With technology now, it's a lot easier to do stuff like this. A lot cheaper too. I can't imagine, even if I tried to take pics of items and write what they meant to me, that anyone could read my handwriting.
Now I can do both the pix and writing digitally - YAY! - print it all out and put it in a binder.
Also have been meaning to do something like that for insurance purposes. Put it on a cd in a bank deposit box.