you to even comprehend right now.
Does this sound like you?
Well… what if I told you there was an easier way?
What if I told you about an amazing company who sends you a “magical box”… and all you have to do is fill that box with all your photos, VHS tapes, 8-tracks, and other outdated forms of media, ship it back to the company, and wait a few weeks for your new, up-to-date, digitally preserved memories to show up at your doorstep…
Would that seem slightly less overwhelming for you?
If so, you’re in luck!
Meet Legacybox!
Legacybox is a brand that preserves all of your outdated memories — tapes, film, photos, and audio — converting them into digital files and DVDs.
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Although Dave and I have already digitized all of our photos and memories, we have had the opportunity to work with Legacybox over the past couple of months as we helped my parents digitize many of their favorite memories.
We gave my parents a Legacybox for Christmas, and after helping them sort through photos and gather up a bunch of favorite home videos, they are now enjoying digital versions of all their favorite childhood photos and updated DVD versions of the old VHS tapes my dad recorded of our family vacations, piano recitals, sporting events, holiday parties, and choir concerts!
I know both my parents were completely overwhelmed at the thought of trying to digitize their own memories, so this Christmas gift was a great opportunity for them to quickly and easily update and digitize the majority of their old photos and VHS tapes without much effort on their part.
Nora and Simon have had a blast looking through pictures of Grandma and Grandpa when they were little kids (I saved a copy of the digital photos to my computer too) and watching DVDs of me when I was their age — running down the hallway with my sisters to open presents on Christmas morning, singing in the choirs at school, playing soccer, softball, volleyball, etc.
Of course, it’s been really fun for me to watch those home videos with them too (OK, so maybe I’m just a little sentimental!)
Just for fun, I thought I’d share one picture of each of my parents when they were young… do you see any family resemblances in me or in my children? I suppose we’ll need to dig up pictures of Dave’s parents to see if there is any resemblance there too!
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How It Works:
When you’re ready, Legacybox will send you a crush-proof box along with VERY simple instructions and everything else you need to start preserving your memories.
All you need to do is gather up your memories, place one of the included barcode labels on each piece of media you send in (you can group photos together into groups of 25), and then put all the media inside the box.
The barcode labels assure that all your items are safe and secure throughout the entire process, and frequent email updates allow you to constantly stay “in-the-loop”.
Once you attach the included postage-paid shipping label, you hand the box to your mail carrier or bring it to your local post office! That’s it!
The hard part (at least for me) is waiting while Legacybox digitizes everything 🙂
Thankfully, Legacybox sends regular emails updating you on the status of your order, informing you of an estimated timeline, and letting you know when your box has been shipped back to you.
And of course, all your original memories are returned, along with the new digital copies — for those of you who ARE sentimental and want to keep all the paper photos!
Ready to Preserve Your Memories?
If you’re sick and tired of waiting for “someday” when you’ll finally have the time and energy to digitize and preserve your memories, it might be time to order your Legacybox.
For a limited time, YOU can get a whopping 40% off your first Legacybox using the code ANDREA at checkout!
In just a few weeks, you could be enjoying and reliving all your favorite memories over and over again like we have been with my parents and my children!
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A big thanks to Legacybox for sponsoring this post and making it possible for me to provide all of the content on my blog free of charge! My opinions are 100% my own! Please see my full disclosure policy and contact me with any questions you have.
Shelley Taylor says
Hi, Andrea,
This seems like a fantastic service! My mother is always saying she needs to catch up on copying VHS tapes to DVD. I looked over the packages on the website, and it looks like a great deal. I do have a question: Once you order the package, is there a limited time to send in the materials to be copied? My parents will celebrate their 40th anniversary this summer, so I’d like to get one for them, but I’d also like to take advantage of the 40% off while it’s available.
Thanks for sharing this!
Shelley
Andrea says
Hi Shelley,
I think the biggest box allows 25 vhs tape conversions (however, each kit comes with extra barcode labels that you can use to add lots of additional items. I believe it’s $14 for each additional item — but I’m sure you’d be able to fit a bunch in the box if your budget allows!
Ann says
Wondering if there is any one who puts pictures in book form. Do not have a DVD player any longer. Also would be more fun to share with kids one on one telling stories.
Andrea says
Hi Ann, Legacybox does put the items on a USB flash drive if you want — so then you could view everything on your computer.
As of right now, I’m not aware of anyone who would do it in book form — that would be very personal and almost seems impossible to do without a ton of knowledge of the people and situations in the pictures. I suppose you could try googling it though 🙂
Amie says
I’ve been considering this for months but was afraid…with your review I have the confidence that I “know” someone who has done this successfully! Thanks for the personal info!
Erica says
This looks great – I’ve been wanting to do something like this with Kevin’s baby pictures for his 50th birthday in September. Was going to do it myself, but I think I might look into this instead. Thanks!
Andrea says
well, this will definitley save you a bunch of time 🙂
Melanie says
Do you know how they go about labelling the DVD if there are multiple events in the VHS?
Andrea says
They label them with whatever you have on the VHS tape. However, if you have paragraphs of labels, they will just do something short and general.
Debbie says
Just ordered it for my parents! What a great idea!
Andrea says
yay — exciting! Hope you love it!
Vanessa says
WOW! This is amazing. Quick question, what did you do with your actual photos afterwards? I would want to get rid of them, but I’m not sure if I actually could.
Andrea says
Hi Vanessa,
I kept a handful of my favorite pictures as “hard copies” but got rid of the rest. My parents however, kept ALL the hard copies 🙂
To me, it makes sense to get rid of them (or at least most of them) but to each their own 🙂
Rhianna says
Thank you for sharing this, Andrea!
My husband and I were just going through all of our picture and keepsake storage boxes and I was feeling really daunted at the task of scanning all our childhood photos. This is an AMAZING service. I was planning on tackling the photos as a summer project, this just made it so much easier.
Kellie says
Oh my gosh I have never been more excited about a sponsored post before! This has been on my to-do list for SEVEN YEARS. Thanks for checking this out for us, Andrea! I’m definitely taking advantage of the 40% off – I can’t wait!
Andrea says
haha — glad to get you so excited Kellie 🙂
Christine @ The (mostly) Simple Life says
I want to get this for my mom! She has boxes of photos from when we were little plus some of my grandmas photos. It’s been on her to do list for over a decade to organize and do something with them, but it’s super overwhelming!
Michelle Bonk says
This looks amazing … just what we (and my parents!) need!
I’ll be checking back with them in the future to see if they expand their service area to The Great White North!
Carol C. says
How wonderful! I think I will definitely invest. It is one of those projects I have just never gotten around to doing! Do I understand correctly that you can mix and match videos with sets of photos in each order? Each tape or bundle of photos counts as one “item?”
Andrea says
Yes, you are correct Carol. You can mix and match whatever you’d like — and an item is considered 1 tape, 1 film, or a bundle of 25 photos.
Andrea says
boooo — I think you need to move to West Michigan 🙂 Either that, or get a friend right across the border that you can ship things to!
Michelle Bonk says
Hmm … not sure about a move.
The friend might be easier lol.
We are planning a visit back to Michigan this summer! I’m excited to shop at Meyers again!!