Family Tree Scrabble Board

I saw this idea on Pinterest, and modified it for our own family.  Then I created this as a Christmas gift for my Mom.  It was fun and mostly easy, except for the part where I had to make sure all the names fit on the Scrabble board!

I started with an old Scrabble game I found in the basement.  You might have an old game in your attic, or you can find them at Goodwill or in a yard sale.  Even if pieces are missing, this gives you lots of Scrabble tiles to start with, and a board for the background.

Next you will need to find a square frame big enough for the board.  The scrabble board is not exactly square, so look for one that is slightly smaller.  Measure it and look in frame stores, craft shops and online. I was able to find this very inexpensive wooden frame online.  Don't cut the game board until you have the frame in front of you to judge the fit!

Next, look at the board that fits inside the frame to judge the area you will have to play with for fitting in all the names.  This is important.  Count the letter blocks across and down.

For the next step I went online to find a "Word Find" website for teachers. These websites help you to design a word find game using the words of your choice.  They all let you decide how big the game will be (how many letters across, and how many letters down) - which is why it is important you know how many letters up and down you can work with.  Of course, you could use graph paper and try to make the names fit all by your self... but this is easier!

Some of the websites I found were (there are many online):

https://mywordsearch.com/

http://puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com/WordSearchSetupForm.asp?campaign=flyout_teachers_puzzle_wordcross

http://tools.atozteacherstuff.com/word-search-maker/

After you design your "crossword" of names, it is just a matter of gluing the square letter tiles to the board.  Avoid putting the tiles near the edge where the frame is located.  I had to cut down a few tiles with an exacto-knife to make them fit inside the frame.

I needed to order extra letter tiles from Amazon.  You'll find that there just aren't enough vowels in a regular game set for this project.  There were plenty of vendors selling tiles in bags for crafts, like this one. Make sure the size is the same!

This is an activity that you can do as a whole family as a gift for grandparents.  The kids could help with the sorting and gluing.

Have fun!

Mom's Christmas gift!

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Family Tree Scrabble Board", Nutfield Genealogy, posted August 11, 2017, (https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2017/08/family-tree-scrabble-board.html: accessed [access date]).

Family Tree Craft Idea

Several years ago my daughter made me this great gift.  She saw it in a craft magazine where someone used a stencil or scrapbooking Cricut machine to make the leaves, but she just cut out each leaf herself with scissors.  She copied one of my family tree charts to put down four generations in each frame, for the paternal and maternal sides of the family. I was quite surprised and happy to see that she did this all by herself, and she certainly surprised me!

This would be an easy craft idea for any age to complete.  Pretty clever, 'eh?

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Copyright 2013, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

A Favorite Christmas Gift! You might want one, too!

I received a lot of lovely gifts this Christmas, and I love them all.  This was one I just had to share since it is such wonderful present for family history.

click to enlarge, it's easier to see the handwriting

My daughter had my husband "borrow" a recipe card out of my files, which she scanned.  It is a precious recipe written in my mother's own handwriting for our favorite coffee cake.  This sour cream coffee cake is a special treat in our family, and at Christmas we all make it with red and green maraschino cherries on top. My grandmother used to make this recipe, too.  The original recipe card is very stained and worn.  My daughter had an Etsy artist wood-burn the recipe onto a wooden cutting board, using the scan of the original recipe card. 

Imagine the possibilities   You can take a favorite family recipe and create one of these treasures, too.   The recipe could be something that has been passed on for generations, or a favorite recipe from the "old country".  It is not only a great Christmas gift, but would make a lovely Mother's Day or wedding shower gift.

I looked on Etsy.com and there are several artists there offering the same service, to reproduce recipe cards on wooden cutting boards.  I don't know which one my daughter used, but all of them look similar.  If you are a wood-burn artist perhaps you can reproduce this handicraft yourself with a scanned image of a hand written recipe.

I plan on hanging this board on my kitchen wall.  It's too precious to use as a cutting board!

Try this link to find an artisan to make one for you  www.etsy.com

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Cite/Link to this post: Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "A Favorite Christmas Gift!  You might want one, too!", Nutfield Genealogy, posted December 30, 2012, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/12/a-favorite-christmas-gift-you-might.html: accessed [access date]). 

Simple Gifts Genealogy Blog Hop- Project #4

Simple Gifts Genealogy Blog Hop Post #7
Project #4   Photo Jewelry

Here is another photo gift idea for your Flip-Pal from my creative daughter.  She scanned in family photos and inserted them in to jewelry for Christmas gifts.   The first project she completed was this charm bracelet for my Mom, her grandmother.  What grandmother wouldn’t love this?

a stretchy photo bracelet
from Memory Maker for about $16
("gold" versions are 80% off for November 2011)

The hardest part of this project was shrinking the photos to fit.  My daughter used plain paper in the printer over and over to find the correct size to fit each little locket in the bracelet before doing a final print on photo paper.  Then each little tiny photo had to be cut out, but the manufacturer provided templates for cutting, so the final photos all fit perfectly.  If you buy a locket or charm be sure it has a template!

Some companies will insert the photos or etch the photos right into the jewelry.  You have to scan and upload your selected photos to their website first.

Cost                     ***      (can be expensive, but see below for a Walmart link)

Difficulty             *           (very easy,  scan, print, cut and insert into jewelry)

Wow Factor        *****   (looks great, nice gift idea for anyone on your list! )

Where to buy photo jewelry:

Memory Maker www.memorymakerbracelet.com

Sells jewelry and also has an online tool to shrink your photos to fit into the jewelry, very handy!  They offer deals of the day, too and other discounts coupon codes.  They also have a holiday or event category to help you find jewelry ideas for Mother’s Day, Weddings, Administrative Professionals Day as well as Christmas and the December gift giving holidays.

Photo charms for Pandora Bracelets

http://charming-memories.blogspot.com/2011/02/custom-photo-charms-for-pandora.html

For the budget minded go to photos.walmart.com and click on “Clothing and Jewelry” in the right hand column.   There you will find lots of jewelry choices including sterling silver charms, bracelets, and keychains.  You will need to create an account and download your photos to an online album.

Also, check at Etsy.com for photo jewelry

Best of all choices!  Your local jeweler or craftsperson can easily make a charm to fit an existing bracelet or to wear on a chain as a pendant.   You might know one in town or meet one at a craft show.   Ask your friends for a recommendation, too.

Disclaimer-  I was chosen by Flip-Pal to participate as a blogger in the Simple Gifts Genealogy Blog Hop event, and I received a Flip-Pal scanner to use and evaluate.    I was not compensated by any of the photo jewelry companies listed above.

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Flip-Pal Simple Gifts Project #3

Simple Gifts Genealogy Blog Hop Post #6
Project #3

This year's calendar
hanging in my kitchen cupboard

Every Thanksgiving weekend my husband spends time putting together our Christmas card and our annual family calendar.  He's been doing this for years, probably ever since we bought our first PC.  He doesn't use any special greeting card software or calendar generator.  You can do this project, too, with a little planning and a scanner.  He usually distributes the calendars at our annual family Three Kings Day Party in January, so he adds a January page to each calendar for the next year.

Materials:
family photographs, documents, tickets, etc. for the project
your Flip-Pal scanner
greeting card printer paper (available at your local office supply)
OR  matte photo paper for the calendar project
lots of extra printer ink!

Holiday Cards

Step 1:   First scan all the photos you plan on using for the card or calendar.

Step 2:   Using MicroSoft Power Point, or Apple's Keynote or similar software,  arrange your photos on two pages  (Cover and inside)   Add a greeting and room for everyone to sign the card

Step 3:   Print out using the greeting card paper.  The hard part is flipping the paper and then reprinting the other side so that the inside message isn't upside down.  Practice this on a few sheets of regular paper until you get it right!

Hint: You can personalize your message and make it bilingual or even trilingual!  You can't buy THAT in any store!

Our 2010 Holiday Card
with our Hawaii vacation on the front!

You can see that we have photos
on the inside of the card, too!
It's your personal card.  Personalize it!

Calendars

Step 1:  Again, start by scanning all the photos and documents you need

Step 2:  Create a file for the calendar pages.  Make a grid for the calendar pages, and then make 12 copies of this page.  Start with page 1 and label it with JANUARY and then label with holidays (use last year's calendar) and family birthdays, anniversaries, reunions, etc.   This is what makes your family calendar personal!  You can save this file and re-use it every year.

Step 3.  Make another file for the top photos.  This will be the 12 large images to display above the calendar pages.  Label them January - December.  It's nice to show photos that go along with the theme for the month (Perhaps there was a June wedding last year? a family photo taken in November for Thanksgiving? etc.)

Step 4:  Print out one file with the matte photo paper.  Use matte paper so folks can write appointments on the calendar (its impossible with glossy photo paper).  Flip the pages over and insert them back into the printer and print out the second file.  Again, you should practice this on regular paper so the calendar comes out with the correct pages on the correct months.  When you are finished you will have 13 pages for your calendar.

Step 5: Stop by at your local office store or stationers and have the calendars bound with plastic comb binding.  Ask them to also punch a hole in each calendar for hanging on the kitchen wall.   This usually costs just a few dollars for each calendar.

After the first year, this project is easier since you have already developed the grid for each month.  Don't forget to re-number your calendar pages for next year, some holiday dates are moveable and next year is a leap year!

Cost               ***      (not too bad, unless your printer eats a lot of ink)
Difficulty        ***      (not hard, unless you have to learn Power Point first!)
Wow Factor   *****  (you'll be a big hit with your family!)

Disclaimer - I was chosen by Flip-Pal to participate as a blogger in the Simple Gifts Genealogy Blog Hop event, and I received a Flip-Pal scanner to use and evaluate.

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo

Flip-Pal Project #1

Post #4
Project #1

I packed up my Flip-Pal scanner and hit the road for my mother's house to try my first holiday gift project.  I didn't want the scanner to get bumped or scratched, so I put it into the neoprene zipped case I use for my laptop.  This was much too big for the little Flip-Pal, so I am seriously considering the case sold on the website at www.flip-pal.com.   This would be good place to store extra batteries and the little SD card/ USB adapter.  I already caught the cat playing with it!

My workspace on Mom's dining room table!

At Mom's house I got right to work scanning some of her photo albums for some old family pictures.  It was easy to set up on her dining room table and get going.  I just took the cover off the scanner, turned it upside down and scanned each page.  Later I stitched together some of the bigger photos, and cropped out the background of the album pages.  I saved these all in folders by family name, and Mom helped identify some of the subjects.

Mom and Dad in Washington DC in the 1950s,
converted it to black and white for the project

This first project was created by my artistic daughter.  She has come up with some clever ideas for using old photos.  These are the items you will need for this project

Photopaper for a computer printer
scissors
compass
rubber cement
old china saucers and dishes, any size

The completed project! 

Step 1:  Have fun selecting some old dishes from yard sales, consignment shops or the attic.

Step 2:  Print out the selected digital scans of your favorite photos on photopaper (regular paper doesn't provide nice results).  Use a compass (the kind you used in 6th grade geometry class) to measure the size of the circle you need.   Draw the circle on your photo and cut it out.

Step 3:  Smear rubber cement on the photo and on the plate.  When the glue is tacky, stick the photo onto the plate. The rubber cement is not permanent, so later you can easily remove the photo without harming the porcelain.

Step 4:  Ta-Dah!  You are finished!  Wasn't that easy?

Rating System (out of a possible five stars)

Cost              *       (one star, very low cost even if you need to buy dishes)
Difficulty      *       (one star, very easy- do this with your kids!)
Wow Factor  ***   (three stars,  the final result looks great, but not fantastic)

Disclaimer-  I was chosen by Flip-Pal to participate as a blogger in the Simple Gifts Genealogy Blog Hop event, and I received a Flip-Pal Scanner to use and evaluate.

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Copyright 2011, Heather Wilkinson Rojo