Christmas in July gift giving idea for kids: let's learn!

It is always great to see our children get all excited at Christmas when they rip the paper and discover the presents they get, if only this excitement could last!
I am a fan of learning toys and since I discovered the possibilities with Heritage Makers, I have found the answer to my dilemma! I can create educational projects for my kids that will keep them entertained and excited for long time after they open their present. What's even better, they will learn something, and they will improve their self confidence.

Long time ago I found in the template gallery a template for an ABC book, and I loved it, so I created one for my children, and they love it! It has their pictures, and they can tell me the story behind them. They love showing these books to friends and family when they come over! You can have a 3D preview of the whole book here.

Seeing how much joy and enthusiasm this brought to my children induced me to create another book, a color and numbers book, which has been their new favorite since!
You can have a 3D preview of the whole book here

My youngest boy is turning 1 soon and I am creating an ABC matching game for him, it is never to early to start them on learning! I know that my other 2 boys, who are 3 and almost 5, will end up being the ones who use this cards most in the beginning, so this is going to be a gift that keeps giving! I might even order a copy for each child, to avoid any fight!;)
You can find a 3D preview of the template that I am modifying to suit my kids' needs here.


Another matter that is very important to me, is that my children speak Italian, as I was born and lived in Italy for 30 years, but I have had no luck in finding any tools to help me in this endeavor. My only choice was having to go back to Italy and get some books, which I would be the only one able to use to teach to our children, then I found this template in the template gallery, beginner Spanish flash cards, and was inspired to create a beginner Italian flash card set. Now my husband will be able to use them and learn Italian together with the kids. How cool is that!^_^
I also just found a cute ABC poster, it was a breeze to just pop my kids pictures in it, I created it while also updating the blog, timing my self: it took me 7 minutes, and could have been less if I didn't take more time trying to decide among many cute pictures of my children! I dragged and dropped the pictures, re sized some, and it was done!

You'll find many more educational ideas in the template gallery, each of them modifiable to suit your own needs!

You can also create any educational book or flash card, or poster for your children, and tailor them to your kids' individual capabilities!

My first born tends to put himself down when he doesn't succeed at first in something, so he is going to get a special book where I list all the things he can do, that he might always remember how special he is and all of his great qualities and abilities!

As you can see the ideas are endless, so don't wait!
With the wonderful  packages available each month, creating gifts for the whole family is going to be super fun and you won't have to break your budget this holiday season!
 Just give me a call or email me and I will be happy to get you started on the best gifts you can ever give to your dear ones!

Family Reunion ideas

Do you have a family reunion this summer? Here are some great ideas of fun things you can do at your family reunion to strengthen your family’s heritage!

1. Family Treasures Card game: This is a fun family game that has a playing board (laminated poster) that goes with it. To view the instructions click here.

2. I AM a Heritage Maker Activity Book: This is a great way for your kids and their cousins to get to know their heritage in a fun activity book.

3. Personalized Card Deck: Does your family like to play card games? Create your own custom deck of cards with pictures of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. There are lots of templates to choose from in the gallery (rook, old maid, go fish, face cards, etc.)

4. FAMILY LAND: This fun game is just like Candy Land, but with your family name and the family activities you enjoy doing together. It will keep the kids entertained for hours! Also, it has a deck of cards to go with it.

5. Family Cookbook: If you have time before the reunion, have family members send you a favorite recipe and a picture. Put together a family cookbook. Take the cookbook to the reunion and if family members would like a copy, you can take orders. If you don’t have time to put it together before the reunion, have your family bring their picture and favorite recipe to the reunion. Then put the cookbook together later.

6. BINGO: Create your own Bingo cards with pictures of grandparents and other relatives. This is a great way for the young kids to learn the names of their great grandparents.

I got all these ideas from the Heritage Makers blog

Make and Take:

Do you need fun craft ideas? Here are some that are simple, fun, and affordable!

Special Memories Box: This is a great way to keep all your favorite cards, notes, letters, etc. all in one place. This is made using 2 12×12 pages and a 7 inch craft box ($2 at Walmart).

Family Clock: Super easy and a great addition to your home. This is made using 1 8×8 page and a 9 inch clock ($4 at Walmart). Blocks: Create your blocks to say whatever you want. Does your reunion have a theme? If so make a block per family or per kid with the theme or family motto. 1 12×12 page will make 5 blocks. Cut a 2×4 into 7 inch blocks.

Tiles: Create a tile with a picture of an ancestor or of grandma and grandpa that includes one of their favorite sayings. 1 12×12 page can make 4 tiles. Get 4 6×6 tiles at Home Depot or any home improvement store.
Scanning: If you have a scanner, offer scanning services to the persons in your area who will be attending reunions. Have them ask each family member to bring the pictures they have of great grandma, great grandpa, etc. (The pictures don’t leave their sight). You can scan everyone’s pictures while at the reunion and then everyone gets a copy of everyone’s pictures. It’s a win, win for everyone!

The best gift

What is the best gift you could give?
When I was younger I thought the more expensive a gift, the better.
In the beginning I loved dolls and cars; growing up it was the time of clothes and jewelry...
Then I grew up a little more, and realized that all those things weren't really important. What was starting to really be important, was time.
Time spent with my family, my friends.
Time I wish I could enjoy again talking with my dad, whom I lost when I was 13...
Time traveling and making new discoveries.
Time making memories.
Time preserving those memories.

My husband wanted to get me a diamond ring for our engagement. You might think I am weird, but my answer was:" And what would I do with it? Wouldn't a simple much less expensive ring still be a good memento of the day you asked me to marry you?
How about we save that money for future travels? For family needs?"
It took him a lot to understand that I really didn't desire a diamond ring, but then he appreciated the fact that we went 5 different places for our honey moon: Florida, Utah, Italy, Switzerland and England and that now we have a book preserving those memories.A diamond ring could only be passed on to one of our children. I can make copies of the book I made, and all my children will be able to enjoy it and share it with their children.
If they desire, the will be able to make more copies for each of their children so they will know their grandparents' love story.
I get my children's toys at garage sales. They will get broken anyway. The real gifts from me to them are the books I make about them, the playing cards with their pictures, the family folds, the genealogy posters I created.
While right now toys might be their first desire since they are so little, I know that when they will be grown up, they will really treasure these books and other projects I have taken the time to create for them.
I do have a couple dolls, and some jewelry pieces from my mom and my grandma and I do treasure them, but they tell me very little about the persons that gave them to me.
The Storybooks I create for my children and for all my other family members and friends, tell them that they are special to me, that they mean a lot, that they are worth the time I took to make something for them, to preserve a special memory.
These projects will remind them of me, of who I am when I am too old or I am not here anymore.
One of the last books I created was my son's VPK book. It has pictures of him, his friends, his teachers, and a collection of many of his favorite things.
I have no memory of my pre-k years(we call it asilo in Italy) except for a couple of flash backs that I can't tell if they are a dream of the reality. I don't remember any of the friends I had or what I liked to do there. My son will be able to look at the book and know that his memories are not dreams and remember all of his friends and favorite things.
How much I wish my parents could have done something like this for me, but there was nothing like Heritage Makers 30 years ago!

So, don't waste your time looking for expensive gifts that could end up in a future garage sale or that just aren't able to really say a lot about you.
Take time to tell the stories in your home.
Take time to help your child understand his/her self worth, to improve his/her self esteem, make a book about him or her , about his/her family history.
Take time to read these books with your children at night time or any other time during the day.
Time is the best gift you can give, and you will see that as time goes by, all the other material things lose importance and value while time with the memories related to it becomes the most precious thing of all!

Storybooking: what is this?

Storybooking: You might be reading about it in the newspapers, finding it on the internet, hearing about it on the radio, seeing it talked about on tv, probably heard me talking about it or found it in one of my emails, but what is it and is it something you should know about?

Storybooking is the process of creating your own hardbound or softbound book. Storybooks created through storybooking contain pictures and words. They can contain stories of those who lived before your life, of those who lived during your life, or of something you wish to be in the future, or desire to inspire your children to be. Storybooking is scrapbooking for the digital age but with more options and capabilities.

"Storybooking is the unique process of combining photographs with personalized story text into one or more professionally hardbound storybooks for ages one to 101. What scrapbooking was to the last century, storybooking is to this new century." - Heritage Makers, LLC


Should I Storybook?

Do you have stories you wish you could tell your children? Or grandchildren? Would you like to publish your own children’s book? When your father died did you wish your son could understand how great of a man his grandfather really was? Wouldn’t it be great to read your son’s birth story to him at night before he goes to sleep? Do you want to show your friend the great love the children she teaches have for her?
Would you like to improve your child self esteem presenting with a book about the things he can do, or about how much you love him/her? Does your mom know that you are so grateful for all that she does and has done for you? What do you get your wife to show her how appreciative you are of her? How do you show your husband that the last 50 years have been incredible? Do you have a ton of unprinted digital photographs that may never be seen? There are many experiences you can storybook about. Your memories are so precious, it would be a pity if they were forgotten. You can really love somebody when you know their story.

How Do I Begin Storybooking?

• Think about stories associated with your pictures
• Choose the story/memory you wish to preserve
• If the story is about somebody else, ask questions.
• If you don't know what questions to ask, I can help!
• Find all pictures associated with chosen story
• Scan the pictures wanted if they are not on your computer yet.
• Begin writing story
• Rewrite story as many times as needed
• Follow instructions to have book published


Who Should I use for my Storybooking needs?

•Heritage Makers is currently the best storybooking/publishing company to use for your needs. You can get the help of a Heritage Makers Consultant to publish your works. We walk you through the steps of preparing your book.We help you from the beginning stages to publishing. It is your book so keep it personalized but use the Heritage Makers Consultants as resources as you become an author.

What Resources Are Needed To Storybook?

•A story
•Pictures/Drawings/copies of meaningful documents
•Scanner
•*Digital Camera
•*Photo editing software
•A Heritage Makers Consultant
•Access to the internet
* (Optional tools)


Storybooking Ideas

There are so many different things you can make storybooks about. Stories, experiences, etc. What can you storybook about or for? What recent events have happened in your life?

• Engagement
• Wedding
• Child's Birth Story
• Vacation
• Graduation
• Military Service
• A very special "letter" to your future generations
• Your family's genealogy
• Accomplishments
• Stories Told by Grandma
• Overcoming an Illness
• Valentines Day
• Christmas
• Birthday
• Cookbook
• Anniversary
• Life Story of Loved One
• Friendship
• Mothers Day
• Fathers Day
• Family traditions
• Silly things your kids say
• Educational book with your kids as the "hero" (ABC, colors, numbers...
• Adoption Story
• Sport

The ideas are really endless!

What are you Storybooking about?

Make your mom cry for Mother's day!!

Ok, I am not trying to tell you to hurt your mom, but if you are like me, you just don't want to give a gift just because you have to, but because it comes from your heart, and you desire to reach your mother's heart.
I really desired to give a gift that touches the heart, that is why I am giving my mom a Storybook about her visit here in the States.
I hope I will be able to steal a tear from her eyes.
You see, my mom is not the kind of person that will show you her emotions, and it is really difficult to get a thank you or any kind of appreciation from her.
I had been asking her to come visit me in the States for more than 5 years, and her excuse was always her fear of the long airplane flight...

Well, last year I sent her a mother's day card in which I expressed her again our desire to have visit us here, and the miracle happened: she was finally going to come to America!!!

She came for Christmas, and I want her to know how much we appreciated her coming here, so I put this book together for her.