Writing Challenge: day 2

Posted on May 21, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

imaginary readers of Navy history

I’ve made my goal to spend at least an hour working on the writing side of my Dad’s Navy history two days in a row. Yeah! To be perfectly honest not much writing has actually happened. I’m in the preparing to write phase but it is still good. I continued reading “The Companion Guide to The Family History Writing Challenge” by Lynn Palermo. This is my first time through so mostly it is just getting the big picture into my head. I finished Section 1 – The Vision for Your Book and Section 2 – Organizing You and Your Research.

I think I made some real progress in Chapter 3 – Getting to Know Your Reader. I even called my Dad to talk to him about who this book is really for. We had discussed that it was for his grandchildren and his great-grandchildren. I visualized that as a 8 to 18-year-old and he agreed. But when I pointed out at that an 8 to 18-year-old probably isn’t interested in the documents that we have he adjusted his thinking. We have also talked about that he wants to take this book to the Underwater Swimmers School Reunion in 2015. So his target reader is actually retired Navy personnel, similar to him. I think the grand kids and great-grand kids come into the picture only through the grandpa. The hope and vision are that this book will create an opportunity for the grandpa to sit down with a child and share his experiences and memories. My dad talked about something like that but I’ll need to clarify that vision with him. But it feels right.

In the book Lynn suggests imagining your perfect reader and actually drawing a picture and describing them, even giving them a name. My first drawing was of Wallie. Then after talking to my Dad, I drew Walt. Now I can visualize Walt siting down with this book is his lap with his grandson Wallie beside him. I’d like to someday write my Dad’s Navy history targeted to that 10-year-old but this isn’t that project. Though I think it will be the basis for that future graphic adventure story.

If you have stayed with me this far, thanks. I’ll be back tomorrow with day 3 of my writing challenge.

Story Projects Update

Posted on May 20, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

I know that posts have been sparse for the last several months. I’ve tried to focus on histories for my Mom with varying degrees of success. But I’m happy to report the next volume of our family history “Our Two Grandsons” is finished and distributed to family members. It covered September 1997 to December of 2001. This is the 7th volume in the history of my parents since they met and married in 1956. Based mostly on notes in my Mom’s planners with a few letters to her sisters, it isn’t a great read but the photos are fun and it does a good job of documenting my parents lives and important family miles stones. Yeah for getting it done. I gave it to my Mom on Mother’s Day and she was very happy.

Now I’m focusing on a project for my Dad. He spent 20 years in the Navy and really wants to do a history about it. I’ve worked on it here and there over the last few years in fits and starts. It will need to be a multi-volume history to cover everything. I talked with him for a couple of hours last week about what he wants to accomplish and why it is important too him. He shared several stories that I’ve never heard. I’m excited about this history but intimidated by what needs to be done in writing. While my Mom is super happy with just a factual documentation of her life, my Dad needs and wants something more. In order to do this I’m going to have to really learn how to tell his story. I’ve not done this before. We are focusing first on the years he was an instructor at the Navy’s Underwater Swimmers School in Key West, Florida. My Dad is going to a UWSS reunion next May and wants to take a copy with him.

So here is my plan. I signed up for the Armchair Genealogist‘s family history writing challenge in February. But between RootsTech and taking Dune to Oregon, I decided that it wasn’t the right time. Now I’m going to do it on my own. I saved all the emails and I’ve downloaded her “The Companion Guide to The Family History Writing Challenge”. I’m committing to spending at least an hour each weekday to writing the narrative to the Key West volume. There are so many decision yet to be made to how to handle this project but I think that following the steps of Lynn’s challenge will give me a chance at tackling this project.

I think an important part of my commitment to this challenge is to share with you each day the progress I’ve made in first planning and then actually writing. I’m hoping to have the planning and research done by June 1st. Hopefully you won’t get sick of seeing my humble efforts but I think it will help me follow through with this challenge. Today I spent an hour reading “The Companion Guide” and completed the first two chapters and worked on filling out “The Vision Worksheet”.

I’ll check back in tomorrow and tell you how it is going. Wish me luck! I think I’m going to need it.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #21 – “I Love You” Jar

Posted on May 19, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

gift of love in a jar from New Nostalgia

I had visions of getting a bunch of jar gift ideas done for Mother’s Day but somehow other things took priority. So now I have a chance to do some Father’s Day focused ideas. I find dad’s harder to buy for and often resort to edible gifts for my Dad. I’ll resist that at least for a bit and see what else I can come up with first. This idea works equally well for Moms, Dads, Grandparents or anyone. It is super simple in concept. Just write the things you love and appreciate about the person on slips of paper and put them into a jar. By folding or even curling them it looks fun and helps the jar look full. You can decorate the jar any way you would like. Here are a few examples of what others have done.

photo via Pinterest via Squidoo.com

I love you jar from Debbie Hanley

image from Cool Mom Picks via Pinterest

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.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #20 – bath salts

Posted on May 2, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

image from My Crazy Blessed Life

Here is a quick idea for Mother’s Day or any time of year, homemade bath salts! I’ve never tried them but they look like they are fun and easy to put together. Show your mom you appreciate her hard work and that she should take some time for herself. Remissness about childhood bath time. Thank her for all the years of service and the good memories.

Click on the photos for recipes and instructions.

image from Denise in Bloom

photo from Paula Deen

photo from Saving with Shellie

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.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #19 – secret message

Posted on April 30, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

image from My Sisters Suitcase

This would be a great gift for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day or a birthday. The basic idea is to write a message, one letter at a time one side of a group of small objects. Then number them 1 to whatever and put them all together in a bottle. When the gift is opened, they put the object in numerical order and then turn each piece over to read the message. You can use wooden game pieces like the example above or paper or even candy. I did it with a variety of hard candy for my dad’s birthday last year and not only did he enjoy it but his grandsons had a great time figuring out the message.

To tie the idea into sharing family stories, the message could be the start of a story or a favorite memory about the person. It could be the starting off point for story telling or you could record the story on an audio or in a book or even just written down on a piece of paper. Here are some more secret messages in bottles ideas.

image from Lessons Learnt Journal

image from Club Chica Circle

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.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #18 “Anyone” Story Prompts

Posted on April 23, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

Anyone Story Prompts

This is the fifth in the series of story prompt jar gifts with questions geared for anyone. The idea is a set of questions in a jar that you can pull out to help anyone 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.

back of story prompt questions

The first sheet in the file is the back of the story prompts. 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 four 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.)

anyone story prompt questions

The next four 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.

anyone story prompts question sheet

anyone story prompt questions

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.

journal cover, lid and 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 #17 – Jar Games

Posted on February 24, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

games in a jar from lost button studio

Can you remember the simple games you played as a child? This great idea from Lost Button Studio uses simple objects to play a variety of games. It even has a free printable game booklet with ideas on what games you can play with the objects in the jar. What a perfect opportunity to share memories of childhood games that you remember playing or memories of friends, siblings or cousins that you played with.

games in a jar by lost button studio

Here are a few more jar games ideas. But the one above is my favorite.

secret message in a bottle by my sister’s suitcase

bottle top ladybugs via Love and Lollipops

50 reasons why I love you from Repeat Crafter Me

gumdrop questions game & free printable by the Crafting Chicks

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.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #16 “Children” Story Prompts

Posted on February 18, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

Children’s Story Prompt Jar

This is the fourth in a series of story prompt jar gifts with questions geared for kids. The idea is a set of questions in a jar that you can pull out to help a child 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 kids memory and lead them to other thoughts and memories. Let their ideas flow and see where they take you.

back of story prompts sheet

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 four 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 prompts question sheets

The next four 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. Though it looks nice and will help the questions not get so dog-eared with use.

story prompts question sheets

story prompts question sheet

jar lid, tags and journal cover sheet

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 #15 – Bubbles

Posted on February 14, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

Homemade Bubble Jars by Maison de Pax

Here is another activity oriented jar gift idea. While bubbles are usually thought of as a kids thing there are lots of adults who like them too. Homemade bubble jars create the perfect setting to talk about childhood memories. Below are more bubble ideas to get you started.

Bubble dispenser via Amy Wright

Homemade bubbles: combine 12 cups water, 1 cup dawn liquid soap and 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Stir gently. Put all of this in a $5.00 container from Target/Walmart. Inexpensive and spill proof! Give the kids Dixie cups with all your extra wands from previous bubble jars. Enjoy! Amy

Bubble Jar via CraftFoxes

Bubble Wand

If it is wintertime you can try making frozen bubbles. For a fun night-time activity, cut open and glow stick and pour it into the bubble jar.

Glow in the Dark Bubbles via Lindsay

image via Myla Jones

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.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #14 – Playdough Jars

Posted on January 29, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

rainbow playdough photo from nicolehastings.com by cathryn via Pinterest

Here another idea geared for children. We know that kids can sit still longer if you can keep their hands busy. So how about handing out jars of colorful playdough when you want to tell them a family story? You could encourage them to be inspired by something in the story on what they create. If your story has something to do with making something with your hands that would be a perfect fit too.

I was amazed at all the different recipes for playdough out there now. You can make playdough using jello, with glitter or glow in the dark. It can even be edible or gluten-free. Jars are a natural fit for packaging and story playdough. It prevents it from drying out and it looks pretty too. Here are some ideas from Pinterest that I found intriguing.