Although it seems like the Holiday Season is far enough away, it will be here before you know it. Now, while many of those on your list might not be thrilled to hear about your genealogical research, they may be delighted to receive a gift that is the result of your research. The following ideas use photos that you may have taken or scanned from other family members. Many of these gift ideas do not need to take you very long at all and may just require you to gather some photos or documents and head to your computer or to your nearby copy shop.
The Gift of Photos
Photos of family members now or from the past are always welcome. Sharing photos you have gathered from distant cousin might become a treasured heirloom for those in your family.
There are so many things you can do with photos. One example can be seen on the website, BigFamilyPhotos, which allows you to take photos from your computer, enlarge them and have them printed on canvas.
If you have been scanning family photos, documents or memorabilia you may want to burn a CD or DVD and share them with other family members. This is not only a great gift but it also ensures that your genealogy will survive should something happen to you or your home. You can use programs like Picasa, available for free at http://picasa.google.com/, to organize your photos and share them on CD’s or even online photo albums.
Calendar
Let’s face it-we all need a calendar, why not have one that includes pictures of your ancestors or modern day family members or a little of both. With scanned photos you can create a calendar through your genealogical database program or through a publishing/photo program like Microsoft Publisher. If you feel like you just can’t do that, take your pictures or your thumb drive/CD and go down to your local copy store (office supply places, neighborhood packing/shipping stores, even copy/photo machines at drug stores will also do) and have a sales associate help you design a calendar that includes your pictures.
Mouse Pads
Many copy shops are now offering to personalize almost anything including mouse pads. You can have a photo scanned and printed on a mouse pad or you can buy a mouse pad that has a clear photo pocket where you can insert a picture of an ancestor. You could even provide multiple pictures that could be inserted throughout the year. One place to find these photo mouse pads are at the online store Fun Stuff for Genealogists at http://www.funstuffforgenealogists.com/store/enter.html.
