Family heirlooms in a virtual Shadow box

If you have one or more family heirloom, you are one lucky person! Family heirlooms can be any object left from any of your ancestors whether they have been passed down from generation to generation or you plan on passing down to your children.
One characteristic of family heirlooms, though, is that they are unique, so it is impossible to pass the same object to each and anyone of your descendants.
While this is true, there is something that can be done. You can take pictures of the family heirlooms you own, and put them together in a virtual shadow box, that you will be able to share with any other member of your family.
I think this would be a great Family reunion idea.
Each member of the extended family can take pictures of the family heirlooms they own, and they can be shared with everybody else, so that the person in charge can create one or more shadow boxes that will be available for each family member.
One great and private way to do it, is to have a "Family Reunion"  free account on www.preservemyheritage.com and have everyone upload their pictures online, so they don't have to stress in case they forget to bring them at the family reunion. You just give each relative  login and password, and everybody can have access to it, or anyone can have their own personal account, and then share the pictures with everyone else they desire to share them with.
If you look in the template Gallery, you will find quite a  few shadow boxes ideas, like these ones:

Now, the persons that created these shadow boxes, created them mostly to display pictures of people, but I really think they would really fulfill their purpose with actual family heirlooms.
In each shadow box, there could be the picture of the family that owns the heirloom(s), a picture of the original owner, and a picture (or more) of the object.
If this shadow box is intended to be part of a whole "Family Heirloom" Post bound album", then a second page can be created with the memories connected with those family heirlooms.

This would be surely a priceless heirloom in itself that can be "multiplied" for as many members of the family as there are that would love to have it, since you can just make copies of each page and of the post bound album.
This is my first attempt at a family heirloom shadow box:

In case the image above is too small, here is a detail:

I just realized that I have quite a few more family heirlooms that I can display like this...
Taking pictures of your family heirlooms will help your descendants better understand who you are, and what really mattered to you. Start your shadow box today!

Tip: As many of us gather at the grandparent's house this thanksgiving, why not ask your loved ones to show off their heirlooms and offer to take pictures of them to put in a scrap page or a book with the story behind them? If the family members that are coming prefer not to take their heirlooms out of the house, they can just bring or email a picture and share the story with everybody.
What a better way to celebrate the people we are thankful for than preserve their memories!

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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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Magnetic Family Tree game, revised

After playing so much with their 4 generations magnetic family tree, I feel that my kids are ready for their 5th generation, which now calls for a bigger board.
So here is a 12x12 page version of it.

I have also decided to have a different board for each holiday, just to spruce things up a bit.
Kids and grown ups  will love playing with a magnetic family tree whose theme can be changed according to each holiday. The more they will play, the more their heart will be drawn into the desire to know more about their ancestors. 
Here is a possible Halloween Background:

Thanksgiving background

Christmas background:

Valentine's day back ground

St. Patrick day background

Easter back ground.

Independence Day background:

I thought to put together a tree with the flag where each ancestor came from. It just so happens that my ancestors are all Italian and my husband's first 4 generation ancestors were all already established in USA.

Another idea is to have an identical family tree with actually the pictures already on them, so that the kids can compare and see by themselves if they  matched all the right ancestors with their place in the family tree.
I will post more backgrounds on the CavaGenealogy facebook page, so be sure to like it to know first hand when I make more!

These12x12 pages can be switched back and forth on a magnetic sheet inserted in a shadow box

or on a 14x14 magnetic  board.

You can find the shadow box ready to decorate and the 14x14 magnetic board  at Micheal's for $4-$5 if you have a 50% coupon.
The magnetic sheet can be found in any hardware store like Home Depot or Lowe's, but also online in various craft stores for about $6.
I haven't put mine together yet, since I am creating more family tree pages to go with the magnetic tree and I will print a few of the ones that fit my family style most,  but I wanted to give you an idea of how it would look inside the shadow box, so I used one of the 12x12 family tree pages I already created and the magnets I had from the old magnetic tree and here it is:

It will need some decoration, maybe I could spray the frame of the shadow box with magnetic paint so that it will hold more magnets, or I could modge podge something related to the various holidays or a quote about genealogy.
I guess I will have to post again when I finally complete my work of art!^__^

Stay tuned!

EDIT: my shipment just came in! The pages are gorgeous! vibrant colors, high quality papers (not to mention acid free and archival quality)... As soon as I add the next generation magnets and paint the shadow box, I will post more pictures!

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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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You better "swatch" out!

It's BLACK FRIDAY!!!

This year I am not going crazy looking for Black Friday deals. I am staying home, enjoying my pumpkin cheesecake for breakfast, and relaxing with my family.
If you are reading this blog post the same day I am writing it, you might be just like me, and avoid this year's craziness.
But just in case you feel like you have to get at least one GREAT deal, I have one for you, and you don't even need to get in line, or risk your life because some crazy person has to have that deal no matter what.
I have showed you the swatch book in a couple previous posts, and if you liked the idea, you might like this cyber weekend deal:

You can get 5 swatch book at less than $10 each!

Need ideas on what to do with a swatch book? Easy!
You will find a great selection of swatch book templates in the template gallery.
I chose just a few that I think  you might like(click on the one that catches your attention to see a preview):
A cute phone book.
I love it that...
Busy moms purse calendar
Show off your family!
Sweet Safari girl swatch book
Dogs are special
Football Memories
Holiday Recipes
Counting My blessings
Vintage Family
You can also create your own, maybe an ABC swatch book, or a colors and numbers swatch book, or a genealogy tree swatch book...
I think I might end up creating these very same projects soon^_^
Here is the flier:

You have until November 30th to contact me and get this great deal or even the calendar deal.

You will be amazed at the reaction your loved ones will have when they receive a HM gift!

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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 and fantastic package deals!!
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Thankful

This is the Season of thanksgiving...
Being Italian, I have never celebrated thanksgiving until I moved to the USA, but I was pretty happy to have one more reason to ponder why I should be thankful, and remember all that I AM thankful for.
Life is pretty difficult right now for so many of us, so many loosing their jobs, so many going through health problems, so many fighting emotional battles...
Still, we all have something we can be thankful for.
Every day is a new gift to us, and a new opportunity to make things better, and to be thankful for our blessings, no matter how big or small.
Being thankful really changes the way our day goes, and the way we treat others.
If we are thankful for what we have, we won't waste our time letting envy possess us for what others seem to have that we don't...
If we are thankful, we are more willing to help others that have a little less to be thankful for..
If we are thankful, we say thank you more often, and we make more people happy.
There are days, I know, in which  being thankful is the last thing that crosses your mind, maybe your child just dropped your favorite vase and there is no way to fix it, maybe your friend just said something that hurt your feelings, maybe you just lost your job, or you didn't get the one you were hoping for, maybe something even worst happened...

For days like this, I have a list to which I periodically try to add something more , to help me remember that there are still things and people I am thankful for.
You can start one for yourself too, if you haven't yet, and see if that works for you.
You can start it this thanksgiving, and add to it any time your realize how thankful you are for something.
I am pretty sure that by next Thanksgiving you are going to have a huge list that you might also desire to share with your family, or you can make it a whole family project, whichever sounds right to you!
So, let's all strive to be thankful, not only during this thanksgiving season, but all year long, and in so doing spread a feeling of thankfulness all around!