The holidays are just around the corner and it's time to start thinking about what to give this holiday season. If you're like the members of my family, you're looking for an inexpensive way to show your family members how much you care, but not break the bank. In our family, all of the adults draw names between ourselves, and have a set budge limit for our gift. Because we are only getting a gift for one family member each, it allows us to take some time formulating the perfect gift idea for that person. Homemade Christmas Gifts are my favorite way to do something special for the person I've picked.
I went in my mother's attic a couple of years ago and found a number of boxes filled with pictures from my childhood, my parents' childhoods, and even a number from my grandparents! I'd bet there's someone in your family that has a similar stash of memorabilia that you can raid. It could even be you with the endless supply of family snap shots. If it is, you are in the best position possible to do something wonderful for your family members - give them a personalized gift that not only brings back memories, but also gives them something to cherish for years to come.
If taking all those family photos and converting them into something creative appeals to you, then the first thing you'll want to do is get them all in one place and digitized. Most people have a digital camera these days, so it should be easy to get photos from your family members to add to your collection. You'll even be able to get them from Great Aunt Nancy, even though she won't let them out of her house. All you have to do is take your digital camera over to her place, lay the photos out on a flat surface with good lighting and take pictures of the pictures with your camera. Just make sure you don't have any visible glares on the prints when you take the picture and you should be fine. Your other relatives will be happy, too, because you can then easily share them all online. You will want to digitize all of your pictures anyway so that they will be the same size when you use them in your project.
Now that you've collected up all the photos you want to use, you want to take into consideration what kind of photo gift your recipient would enjoy the most. Do they have a favorite store they shop at? Is their house decorated with a particular theme or in a specific style? Once you take a little time to think about what they like, it should be easy for you to come up with an excellent gift choice. For instance, does your sister collect keepsake boxes? If so, you can get one imprinted with a family picture on top, and put copies of more pictures inside.
Does your brother love old movies? What types of books does he like to read, or what kind of music does he listen to? Take your knowledge with you when you go to the local craft store and start hunting for different components you can pull together to make the perfect gift. You could pick up an inexpensive photo album and decorate the outside with ribbons, appliques, stickers, dried or artificial flowers or any number of things you can find at the craft store. Just glue these items in a pleasing display on the album, fill it with pictures that match the theme you came up with and you have an excellent present for him.
Does your spouse spend his or her days sitting in an office? If so, maybe a mini photo album filled with family pictures is the right gift. That way, when your spouse needs a mini-vacation from their boring day, they can pull out their family photo album and remember exactly why they're spending time staring at a cubicle wall - to take care of their family. Most of the places where you can store digital photos online will also print out photo books for you, so even if they don't have the album with them, they can always go online and see the photos, or even download them as wallpaper on their computers.
There are hundreds of options you can pursue that will take your treasured family photos and transform them into something functional as well as decorative. All you need to do is spend a little time pulling the photos together and thinking creatively about what the recipient would like for a gift and you can merge the two ideas into a present that will be cherished for years to come.
About the Author:
Joy Starlin has spent 20 years making customized gifts and sharing them with others. Now she is sharing her expertise utilizing her website on photography albums. If you're looking for ideas on giving a personalized photo album to somebody, be sure to click through the link and read the article.
