My Favorite Things: Genealogy Gift Ideas 2009

Genealogy Gift Ideas

1. Ancestor Calendar 

• Calyptic Creations allows you to add up to 150 custom dates. My husband surprised me with one a few years back that includes all my ancestors' birthdays and anniversaries. Calyptic Creations saves your project to your account so it is easy to update photos and order a new calendar each year!

2. Mug with Genealogy Blog Logo 

• Create your own at www.zazzle.com (Here's mine.)

3. Digitally Restored Photo of an Ancestor or other Family Member 

• I recommend Janine at Landailyn Research and Restoration. She is a masterful photo restoration artist. Her talent can be seen here and in the gallery on her website. Highly recommended!

4. Ancestor Photo Bracelet 

• I love this simple, chic photo bracelet from Snapfish

5. Photo Family Tree 

• This "Heritage Tree" from Things Remembered showcases 10 photos in a family tree format. You can even have the family surname engraved on one of the leaves. 

6. Archival Sleeves and Boxes

• Is it tacky to say that I drool over the Archival Methods website? Some people dream of building their dream home, I dream of building a room in my dream home filled with archival boxes, binders, and indexes! 

7. Framed Historic Document 

• Census image from Ancestry.com; Copy of a Land Patent from a State Archive; Page of a City Directory; Passport Application; Marriage Bond; scanned Family Bible. 

8. Cotton Gloves

• If you're going to handle old photographs it's best to keep a pair of these handy from University Products or Amazon.com. Thank you to the Family Curator for introducing me to the white glove treatment!

9. Decorative Family Tree 

• Handpainted and heirloom quality, the artistic interpretations at Grill Your Granny are my absolute favorite! This is the one I have.

10. Maps, Maps, Maps

• Did your ancestors live on top of a mountain, or near a river? Find the landmark at the United States Geological Survey. Search for a city, county, or state map close to a specific time period at Historic Map Works. Become a member and you can zoom in on their maps online - great research tool! Don't forget the wonderful map collection at the Library of Congress. Ever wonder how your ancestors got from point A to point B? Check out their Railroad Maps collection from 1828-1900. 

11. Ancestor Photo Ornament

• Create your own heirloom ornament with Shutterfly. Pewter ornaments are my #1 choice. Glass ornaments have a tendency to break around my house!

12. Handwritten Recipe Cards Filled with Family Recipes

• I have found beautiful recipe cards at local Hallmark, Hobby Lobby, Target, and Walmart stores. There are also Free Printable Recipe Cards on the web. 

13. Seasonal Flower Service and Maintenance for Ancestor's Graves

• Gravescape "makes it easy for you to honor the memory of loved ones, even when you’re unable to visit their gravesites."

14. Photobook 

• Use MyPublisher to showcase all those scanned family photos. 

15. Family Tree Necklace

• Personalize a family tree pendant from Limoges Jewelry. I wear mine almost everyday. I love it!

~Happy Holidays