Tag Archives: Gift

Gift Idea #50 – Surprise Balls

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idea numbers50I came across this idea via Design Mom. The basic idea is to take small gifts and brightly colored crape paper strips. You start with the largest item and wrap it with the crape paper and then add another item and repeat until all the items are wrapped in the ball. Here are detailed instructions on how to make a surprise ball.

These surprise balls remind me if some gifts I gave my nieces when they were young. I wrapped their gifts in yarn. I took a small item and wrapped yarn around it until it was the size of a volleyball. I like the idea of having a series of small gifts to discover along the way.

I think it would be fun to have a series of small trinkets and photos that relate to a family member. It could focus on a single story with the items in the surprise ball help to tell the story. This idea has some great possibilities, I can’t wait to try this out.

Surprise Balls – photo by HonestlyWTF

Gift Idea #46 – Story Box

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idea numbers46This gift idea was inspired by this post on Design Mom. Guest Aunt Kelly Wilkinson made a story box for her sister as a gift before her first baby was born. I think this could be adapted for other situations. What Kelly did was take a wooden cigar box and decorate the outside with pretty images. A wooden box would be wonderful but other types of containers could be used also.

Inside she and a few friends put handwritten cards with story prompts. This cards can be used by her sister or in the future her sister’s children to start stories from their mother’s life. Children love to hear stories about their parents lives. This idea could also be used with grandparents or other extended family. The story prompts could also be generic and then the story box could be used by anyone to generated memories of their lives. The story box could be the start of a new family tradition that will be enjoyed for years to come.

Gift Idea #43 – History Kit

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idea numbers43Would someone on your gift list like to start writing down their own history or help someone else get started on their history? Then how about putting together everything they need to get started?

It could be as simple as a journal or a three-ring binder and paper along with a list of questions and a pen or pencil. Or it could be high-tech. I found software that will help you write your history. Another approach would be a digital recorder in place of the journal.

There are a bunch of sources for questions or journaling prompts. I’ve gathered a few of them below to get you started.

Life Story Printables

Get to Know Your Family and Friends Better

The 50 Best Life Story Questions

Personal History

Tips for Doing Your Personal History

Personal History in Depth

 

 

 

Gift Idea #30 – Family Home History

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idea numbers30Many families have a home they have lived in for many, many years. If your family is one of them, consider putting together a history of your family home. It can be interesting and enlightening to see the role a house can play in your families history and the memories made there.

I did a small book about the home the my mother and most of her siblings were born in. This home was built by her father and when it was time to sell the old family home she had a really hard time with the idea. I put together the book in hopes that it would help her be more at peace with selling the home. I’ll post about this project sometime.

Gift Idea #28 – Duplicate Old Family Photos

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idea numbers28A really nice gift to share with family is their own copy of the best family photos. My mom did this for us one year. She had enlargements made of a family group shot from her childhood and from my dad’s. If you want to make it really nice you could a frame so that it is ready to go on display.

Having up pictures of ancestors or family members when they were much younger helps to connect the generations and create opportunities to share who they are. Name plaques would be a nice addition to the project.

Gift Idea #21 – Memory Game

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idea numbers21When I saw this memory game on Pin Hole Press I thought it would make a wonderful gift for getting to know family members. Besides doing current family members photos you could pick photos from ancestors too. And you don’t need to order these from Pin Hole Press, you can make your own memory cards. If you make a nice big set it could be fun for all ages of your family.

Another twist on the game would be to make cards with names and cards with photos and you have to match the name to the photo. Or if you family is even more familiar with their ancestors you could find a simple image that represented a story or milestone in that person’s life and use that as the match.

Playing memory with ancestor cards would create lots of opportunities to tell stories or share memories about your loved ones. Depending on the situation, the game could be played so that the person who makes the match tells something they know about the person they found the match for. This could be a game that add to over the years as you and your family learn more about their family members.

Pin Hole Press Memory Game

 

Gift Idea #18 – Home Movie Night

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idea numbers18My family has a few old home movies from when I was just a toddler. I bet many families have some old movies that they haven’t seen in a long, long time. I think it would be fun to put together a box or basket with a few home movies along with treats like popcorn and candy. What a great relaxing activity for the evening, even on Christmas day evening. Just get the family together and enjoy the laughs and the memories of days gone by.

If you are really organized, prepare yourself with an audio recorder or paper and pencil to capture the stories and memories that watching your home movies is sure to bring back to the surface.

Gift Idea #17 – Historically Inspired Photo Shoot

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idea numbers17Do you have an old family photo that you really love? How about using it as the inspiration for a new family photo? You could replicate the scene, the style of dress or just the arrangement of the people. Then you could hang the two images next to each other on the wall. Or it would be fun to use the two images together on a post card or greeting card to send to family and friends. This project will also give you the opportunity to share stories or memories about the original photo and the people in that photo.

If you are inspired by this idea, just let those creative juices run and see where it takes you.

 

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.

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!