50 Jar Gifts: idea #10 “Grandparents” Story Prompts

Posted on December 31, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Grandparents Story Prompts

This is the second in a series of story prompt jar gifts with questions geared for grandparents. At first I called it Old Age prompts but decided that might be offensive to some of the grandparents on my gift list. The idea is a set of questions in a jar that you can pull out to help a grandparent to remember and record some of the events from their lives. I printed it on chipboard but they could be printed on cardstock. There is a different color on each end of the question so that once you have answered it you can turn it over in the jar and keep track of which questions you haven’t answered yet. The questions are intended you spark your memory and lead you to other thoughts and memories. Let your them flow and see where they take you.

Grandparents Story Prompts back side

The first sheet in the file is the back of the story prompt. This sheet is optional but it helps in keeping track of which set of story prompts the question comes from and adds more color to the jar. I start by printing six copies of the first page (full bleed if your printer has that option) and then feed these pages back into the printer to print the question pages. (You should refer to your printer manual to know the right way to feed these into your printer.)

Grandparents Story Prompts

The next six sheets are the questions. After printing these pages need to be cut apart by cutting the sheet in half (the long way) at 5.5″ and then every 1 1/16″ to finish cutting the questions apart. I also like to use a corner rounder on each question but that is optional. But it looks nice and will help the questions not get so dog-eared with use.

Grandparents Story Prompts

The last page has an insert for the canning jar lid (wide mouth quart or pint and a half work great) and a set of tags to tie on to the jar with simple instructions. There is a journal cover so that you can also give them a place to record the memories for sharing and future reference. Cut another piece of chipboard or heavy cardstock for the back along with some blank or lined paper for the inside. Then bind them together by your chosen method. I’m lucky enough to have a wire binding machine but you can get the journal bound at your local copy center. This sheet isn’t strictly necessary but it helps pull the gift together into a nice package.

Grandparents Story Prompts Journal cover and Jar labels

I am putting the jar and journal in a gift bag along with some treats to munch on while answering the questions to help get them started on recording their memories.

Feel free to use these files for personal use and gifts. You can download pdfs here.

Questions come from those at StoryCorps.org.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #8 “Remembering” Story Prompts (tellingfamilytales.com)

50 Jar Gifts: idea #9 – Idea Jars

Posted on December 30, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

image from ShabbyBeachNest.com

Gather together ideas for activities in a jar. They can be geared to kids during the summer or activities for families to do together or even simple ideas for date night or one on one time with a child. This is also a great way to get chores done. ShabbyBeachNest even has a tutorial and printables or her “I’m Bored” Jar here.

Pick activities that remind you of your childhood or a family story and you have a great way to share story or memory in the process.

I’m Bored Jar from Audrey of “Miss Audrey Sue” via ShabbyBeachNest.com

Date Night ideas via pinterestingpix

Job Jar from MarthaStewart.com

If this idea inspires you, let me know. I’d love to share your project here too.

Want some more ideas? Visit my Pinterest board dedicated to jar gift ideas.

Christmas From A to Z: eBook

Posted on December 27, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Today I did my first attempt at an interactive eBook. The links below should take you to a pdf of the book. I kept it pretty simple with just a link on each page to jump to the page with the entire tree to search for the symbols of Christmas. I think it is sized for viewing on an iPad so let me know how it works on that or other devices you try it on.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas this week!

A to Z eBook

Not the week I had planned

Posted on December 21, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Saturday is here and I have yet to get a post done so I’m putting together a quick apology. The week started out great and then ran into a cold. I’ve been running on about 10% since than but it is starting to improve. The printing is done for all my Christmas gifts but oh, there is so much cutting still to do. Fingers crossed I can get it done before Christmas. Wishing all of you the best in your final Christmas preparations.

my Christmas printing

50 Jar Gifts: idea #8 “Remembering” Story Prompts

Posted on December 14, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Remembering Story Prompts Kit

Here is the first in a series of story prompt jar gifts. The idea is a set of questions in a jar that you can pull out to help you remember and record someone in your life who has died. I printed it on chipboard but they could be printed on cardstock. There is a different color on each end of the question so that once you have answered it you can turn it over in the jar and keep track of which questions you haven’t answered yet. The questions are intended you spark your memory and lead you to other thoughts and memories. Let your them flow and see where they take you.

printed Remembering Story Prompts kit

Story Prompts back

The first sheet in the file is the back of the story prompt. This sheet is optional but it helps in keeping track of which set of story prompts the question comes from and adds more color to the jar. I start by printing two copies of the first page (full bleed if your printer has that option) and then feed these pages back into the printer to print the question pages. (You should refer to your printer manual to know the right way to feed these into your printer.)

Story Prompt Questions

The next two sheets are the questions. After printing these pages need to be cut apart by cutting the sheet in half (the long way) at 5.5″ and then every 1 1/16″ to finish cutting the questions apart. I also like to use a corner rounder on each question but that is optional. But it looks nice and will help the questions not get so dog-eared with use.

Story Prompt Packaging and Journal Cover

I am putting the jar and journal in a gift bag along with some treats to munch on while answering the questions to help get them started on recording their memories of a loved one.

Feel free to use these files for personal use and gifts. You can download pdfs here.

Questions come from those at StoryCorps.org.

Top 10 Gifts for the Family History Writer

Posted on December 12, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

The Arm Chair Genealogist has a great post today on gifts for the genealogist. Maybe you can drop some hints or get a gift or two for yourself. Here is the short list. I’ve got to check a couple of these out. Click on over to read the entire post here.

Journals and Notebooks
Office Supplies
Scrivener
Scapple
Starbuck’s gift cards
iTunes gift cards
2014 calendar
“You Can Write Your Family History” by Sharon De Bartolol Carmack
Blurb gift certificate
framed 2014 writing goal

Snoopy – Candy Window Installed

Posted on December 7, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Snoopy and his doghouse

Finally coming up for air after a couple of weeks of total focus on finishing this years candy window. Last night was the unveiling and though we had some snags and challenges along the way Snoopy and his dog house look great. If you are in the Salt Lake Valley during the holidays let me know and I’ll give you directions to find the window. There are 8 other candy windows too, including my Frosty from last year. I only got a couple of pictures snapped. Hopefully I can get some more next week of Snoopy and the other candy windows too.

Christmas from A to Z at Festival of Trees

Part of what made this week extra crazy is that we donated the candy sculpture (Christmas from A to Z) I did two years ago to the Festival of Trees. It was in pretty bad shape and I spent 12 hours fixing it up. Good news is there were multiple bidders and it sold for about $650. All that money goes to Primary Children’s Hospital.