Personalized Children's Christmas storybook

Traditions are a very important part of a Family Heritage. It is very important to pass them on from generation to generation, but it is also important to create a new one.
We have quite a few Christmas tradition, some from my Italian Heritage, some from my husband's America Heritage, but I really feel that we need to have a tradition that is peculiar to our own little family.
This year I want to start the tradition to read my children a very special book, a Christmas story where they are indeed the protagonists.
I found this template in the Template Gallery,

and I thought this was just perfect for what I wanted to create.
This book is a 8x8 hardbound storybook, which is pretty, but I decided to make mine a soft bound one.
I took picture from the past year, so that the kids will enjoy it even more since they remember a good deal of the experiences we shared in the last 12 months.
I am so glad I found a template that suits my needs, since lately seems like not even a 48 hours day would be enough to accomplish all my tasks and obligations!
The hardest part was choosing the pictures, then I just dragged and dropped them in the Template, tyoed my kids' names, et voila'!

Here is a taste of what my book is going to look like

The boys are going to be so surprised when I will read it to them on Christmas morning!
And a new tradition for the Hall family will be born...

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You can get a free Publishing account by signing up at http://www.preservemyheritage.com and start creating unlimited projects at once!
Love my Creative Genealogy templates and ideas? 

My HM club members can have their favorite template transferred to their account for personal use, or  can have it completely personalized by me for them  for a reasonable fee.

Want more for less? Check out our incredible host rewards and My Club HM!

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8 minutes scrap page

As another proof that using our Studio online software is just so easy, I choose a cute scrap page that seemed it would be perfect for my boys, with just a couple changes.
From my website, I looked in the Template gallery, and chose this Template:

As alway, I clicked on details, selected the premier box, and clicked on "get this template.
Once in my project and templates, I clicked on start my own, edited, and customized it.

I dragged and dropped my kids pictures,  changed the brown in red, to make it match with their clothes, and changed the wording.

In less than 8 minutes, it was done!
Take advantage of the FREE PREMIER weekend, and make your own page too!

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You can get a free Publishing account by signing up at http://www.preservemyheritage.com and start creating unlimited projects at once!
Love my Creative Genealogy templates and ideas? 

My HM club members can have their favorite template transferred to their account for personal use, or  can have it completely personalized by me for them  for a reasonable fee.

Want more for less? Check out our incredible host rewards and My Club HM!

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Family tree advent Calendar

Well,
Christmas is less than 3 months away, and everywhere I go, I already see Christmas trees and commercials on TV about your Christmas list, so it was only natural that I checked some Christmas ideas in the Template Gallery.
This one really caught my eye, and sparkled my Creative Genealogy gene.

 

The Template is called Advent Calendar and it is designed by Darcie Toom.
12x12 Scrap Page
Template ID: 36277

It is designed so that you can put random family pictures, but you know very well, as a genealogist, the pictures in my project have to have a meaning.

All I did was changing the order of pictures and decorations under the windows and the Template is now a Family tree advent Calendar!

How cool is that?
You will find instructions on how to put it together inside the template, even if it is pretty obvious.
I already published it and I checked, it was shipped, so it should be here any day. I will probably post it for you to see once it is here and we put it together!
This is going to be another precious heirloom for our family. The kids are going to learn about a member of our family tree each day a window opens on a picture, about the Christmas story, even if all they will really be excited about is when the window opens on something fun to do or some treat to eat or prepare!


You can reorganize the original template by yourself during the Free Premier weekend, or, if you decide to join my HM club, I will transfer the Family tree advent Calendar to your account as soon as you start your membership.

Check out my favorite Templates from the template gallery here (Scroll down to see all the posts!)

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You can get a free Publishing account by signing up at http://www.preservemyheritage.com and start creating unlimited projects at once!
Love my Creative Genealogy templates and ideas? 

My HM club members can have their favorite template transferred to their account for personal use, or  can have it completely personalized by me for them  for a reasonable fee.

Want more for less? Check out our incredible host rewards and My Club HM!

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Family tree bookmarks

Just when I was publishing about the elongated family tree, another idea came to my mind: how about making bookmarks out of that elongated family tree?

It could be a great little gift for anybody in your family, inexpensive but still priceless! These can be printed on  5x7 invitations, ready to be cut

5x7 greeting cards (folded), to send to loved ones, giving them the option to keep them as they are or to cut the bookmark side and maybe frame the other or just save it. You could also laminate them and add a little ribbon to make it even cuter!
Yeah, this is going to be published soon for my boys to use in their books!
Here is how bookmarks would look once cut:

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You can get a free Publishing account by signing up at http://www.preservemyheritage.com and start creating unlimited projects at once!
Love my Creative Genealogy templates and ideas? 

My HM club members can have their favorite Creative Genealogy template transferred to their account for personal use, or  can have it completely personalized by me for them  for a reasonable fee.

Want more for less? Check out our incredible host rewards and My Club HM!

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How are you keeping your kids busy this Summer?

Our children are out of school, and here comes the dilemma: What to do?
Sure you cannot go on vacation for the whole time, and probably you are not going to the next door pool everyday. Are your children going to spend most of their time on video games? Watching TV? Sleeping?
How about giving them a more creative outlet, something much more productive and that will also boost their self esteem?
You can have all this by giving your children the tools to create their own storybooks, flipbooks, posters, playing cards and more!
Here is your Summer Survival kit:

Contact me today to know how to get your kids started! Your children will thank you for it!

Kids heritage blocks as FHE activity

My boys had been asking for so long to have their own blocks, after I created the ones with our wedding pictures, so we decided  it was about time I would not only do it for them, but with them.
My husband went and got another 2x4, cut it, sanded it, and tonight for our FHE(Family Home Evening), we talked about genealogy and how important our children are to us, and as activity, we painted the blocks and put their pictures on them.

The boys were so thrilled!

 

Since they are still so young, and the blocks were so inexpensive, I gave them a set of extra block to just express their creativity, while I was doing most of the work..

Still, I wanted these blocks to have their touch, so I let them paint the sides a little:

 

and they got to put their own picture on their block:

I finished gluing the pieces of scrap paper that I had created with the Studio online software, and let them dry for about 30 minutes, while we were talking a little more about how important families are and how much we care for each of them. I wanted my boys to remember, each time they will look at these blocks, or play with them, that we care for them, and these are a symbol of our love for them.
Once our boys went to bed, I applied the coat of modge podge on each side of the blocks with glued scrap paper, and let dry.

I can't wait to see my boys' faces in the morning!
I know they are going to love them!

You can create these blocks with your own children too, for your FHE, family night, or simply when you desire to have some fun and constructive time together. They are easy to create, and being so durable, they will be a precious memento for your kids for years to come, not to mention that they are another great way to sparkle their interest in genealogy, since they have info on their birth and their parents, and if desired, more blocks can be created with pictures and info of parents, grandparents, and so on.
You could practically end up creating a genealogy tree out of these heritage blocks!
Wouldn't that be priceless?

Bookmark your valentine!

How many valentines are going to be bought this year and then will fly in the trash in the next few days following Valentines day?
You know I hate waste, and I particularly dislike generic things, so when I found this template in the template gallery, I thought it would be really cool if my kid could hand out these cute bookmarks with his pictures this year. Aren't they adorable?

This has been created in a 5x7  invitation format, and will make 3 bookmarks once printed.
I am also thinking to create some for the grandparents, with a picture of all three boys in it, and just put "Granpa Rocks" or "Nana Rocks" on the back, so that they can see a picture of their grandchildren every time they sit to read!
If you would like to meke your children's valentines stand out this year, you can send me their pictures and I will create them for you, or you can create them yourself on your HM Publishing account.
Contact me to know more!

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You can get a free Publishing account by signing up at http://www.preservemyheritage.com/ and start creating unlimited projects at once!

Want more? Check out our incredible host rewards(50% more for the month of January!!!) and fantastic package deals!!
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Cheer for the sport hero in your family!

How much time do you spend running your kids around to go to their sport practice? How many games you go to cheer your kid up?

You spend so much time supporting your child endeavors, that you need to preserve it in a book!

Your children are the best, they are the champions, it doesn't matter is only to you or the whole team! Let them  know by creating a book about this or last year season, personalized lanyards, flashcards for the whole team, and super cool posters to proudly show off in their bedroom!

With the many sport related templates, it is so easy to tell your child he/she is the hero in your home!

You can coordinate them too!

Look at this fantastic Soccer collection!

Check them out!

Soccer Player 5x5 Storybook

Soccer Coach 8x8 Storybook

Soccer lanyard

Soccer 12x12 page

Soccer 24x18 Poster

Soccer Trading cards

and how about this super cool football collection?

Check them out!
Football Player 5x5 Storybook
Football  Player 8x8 book
Football lanyard

More coordinates will be added, but there are many more sport templates too choose from and  and if you don't like something, you can always modify a template to match it to your child's team colors, add more or less pictures, you can really do anything you want with these templates!
How about a cute clock with a picture of your baseball champion:

How great would be for your kid to be the star on a magazine cover like this:

or to be in a great poster like this?

  with a coordinated book like this?

How cool would this 12x12 page look framed!

On the CavaGenealogy facebook page you will find pictures of more posters, cards, books etc to choose from or to sparkle your ideas for your little champion!
Should you not find the template for the item you are looking for, no problem! I can always create it!
So, cheer for the sport hero in your family, and preserve these precious memories!

A family tree worth fighting for

I have been working on this portable family tree magnetic game, and finished it just in time for the 33rd Annual Florida State Genealogical Society Conference.

The family tree mat was created with a 8.5x11 page and the family face pieces using a 5x7 invitation.

I then cropped and glued them on 1 inch wood tassels, completing them by sticking a magnet behind each piece.

As a finishing touch, I applied a shiny layer of a clear gloss medium.

I was doing this while in the hotel room the night before the conference, and could hardly keep my kids away from them while the coating dried.

When they woke up this morning, the first thing they wanted to do was playing with their family tree.

They were still in their pajamas, not even caring about breakfast. They HAD to play...

I had to establish turns, as they started fighting on who was putting this or that picture on the tree.

Little by little, they started putting the faces in the right places.

My heart melted each time they would tell me who that person was, and even more when they got to the point that they would remember and just tell me "this is Nana's mom, my great grandma", "This is nonno Oreste!" and so on.

They didn't like it when I had to take the game to display at the genealogical conference, but I promised them they would play more tonight.

I am thinking to make more copies of this game, maybe personalizing it for each of my children, so there will be no more fighting, and I will be able to just enjoy seeing them playing while impressing the faces and names of their ancestors in their mind, and hopefully their heart too.