Category Archives: step 1: decide

step one of the DOABLE approach to telling your family’s tales

Gift Idea #5 – Collection of Family Photos

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Most families have someone who is the keeper of the photos. Somehow that task has fallen to me. So last Christmas I gathered up the images I have. Scanned the ones that hadn’t been scanned. Then cleaned them up and label them consistently. I just did the ones connected with my mom’s parents from their childhood through their deaths. I cut DVD‘s for my mom’s siblings. For all of my cousins I sent a link to the SmugMug gallery that I set up with the same photos. That way they can get access to and download them as desired. This is a great project because it gives everyone access to those precious photos plus it distributes copies in more places to make sure they are preserved in case of disaster. An added bonus is that now they don’t have to come to me when they want a photo.

My advice on a project like this?

  • Pick a time frame. Don’t feel like you have to do it all. Make it something doable. You can always add to it later.
  • Pick a logical naming convention.
  • Make sure you scan them at 300 dpi or higher. If it is a really small photo I like to do 600 dpi or more so that it can be blown up larger than the original.
  • For long-term storage tiff is a better format than jpeg, because jpeg is a lossy compression and over time with opening and saving and opening and saving you lose data. But most people are more comfortable with jpegs. So you could scan as tiffs and then save a copy to jpeg for sharing with your family.
  • Find an easy way to distribute them among your family.

 

Gift Idea #4 – Personalized Planner

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Last year I made one of Blurb.com‘s weekly planners for a friend. It turned out really nice with a photo for each month and the front and back covers. This year they have even more options and with their BookSmart tool it is an afternoon or evening project. There are other planners out there that you can customize with photos but in my searching I didn’t find one that will let you add important dates.

Of course you can design your own planner from top to bottom in Adobe InDesign but that isn’t an afternoon project and BookSmart gives a surprising amount of control. Which ever route you take I think it would be fun to put together a family planner with historic photos and important dates from the past. Click on the image below to a Blurberati Blog post about their weekly planner.

Gift Idea #3 – Infographic

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When we think of doing a history of someone it usually feels like an overwhelming project that we just don’t have time for, especially when it comes to the holiday season. So I suggest taking on a bite sized project of an infographic about an ancestor or family member to give as a gift. Infographics are a way to communicate some of the more important information about something in a quick to understand way. You can put it into a frame or turn it into a tradition and pick a new person each year and give each person a binder or scrapbook to collect all the info-graphics in. I did a post about the infographic I did for my mom for Mother’s Day. It will help you get started. You will need to gather some information about the person and a few photos or other images. Clip art can also be helpful. Just have some fun and see how this project can come together.

Mother’s Day Project for Iris

I found this example of a family infographic today. It is pretty cool because it is customizable and comes in three colors schemes and five sizes. If you want a family infographic but don’t want to tackle the design yourself this is a great option.

“by the numbers” by Kristen Smith at minted.com

 

Gift Idea #2 – Family History Conference

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If someone in you family would love to expand their knowledge on how to do family history why not give register them for a conference or a class on family history. If you are the one, then why not give it to yourself for Christmas! There is a great one here in Utah in March called RootsTech. I went last year and loved it because it has so many different kinds of classes from the technology side to traditional research. They have added a new “Getting Started” that is only $19 for a one-day pass. Full 3-day Passes are now $149 with the early bird discount. If Salt Lake is too far away for the budget, then do some research and find a local class or conference you can give. What better way to help tell your families tales than to learn how to find more family members to tell stories about. Maybe I’ll see you at RootsTech.

 

Gift Idea #1 – Have an Ancestor to Dinner

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This idea is inspired by the tradition of having a special birthday plate that is only used on birthdays by the person whose birthday it is. In my version wrap a special plate, either one you already have or one that you make or buy just for this purpose. Then you have a family dinner and set an extra place at the table with this plate. During the meal you talk about the ancestor or family member that is the special guest for dinner. Someone could be ready with stories about you special guest or family members could share memories about that person, depending on the situation. You could even invite someone to come in costume as the ancestor and play the role for the night.

These special dinners could be held monthly or on or near the birthday of the ancestor or whatever works for your family. You could place card by the special plate with the guest of honors name and a photo would be a nice touch. If you know a favorite food of the guest, it would be fun to serve that as part of the meal. This is just a starting point. The same idea would work for living members of your family and use it as a way to honor the talents and accomplishments of the guest of honor.

If you Google custom plates there are tons of options of plates you can buy with a family name or other images. There are many ways to decorate a glass or ceramic plate yourself. Below are a few links to give you some ideas and get you started on this project.

Glass Plate Craft

How to Use Porcelain Paint Pens

Decoupage Dinner Plate

Family Name Platter

Etched Glass Dinner Plate

Personalized Melamine Plate

50 gift ideas challenge

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I’ve decided to challenge myself to come up with 50 gift ideas that will help you to tell your family tales by Christmas. I’ve done some brainstorming and I think I can do it but it isn’t going to be easy. 50 is just such a nice number, especially in this my 50th year. So stay tuned over the next five weeks and see if any of my ideas give you some inspiration for gifts for your family and friends. I’ll post my first idea soon!

Print Aid NYC

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We Are NYC by Micah Heiselt

I came across this project via DesignMom this morning. Besides being a great way to do something positive and raise much needed money for the victims of Sandy I was struck as I looked at the poster how they tell a story about New York and it many people and personalities. We spent part of a year living in Brooklyn and I have fond memories of the people and the place. Click on over to Print Aid NYC and see all the poster. All proceeds go to the Mayor’s Fund for Hurricane Relief. Even the site and the printing are being donated. I love it when groups and individuals work together to accomplish such worthwhile purposes.

Here Comes The Sun by Linsey Laidlaw

 

Blurb Savings

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I got a new blurb discount today. This is as good as it gets, 25% off with no minimum! It is a great time to take care of any books you want to put together for Christmas gifts. One idea if you don’t have another project in the works is to do planners. Blurb has customizable planners. I did one for a friend last year and it turned out really nice. I am going to look at my projects and see how I can take advantage of this discount. It would be perfect for the new addition of the Waffle Book. The offer is good until November 20th. Use the code IMAGINATION at check out.*

*Offer valid through November 20, 2012 (11:59 p.m. local time). Valid for printed books only. A 25% discount is applied to your product total. Maximum discount is USD $150, GBP £95, EUR €115, CAD $150, or AUD $150 off product total. This offer is good for one-time use, and cannot be combined with volume discounts, other promotional codes, gift cards, or used for adjustments on previous orders.

 

20% off Blurb

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I got an email this morning that blurb has a 20% discount through November 5th in honor of Halloween. There are no minimum purchases so this is a great opportunity to get a single book printed and a great price. I wish I could get my Waffle Book ready by then but that isn’t very likely. Maybe I’ve got another project that needs printing. I’ll have to give it some thought.

To get the discount just type in SPOOKY at checkout*

While we are on the subject of blurb and Halloween here are some previews of books published on blurb that are in the spirit of the day.

Ghosts of the Faithful Departed

Bodie – A Ghost Town Frozen in Time

Scary Boy

Thanks to IndieReader.com for this recommendations.

 

*Offer valid through November 5, 2012 (11:59 p.m. local time). A 20% discount is applied toward your product total. Maximum discount is USD $150, GBP £95, EUR €115, CAD $150, or AUD $150 off product total. Valid for printed books only. This offer is good for one-time use, and cannot be combined with volume discounts, other promotional codes, gift cards, or used for adjustments on previous orders.

 

 

Enhanced ebooks – Cookbooks

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by Aruna Khanzada

Here is some more info on Blurb‘s new enhanced ebooks. I think it sound intriguing  add sound and video to a book. I can’t wait to try this out. I wish I could drop all my other projects and play around with this. The video below is about Aruna Khanzada who has made more than 200 Blurb books. She describes what inspired her to write her books. I am inspired by her story.

Curry Base Video

Curry Base Book Preview