4x8 family circles tree card

I was working on last minute gifts and I just couldn't resist but making a family tree out of the 4x8 photocard format.
I also had been wanting to make a family tree out of simple circles, and I did.
Here is the final result:

This is a cute little gift that I can give not only to my husband, but also each of my kids, and it will cost me less than $1 each!^_^
I like it so much that it has become my facebook profile picture!

My husband is also getting this cute calendar, to display on his desk at the office:

I am debating if I want to put them back to back and laminate them, or just give them to him separately...
Either way, He's going to love them!
This would make a  cute little gift to have at each table at the family reunion dinner, or for each member of your family. If you don't have the pictures, you can just use the names, and maybe birth dates, and they will look great too!

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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.

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A family tree for every season

I was looking at this acrylic  5x7 photo holder, I have been saving it for I don't know how long for a future project, and decided it was time to do something with it...

The idea came to my mind that it would be cool to use it as a small family tree holder, with family trees that change with the season.
Here is the first card that I created:

Fall/thanksgiving:

 I thought having our family name on the back would be nice

and here are the cards I am going to publish soon:
Winter:

Spring/Easter:

a possible back of the card:

Summer:

possible back of the card:

Being able to change the season your family tree is represented in allows you to keep the interest alive in everybody that lives in your home and also in anyone that comes visit!
Think,  if you are going to a family reunion, you have a very portable 4-5 generations family tree!
Creating  these cards is so easy! And if you publish them during the month of November, you can take advantage of the 20% discount on cards, making them even more inexpensive!
You can get the acrylic frame at any store, I like to get it at JoAnn's or Michael's when I have a 50% off coupon, to save even more!
This would make a very unexpected and appreciated gift for any one this Christmas (not to mention pretty affordable)!

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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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4 generations Family Tree Clock

Family and Family History have something in common, beside the name: they require passion, and devotion. They require TIME.
Remind yourself and your family about this with a Family Tree Clock like this:

It has a family picture in the center with parents and children, with pictures of the grandparents on the 4 sides and then pictures of the great grandparents in place of some of the numbers.
It's a very inexpensive way to express your love for your Family and Genealogy to everyone that is welcomed in your home.

You can find instruction on how to create a clock like this here. 
You will also find more clock templates in the Template Gallery on my website, just type "clock" in the search box.
While these templates might be sized for specific clocks, you might just resize their images to make them fit any size clock, up to 12 inches  (inside diameter).

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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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6 generations typographic family tree

I have been having request about family trees with just names, so I have been getting ideas by looking around, and among a few ones, I really liked the simplicity and classy fee of the typography family chart by Jill Means design.
I decided to make my own version, and let me tell you, it does take quite some time to make it, but I am pretty satisfied of the result.
I used Photoshop elements, then made a JPEG page that I am going to upload on my website to have then printed. I could print it at home, but I really like the archival quality of the prints I get when ordering from Heritage Makers.This Family tree chart can be used as a baby gift, or birthday gift or for any other occasion, and allows you to list up to 6 generations:

This would look great on a 18x24 poster or canvas, but also a 16x20 canvas or 11x14 poster, or 5x7 announcement. 
This is how it would look for a girl:

Here is a possible wedding one:

It can be really made in any color.
If you don't have 6 generations yet, this chart can be brought down to a 5 or 4 generations on a 12x12 page or canvas or also a 20x20 or 18x18 canvas.

So, no need for pictures, you can have a beautiful 6, 5 or 4  generations family tree just like this ones! Just give me a shout if you want to know how!

Please note that due to the nature of names, this is a special project and needs to be adjusted according to the names length, thus I cannot really provide a easy to use template, so I will have to create it for you.

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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 wall

I have a wall in my house that has a big picture of the Colosseum on it, and while in some way it describes part of my children's heritage (mine), I really want to make that wall our family  Heritage wall, more specifically our Family tree wall.
While I wait for my husband and I to find the time to paint that wall, which will be when we will be painting the whole living room and kitchen, I have been scattering my brain.
First of all, this time I will not have a single tree with my kids as the root persons. I have that nicely framed on another wall in the house, but there is a problem: I made it when I only had 3 kids. Now I have 4, and who knows if the Lord will bless us with more.
I have come to realize that those kind of family tree displays are for families that are done having kids, or that don't mind creating a new display each time a new child enters their lives.

So, what to do, what to do...
My solution is to have a family tree for each of the parents and then have a picture for each of the kids hung under the 2 family trees. This way when a new child comes, a new picture can be added, and when the kids grow up, if wanted, their picture  can be substituted with their grown up ones.
When they get married and have kids, I can either add more pictures, or substitute with  their family picture. (Yeah, I am thinking waaayy ahead!^_^)
As a final touch, the family name can be added.
I am scattering my brain for different ways to assemble the whole project.
Here are the ideas I have been working on:
 
2  20x24 canvases, one for the family tree with me as the root person, one for the one with my husband as the other root person.
a 8x8 canvas with a picture for each of my kids(4) and a 20x8 canvas with our family name (optional).

Cost    as low as  $343  (with a Gold HM Club membership) plus shipping, might save 10% more if I publish when canvas publishing goes on sale in December
Should I want these framed the cost would go up
2 20x20  canvases,4 8x8 canvases and a  20x8 canvas with our family name (optional).

Cost:   as low as  $330   (with a Gold HM Club membership) plus shipping, might save 10% more if I publish when canvas publishing goes on sale in December
A smaller and much less expensive way would be:
2 11x14 posters , 4 8x8 pages, and enough 5x5 greeting cards or 5x7 invitations or 3x3 family folds to fill  with the letters of our family name.

Cost: as low as  $20 (with a Gold HM Club membership) plus shipping.
I could also use the 4x8 photo card for the letters of the last name,, making it even less expensive. 
These can be framed, or modge podged on tiles or wood to give them dimension.

Cost will depend on the sales I can find on frames and/ or coupons I can use.

It would almost be cute if I painted a tree or found something to stencil on the wall, like this:

Once we will finally have this in my house, I think my kids will love it too, because there will be big pictures of them (you know how when they are little it is all about them ) but then there is this big canvas with this family tree, and they will have more opportunities to hear about their ancestors since they will be constantly "looking" at them!
Now, which color should my wall be?

 

Decisions decisions...

Do you have a Heritage wall in your home?

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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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2012 Heritage Calendar

October is Family History month, and I am always looking for ways to help others(and myself) remember to put down their memories and/or find the stories about their family.
I talked about my idea for a Heritage calendar long time ago, but since I am creating a new one for 2012, I wanted to share this version with you.
The cover was inspired by my very colorful Family Tree:

The idea of the calendar is to inspire me to focus on collecting information about a specific couple or generation each month, so that by the end of the year there should be enough material to put together a 4 generations Family History Book.
On January I have all my children, which, by the way, on the cover are in the watering can as a symbol of their ability to give new life to the Family tree.

 February is for me and my husband (perfect, right?;).

 March is for their paternal grandparents.

 April for their  maternal grandparents.

May for their paternal great grandparents on their granddaddy's side.
June for their paternal great grandparents on their Nana's side.
July is for their maternal great grandparents on their nonno's side.
August is for their maternal great grandparents on their nonna's side.
The remaining months can be used to either display the 2nd great grandparents( 4 for each month), or to focus on uncle aunts and cousins (i.e.: September for uncle and aunts on dads side, October for uncle and aunts on mom's side, November for cousins on dad's side, December for cousins on mom's side.).

Once 2012 will be gone by, this calendar can be recycled by framing the picture part of each month  and hanging them on a special Heritage wall in your home. I would put the family tree(trim the bottom, where it has the title of the calendar)

in the center, the pages about the kids on the bottom with their parents on the side, maybe uncles and aunts and cousins further down and grand parents and great grandparents on the top, in a family tree manner. If you like you can purchase one of those cute vinyl wall family trees that you can find online, or if you feel up to it, you can paint your very own.

So, start creating this calendar, and even if you don't have all the pictures, that shouldn't stop you, it just means that this is a incentive for you to actually look for those pictures during 2012!

This calendar could be another way to entice your family members, whether their are immediate or long lost cousins, to share the info and picture that they have with you.
Who wouldn't want to be part of such a cute calendar and of a possibly even cuter Family History book?
It would also be a beautiful Christmas gift, especially for family members that don't really use the internet, to share your passion with them, and why not, plant the "genealogy seed" in their heart!

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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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