Tag Archives: Family

50 Memory Clothes Ideas: #1 – sweater pillow

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sweater pillow from http://www.maidenjane.com

Do you have old clothes that you just can’t seem to part with? They might be your own or those of a loved one, or your child’s, but there are memories attached to those clothes that you don’t want to forget. How about using them to make a memory clothes project? Give those clothes a second life will keeping those precious memories close. This year I’ll be sharing 50 ideas using old clothes that you can enjoy or share with family and friends. Here is today’s idea:

With Christmas decorations gone, sometimes things feel a little bare. How about adding a cozy sweater pillow for a fun new accent? Great to snuggle up with for a nap or reading a good book. If the sweater has fond memories attached to it, that makes it even better. A sweater pillow makes a great gift too, especially if you share a story about the history of the sweater along with the pillow. I found three different tutorials with different approaching to making a sweater pillow. Click on the photos above and below for the links.

sweater pillows from StoneGableBlog.com

sweater pillow from sometimes-homemade.com

Anxious for more memory clothes project ideas? Check out this Pinterest board.

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Ideas for a More Christ-Centered Christmas

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image from lds.org

I don’t know about you but I want my Christmas to be more about Christ and less about Santa and the typical stress of the season. LDS.org has some simple ideas to help us focus on the real meaning of the holiday season including simple activities to do each day for a more Christ-centered Christmas. I was a bit late getting started but I’m working on doing something each day to celebrate Jesus’s birth. If that sounds good to you too, you can find the ideas here. There are some great ideas that could become wonderful traditions for you family to pass down through the generations.

The Family: A Proclamation – png template update

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pages 2 and 3 of my “The Family” photo book

So I finally figured out how to export my InDesign template for my “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” photo book into png files that could be used in the software of your choice. It is a multi-step process that takes two exports and the combining those files back together in Photoshop. So I haven’t gotten the whole book done but wanted to share the good news in an update. It will take me a while to process all the pages and get them uploaded. In the meantime, feel free to test out this spread and give me feedback on how you like it.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World – InDesign Template

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title page of “The Family”

While I haven’t figured out how to translate this project into png files, I have cleaned it up and prepared an InDesign template to share. Send me an email to raelyn@tellingfamilytales.com and I’ll send you the fold with the template, links and fonts I used. Here are jpgs of all the spreads from the InDesign template created in Adobe InDesign CS6. They could be used the way they are but there are issues with overlapping elements when adding photos and the placeholder text for labeling the photos. If you find them helpful feel free to use them for personal projects or gifts but not for any commercial use. Hopefully I’ll have the png images done soon.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World – 20th Anniversary

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A few years ago I put together a book for my family using the text from “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”. Since this month marks the 20th anniversary of this document, I thought it would be a good time to share it. Over the coming weeks I will put together png files so that if you want to make your own book with you family photos you can do it with whatever software you like. I hope this works out to be a good way to share my projects. I’ll be happy to share an InDesign template with anyone who has Adobe InDesign. The advantage of the template is then you could customize anything in the document you would like. I was inspired to make this book by a project I found on the internet and is now available on PrestoPhoto.com as a photo book template.

Family Trees: hand print quilt

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Family Tree Quilt from agirlandagluegun.com

This family tree made of hand prints would make a priceless gift. So if you know how to sew (or know someone who is willing) this would be an incredible project. My parents 60th wedding anniversary is coming up next year. Something like this would be perfect. Click on the photo above for more photos and how Kimbo went about making this quilt. I’m filing this idea away for next October.

Family Trees: 3D colorful family tree

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3D Family Tree from eHow.com

With spring around the corner, this would be a fun family project. It would make a great time to get the kids involved in a hands on activity. Click on the photo above for step by step tutorial. I also think it would also be fun to put together a kit and send to grandkids that are far away.

Family Trees: magnetic

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magnetic family tree from VisitingTeachingSurprise & StoriesByMe

This is a great idea for a growing and changing family. With the photos on magnets it is easy to rearrange to accommodate new members. It would also make a fun game to see if family members know who goes with who in your family tree. I didn’t find any directions for making the magnetic family tree. The original idea was on StoriesByMe’s blog for a product they sold but they don’t seem to be in business anymore. So you are on your own. But I think the concept is good and it should be too hard to figure out. If you figure it out or find a tutorial let me know and I’ll add it here.

Family Trees: a colorful clan – InDesign Template

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Apex panaramic clan family treeversion of the colorful clan for Apex (the first puppy we raised for GDB)

A couple of weeks ago I did a post on colorful clan family tree for a 4″ x 12″ panoramic frame. I’ve put together a simple Adobe InDesign template to recreate the one from Parents.com. As I was working on it I realized that I didn’t need to have different colors of paper. With a color printer I could just print my background color.

For a sample I decided to show Apex’s (the first puppy we raised for Guide Dogs for the Blind) family tree. As you can see I don’t have all the birth dates and I don’t have any death date though some of these dogs have certainly passed away. But I though it would work to show what the template is like. Of course when you open the template up in InDesign you will be able to customize anything you would like from the fonts to the background colors.

You can download the Panoramic Clan Template here from Dropbox. When you open it up in Dropbox it will look like crazy gobbledegook. But once you save it to you computer and open it in InDesign it will work fine. I made this template in InDesign CS6. Let me know if you have problems or suggestions. I’m hoping to make more templates this coming year.