Tag Archives: Christmas Gift Ideas

Gift Idea #6 – Old Family Letters

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A project I would like to do in the future as a gift to my extended family has to do with the love letters my grandparents wrote to each other before they got married. I’d like to transcribe them but also scan them so that everyone could see what the originals looked like but also make it easier to read them.

This project could be easily shared on a cd or dvd. But it would also be nice in a book format with the image of the letter on one page and the transcription on the facing page. I think reading these old letters would help today’s generation have a whole new understanding of their great-grandparents.

You could do the same thing with letters from a family member while away at school or war or some other common theme for a series of correspondences.

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 #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.